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Reflection Paper
ETECH 592 ePortfolio
Angela Wilkes
Boise State University
Fall 2011


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Introduction
am a lifelong learner with a passion for empowering others with knowledge.
This discovery has transformed itself into a career as a Trainer/nstructional Designer
and business owner of Mommy Speaks Spanish who equips preschoolers with bilingual
skills. am currently working in a contract position as an nstructional Designer revising
instructor-led materials. n addition, am the Team Lead for the Atlanta Designers.
am thrilled to be at the end of the road for my Master's in Educational
Technology (M.E.T.) not only has it been a wonderful program, but must admit that
am ready to soar now. believe that have been equipped with the best technology,
tools and resources necessary to become a great online instructor and developer of my
own hybrid language program. This combined with my information technology; training
and instructional design background will definitely take me to the next level in my
career. had the experience of also participating in the nstructional Performance
mprovement (PT) program prior to joining the Education Technology program. My
journey has been different to say the least, but had been very fulfilling. After completing
my undergraduate degree in nstructional Psychology, Training and Technology at the
University of Georgia, decided not to pursue a Master's because my child was two
years old and wanted to dedicate time to developing her since gave birth to her at
age 40. n addition, had just begun my first official job as an nstructional Designer at
McKesson Provider Technologies and the Healthcare arena was new to me so wanted
to devote time to learning about it in detail.

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During my senior year at UGA, became a member of the nternational Society

for Performance mprovement (SP) Atlanta Chapter and as became more involved
kept meeting phenomenal people who had graduated or were in the process of
graduating from Boise State's PT program so needless to say was impressed with the
rave reviews heard from colleagues about the program's quality. They discussed the
program and how it is an industry leader in the field of performance improvement; but
what changed my mind was the realization that an undergraduate degree was not
enough to excel in the field of instructional design. To excel in the field you had to have
ten years prior experience or get a Master's so chose to get the Master's and entered
the Boise State PT program in the spring of 2008. While progressing through the PT
program began talking to the manager of the learning center who oversees the
performance improvement consultants, but when discovered that very little
performance improvement was taking place began to do further research on the field
and discussed it with other practitioners who informed that very few companies actually
do performance improvement the way it is intended which was very discouraging to me.
Each practitioner is still doing instructional design work as their core means of support.
Additionally, the PT role frequently required travel which is not an option for me. The
realization loomed that needed a hands on skill that would allow flexibility and stability
so chose to invest the time in earning my M.E.T. degree on the advice of two friends
who were already in the program that attended UGA with as an undergraduate. Hence,
entered the EdTech program in the spring of 2009.

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The works listed below are a part of both the PT and EdTech programs. They
have contributed greatly to my professional and personal growth. The PT program
provided me with insight into the history and present pioneers of instructional design as
well as its use in corporate America. The EdTech program further enhanced that
knowledge with development and usage of tools in online learning. The two
complement each other and have enhanced my knowledge and skill set to make me an
invaluable asset in Academia or Corporate America. t is my future goal to utilize these
skills as a future online instructor and to develop a hybrid Spanish program for teaching
people Spanish in a way that it comes to life rather than the tradition of learning
vocabulary. This way get the both best of both worlds.
$tandard 1: Design
1.1 Instructional Systems Design-nstructional Systems Design (SD) is an organized
procedure that includes the steps of analyzing, designing, developing, implementing,
and evaluating (ADDE) instruction. The artifact that chose to represent my knowledge
and hands-on experience is a project based on SMART Goal Setting D Project Report
This project allowed me to apply the ADDE system in its full scope. Typically as an
instructor designer in the major corporations you only get to employ one or two phases
of ADDE generally because other departments or teams are involved in the educational
development; however, this time was able to employ all facets from beginning to end
which is important as plan to transition Mommy Speaks Spanish into a Hybrid
program, therefore, as a designer it is necessary to be able to identify the best
instructional strategy from beginning to end based on your target audience (Smith &
Ragan, 2005).
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1.2 Message Design- Message design involves planning for the manipulation of the
physical form of the message. The artifact chosen to represent the importance of lesson
content planning and the materials used to present the message visually is a Unit of
nstruction: Lesson Four. This lesson on Spanish Foods allowed me to explore lesson
planning in the K-12 environment which is different than my corporate responsibilities in
that used different tools such as audio, videos and scenario graphics to make it more
interactive and visually sound for my preschool aged learners. The lesson was created
in Weebly a user friendly website builder. The graphics were created in Fireworks,
which took a lot of time since didn't have a good grasp on using the software. t was
challenging at first because of the many resources available and their appropriateness
for my target audience. had to think about the average entry level skill set and not
measure it against my daughter and her friends who all have been in private schools
since they were three. had to layout the classroom setup and state and national
standards the course would meet. This was my first experience tapping into YouTube
videos to support the learning. Overall this was a great project as it really helped me to
recognize the importance of every detail when preparing for K-12 lessons. t really
changed my mind set on how much teachers have to do to prepare for teaching their
students.
1.3 Instructional Strategies-nstructional strategies are specifications for selecting and
sequencing events and activities within a lesson. For this standard chose two artifacts
to represent instructional strategies. These artifacts were produced using Dreamweaver
software. The Jigsaw activity is designed to assist parents in identifying resources for
their children learning Spanish. t enables them to explore various media formats in
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groups and then gather and share their findings. This activity takes the stress off the
individual parent, but allows them to collaboratively explore their options. The Virtual
Tour was designed to broaden the student's knowledge about the culture and history of
Spain while they are learning Spanish. t enhances the learning and provides an
opportunity to tour a place that otherwise might be within their reach. These two
activities helped me diversify the Mommy Speaks Spanish program. t provided a
means of demonstrating a real-life field trip we had planned to take and to fully immerse
themselves and their children in the culture aside from the stereotypes in an interactive
fun manner as part of the lesson.
1.4 Learner Characteristics-Learner characteristics are those facets of the learner's
experiential background that impact the effectiveness of a learning process. had to
think a lot about this standard and finally went back to revisit an PT project Learner
Characteristics where was using Latham and Locke's (1979) goal setting theory to
reflect on how brought a goal to life, but also determine if Mommy Speaks Spanish
was sustainable based on learner characteristics. Producing this artifact was painful not
because it required any technology, but really having to be honest about my learners in
general and was the program worth my time and energy. As a result the program is
currently on hold until can make some changes regarding participation and
commitment of the learners and their parents.

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$tandard 2: DeveIopment
2.1 Print TechnologiesPrint technologies are ways to produce or deliver materials,
such as books and static visual materials, primarily through mechanical or photographic
printing processes. To align with this standard chose a static graphic Articles of
Clothing made using Fireworks. t described articles of clothing in Spanish and English
with arrows pointing to the clothing for reinforcement of the lesson. t is designed to be
used with the lesson and at home as a review. The creation of this printable artifact
allowed me to explore another tool as a designer and although it was not easy the skill
that gained has given me confidence to continue trying my hand at it when needed.
2.2 Audiovisual Technologies
Audiovisual technologies are ways to produce or deliver materials by using mechanical
devices or electronic machines to present auditory and visual messages. This standard
aligned with using VoiceThread to visually and audibly demonstrate the lesson
objectives and recall memory as part of the ntroduction to Spanish for Kindergartners.
chose this tool because it best suited the target audience and it was very cool and easy
to use. have enlightened my daughter's school about its use and they used it with the
5
th
graders to collaborate, record and share their presentations with the class while
expanding their technological skills. This was my first time using VoiceThread and am
hooked on it.
2.3 Computer-Based Technologies
Computer-based technologies are ways to produce or deliver materials using
microprocessor-based resources. Today we have many technological methods in which
to deliver or produce materials, to demonstrate this artifact chose Wallwisher as a
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means of teaching you how to use VoiceThread. Wallwisher allows you to build a web-
page (wall) using post-it notes, it allows for collaboration and presents a different spin
on producing and delivering materials. Producing this artifact was my first encounter
with Wallwisher and am going to introduce this wall building software to my Mocha
Mom's group to use to develop a craft book for kids.
2.4 Integrated Technologies-ntegrated technologies are ways to produce and deliver
materials which encompass several forms of media under the control of a computer.
The project that best aligns with this standard is my ntroduction to Spanish course
developed in Moodle. t encompasses the use of YouTube videos, interactive websites
for audio visual instructions such as VoiceThread, and practice sites that allow the
learner to re-emphasize the lesson in a variety of multimedia games some pre-existing
and some created from scratch using Hot Potato. The development of this project gave
me the opportunity to be involved all around from the learner, developer and
administrator. t provided me with the confidence necessary to pursue developing my
own hybrid program for Mommy Speaks Spanish. t was my first experience with
building a course in a LMS, which had a positiveeffect in solidifying that could be an
awesome online instructor.
$tandard 3: UtiIization
3.1 Media Utilization-Media utilization is the systematic use of resources for learning.
The artifacts chose to represent align with this standard is the Virtual Tour and
Concept Map. They both represent systematic means of learning about Spanish culture
and the benefits of learning a second language early in life. When developed these
because believe they both are important to learning and understanding a foreign
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language. Both were created in Dreamweaver, but the Concept map used a CSS
sheet and the Virtual Tour used a standard Dreamweaver template because of the
layout. These artifacts where both challenging in that my web design skills were very
limited, but wanted to do more so experimented with using hot spots that directed the
user to information on other sites. My sense of colors is generally kept to primary colors,
which is what did on the Virtual Tour, but for the Concept Map consulted various color
wheels. The Virtual Tour artifact was used in Mommy Speaks Spanish class as part of a
lesson and the Concept Map was used during my Open House to provide potential
parents/students with the benefits of learning a second language early in life.
3.2 Diffusion of Innovations-Diffusion of innovations is the process of communicating
through planned strategies for the purpose of gaining adoption. The Technology Use
Plan provided a roadmap for assessing a school's current technological state and
projecting their future state goals with the steps necessary to achieve it within the next
three years. t is designed to prevent funds from being wasted on technology that either
has no value or will not be embraced by students, administrators or teachers. The
technology use plan provides a holistic view of how to improve a school's academic
achievement and operating efficiency through the use of technology. developed this
plan based on a Spanish mmersion Charter School myself and other concerned
parents tried to start-up; however, with economy tanked so the school board did not
have the funds to sponsor us although a local university approved our plan and was
willing to partner with us. used PowerPoint as the development tool because it is
presentation software and allowed for audio as part of the demonstration. From this
project gained some real-world knowledge on how important it is to develop and
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present the information pertinent to school's for buy-in on a technology plan. had some
familiarity as a Technical Support Manager when believed it was time to upgrade the
operating system and office productivity tools, but this provided another opportunity to
blend my corporate knowledge with academia.
3.3 Implementation and Institutionalization-mplementation is using instructional
materials or strategies in real (not simulated) settings. nstitutionalization is the
continuing, routine use of the instructional innovation in the structure and culture of an
organization. The WebQuest is an artifact that aligns with this standard because it is an
instructional guide for students who desire to learn about how strawberries grow.
developed this instrument after taking my daughter to the strawberry patch with the
Mocha Moms organization. We viewed a 15 minute video on how strawberries grow
before being allowed to pick them. The video was too long for the toddler's and not
enough for the curious kindergarteners and first graders so developed this WebQuest
they could do with their parents either after the visit to reinforce the learning or before
returning to the farm the next season. A WebQuest is an excellent strategy for
implementing authentic learning for inquiry minds. t not only assists with gaining
knowledge in the subject area, but provides an interactive means of execution. n the
future will definitely use WebQuests in my Mommy Speaks Spanish curriculum to
engage my older students. t was created using Dreamweaver and a CSS sheet.
3.4 Policies and Regulations
Policies and regulations are the rules and actions of society (or its surrogates) that
affect the diffusion and use of nstructional Technology. The artifacts that align to this
standard are Netiquette and Scavenger Hunt. The Netiquette is the first web page
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created from HTML code and CSS that totally forgot about web design guidelines as
they relate to color schemes so originally had that electric blue background with black
fonts, which corrected of course. was so excited that was able to perform the task,
and that was able to provide some great information about communicating using email
and other online communication tools at work. These simple guidelines have to
continually be reinforced in the workplace. have used this artifact numerous times in
my former employment as part of my general rules slide when conducting online
training. The Scavenger Hunt was the second creation using HTML code and CSS,
however, this artifact has been critical for me as a refresher on copyright information.
Prior to the program had limited use with graphics, but in the EdTech program you
consistently are using graphics so benefitted personally from this task.
$tandard 4: Management
4.1 Project Management-Project management involves planning, monitoring, and
controlling instructional design and development projects. chose a Unit of nstruction
as the artifact because had to design a five lesson course with graphics in a limited
timeframe. used Weebly, a user friendly free website creation tool to layout the lesson
and other miscellaneous information for the task. t was my first experience in preparing
a K-1 lesson in full meaning that anyone could teach the class because the lesson was
laid out so thoroughly. After completing this artifact have a new found respect for K-12
teachers and the amount of prep time needed to develop lesson plans. n the future as
establish the curriculum for Mommy Speaks Spanish will definitely incorporate this
style or lesson planning. t will help immensely with the contract instructors employ.
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won't have to be as hands-on as am today when they teach because the lesson,
materials, and guidelines will be preset.
4.2 Resource Management-Resource management involves planning, monitoring, and
controlling resource support systems and services. To meet this standard, created a
Summative Evaluation report with two classmates Alison Koen and Kyle Manfre. We
provided and assessment of educational websites a school district wanted to place in
the portal. We evaluated the sites based on several areas and provided the report. This
task provided me with an opportunity to utilize my evaluation skills. n doing so it
generated an interest in possibility gaining employment as an evaluator. am still have
interest in it, but it tabled for future revisiting as am currently on contract as an
nstructor Designer.
4.3 Delivery System Management-Delivery system management involves planning,
monitoring and controlling 'the method by which distribution of instructional materials is
organized' . . . [t is] a combination of medium and method of usage that is employed to
present instructional information to a learner. The artifact chosen to represent this
standard is ntroduction to Spanish course that is was created in Moodle software. The
whole course had to followed the nstructional Design ADDE model and incorporated
Gagne's nine events of instruction to keep it engaging.
4.4 Information Management-nformation management involves planning, monitoring,
and controlling the storage, transfer, or processing of information in order to provide
resources for learning. Blogging is a great way to storage, transfer and process
information so my blog log for EdTech 505 has been chosen to represent this standard.
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t was my first experience blogging it felt uncomfortable at first, but it is ok now. created
my blog site in WordPress without too much effort. am still learning the dashboard as it
seems to have been recently updated, but otherwise WordPress is very easy to use.
really like using blogging as a reflection tool. t truly helps to process information and
gain feedback from others. n the future will add a blog section to the Mommy Speaks
Spanish website and do a weekly entry about learning a second language. believe
have some very good information can pass along. t will move my site into the now.
$tandard 5: EvaIuation
.1 Problem Analysis-Problem analysis involves determining the nature and parameters
of the problem by using information-gathering and decision-making strategies. For this
standard chose an Evaluation Report did for my sub-division on why volunteerism is
down. t was not my original topic and trying to catch up with the board members and
neighbors was quite a challenge, so it wasn't my best work, but what realized in the
midst of doing the report is that am one of those community members who don't
volunteer. However, my reason has to do with a crazy work, school and family
schedule, but do plan to change that in January. love my neighborhood and realize
that the original residents are dying off or are have limited mobility so rather than just
enjoying the fruits of their labor am going to add some of my own to the community.
.2 Criterion-Referenced Measurement-Criterion-referenced measurement involves
techniques for determining learner mastery of pre-specified content. Rubrics are one of
the most commonly used criterion-referenced tools to align with the standard chose
two artifacts WebQuest Rubric and a Learner Assessment Rubric from the ntroduction
to Spanish course. These two examples were fairly easy to develop. One was created
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in Dreamweaver using a CSS and the other was in Microsoft word. They both measure
the learner's mastery of pre-specified skills that can be validated against the content.
.3 Formative and Summative Evaluation-Formative evaluation involves gathering
information on adequacy and using this information as a basis for further development.
Summative evaluation involves gathering information on adequacy and using this
information to make decisions about utilization. Summative and Formative evaluation
are invaluable components of instruction design. To demonstrate their standard align
have chose to use the Summative Evaluation group project that evaluated websites for
inclusion in a school district's portal and a Request for Proposal (RFP) as the formative
evaluation component completed by the same team of classmates. The request for
proposal included the budget, staff, and task schedule. This task was an excellent
exercise in preparing RFP's in the real world. This was my first exercise in responding
to an RFP. This will be a valuable asset in the future when my hybrid course excels and
need to send out RPF for necessary products and services.
.4 Long-Range Planning-Long-range planning that focuses on the organization as a
whole is strategic planning. Long-range is usually defined as a future period of about
three to five years or longer. During strategic planning, managers are trying to decide in
the present what must be done to ensure organizational success in the future. The
artifact chosen to represent this standard is the Technology Use Plan. t addresses the
current and long-term needs of a school technology needs strategically so the
organization as a whole can decide what must be done to ensure organizational
success in the future.
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oncIusion
believe have sufficiently demonstrated through my artifacts the standards
Overall my three years leading up to my completion of the EdTech program have been
great, but not without many personal challenges in my life! am just thankful that had
the pleasure of collaborating with my peers and that the professors were always
available and ready to assist when possible. plan to use my EdTech Degree and
certificate in Online Adult teaching to pursue an online instructor position at the
university level. am also looking forward to utilizing my new skills to improve my
Spanish program once start it back up again in the spring. Additionally, will be
passing along a lot of the free resources to my daughter's school for the students and
teachers to utilize as part of their curriculum and finally take some time to just savor the
moment.
Thank you again to everyone involved at Boise State University.
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#eferences
Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (1979). Goal setting-A motivational technique that works.
rganizational Dynamics, 8(2), 68-80.
Smith, P., & Ragan, T. (2005). Instructional design. John Wiley & Sons, nc.