EDTC 6332 Practicum

Reflection Six

On my last reflection page, I wrote about waiting for Expert Judgment’s feedback. I received her feedback on November 13th. While waiting, I must admit, I was quite nervous to read her comments. She being a true expert in her field, I was afraid of receiving negative feedback comments. To my delight, her comments made me feel worthy of being a good instructional designer. Thus, allowing me to finish my project. I completed the following:

·         Summative Evaluation

o   Expert Judgment

·         Instructional Solution

In addition, I double and triple checked that the wiki page I created for this project had the following items working properly before submitting:

·         Wiki page links

·         Wiki page navigation

·         Proofread for grammar and spelling

·         Added images

Not all of my expert’s feedback comments were positively-flowery. She had a few suggestions on some negatives. So for my short-term work objectives, I plan to modify training videos upon her recommendations. For example, she would have liked to have seen “more slides with detailed instruction.” In addition, I would converse with the teachers, so that “if the information they received was sufficient or not.” I know if I follow her recommendations, I would have a better understanding as to where teachers stand and feel about creating and learning blog.

The advice I would give to classmates is take all feedback comments into consideration. As instructional designers, I know they are aware of this advice. Though sometimes we forget and I am merely reminding.

I can only speak for myself, but when I receive positive feedback, I feel I am growing as an instructional designer. It helps me realize that the projects I work long and hard on are a product of my own learning. In the example of this project, here is a positive comment: “The design is very user friendly. Technical information is presented in an understandable way even to a tech novice. The format left enough flexibility to the trainer and trainees to customize the blog according to their specific needs and objectives.” I smile and say, thanks be to God!

However, when I receive negative feedback, I feel as if I missed something and failed to teach my audience the material. I read two or three times the negative feedback, take deep breaths and try to be open-minded about their comment. After my ritual, I digest the comment(s) and begin to brainstorm what I need to do to modify my project. In the example of this project, here is a negative comment: “One teacher has a very basic understanding of computers thus the negative responses to certain questions.”

So what do I do? I would take my expert’s recommendation and modify all video modules to include additional slides measurably explaining “those functions the teachers would need to create a simple, but interesting communication blog.”