Resolution

  • Ileana de la Teja

  • Karin Lundgren-Cayrol

PID_00148219
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Introduction

This section takes you to the next step in your role as instructional design consultant. It consists in communicating a possible solution to the client by showing examples and providing a synthesis of the preparation and analyses results. This is usually done in the form of a report.

1.Solving the Case

Solving the Case is about designing a simple BL scenario that accentuates the benefits of the BL in the case of the training unit on 'Conflict Resolution' at the NGTD. Further, you will here compose the final Report on Blended Learning that will contain all the outcomes from each of the activities as well as an introduction and a conclusion to further clarify the case.

1.1.Designing a Blended Learning Scenario

Blended learning takes shape in this activity. Supported by the analysis and information resulting from previous activities, the creativity of the instructional designer is used to propose a blended learning scenario. This activity is generic and the solution aims at helping instructional designers to get a concrete hold of designing a BL solution.
Competency: iii) Apply instructional design principles to developing a simple blended learning scenario
Objective: Propose activities and tools for a blended learning Scenario
Questions:
How do instructional designers represent a BL scenario? What does blended learning "look like"? What content and learning level is facilitated by what type of learning strategy? How are media chosen to enhance learning in a blended setting? What are the fallacies of blended learning?
Tasks:

  • Read the situation and questions carefully

  • Consult 2 resources on Conflict Management from the list in the resources section or find your own resources to identify main issues on Conflict Management

  • Choose one or two characteristics of Conflict Management that you would like to address in your BL scenario

  • Design a BL scenario including learner and instructor activities, learning objectives and resources (i.e., tools, software, instruments, questionnaires, etc...). Don't forget to include evaluation schemes

  • Add a justification for your choices

Situation:
The information required by the NGTD regarding blended learning could not be complete without examples. According to your mandate you need to include in your report a section with examples of BL scenario.
To illustrate a BL solution, prepare a scenario for a course dealing with how to improve conflict resolution in the work place. The scenario needs to correspond to a 15 hour BL workshop stretching over 3 weeks on conflict resolution for newly hired employees at the NFTD. The workshop must include a facilitator and learning activities as well as an evaluation scheme. Moreover, it is important to consider which computer tools and software are needed and what type of infrastructure they will require.
The target population is composed of new employees who are familiar with new technologies such as videoconferencing, chat and blogs, but they may not proficient and therefore might need some assistance, if those tools are to be used. They are proficient in word-processing, presentation tools, and spreadsheets. The NGTD offers all workshops during regular hours, which makes it more attractive to students and usually results in a higher level of motivation to learn. They are all proficient in English as a second language and it is important to take into account the student's experience with conflict resolution. To learn more about conflict resolution and what it entails, please consult the suggested resources in this activity's resource section. You may also search for other resources and use your own experience.
The NGTD training technical infrastructure includes a point to point videoconferencing room (seating for 10 people); a textual forum; Click to meet, multiple point, videoconferencing. All employees have a personal computer, with MS office software.
If you consider that other tools and technology are required in the scenario that you will propose, you only need to describe them and indicate where and how they would be used.
Choose the type of blend that you consider most appropriate to the context that you analyzed during Activity 1.3 (Interaction). Justify your choice in a brief introduction to your blended solution.
If you use existing materials in your solution, it is essential to include the reference. Respect of copyrights and intellectual property is at the heart of the ethics of instructional designers.
Upload your work to the ePortfolio, where the Supervisor of the Mandate will give you feedback before you go on writing the Report.
Outcomes:
A blended learning scenario of a workshop on conflict resolution in the workplace:
1) Introduction to the scenario: Type of blended learning chosen and why. Use the outcome from Activity 1.3 (Interaction).
2) Justification: Why this type of BL could be appropriate in the government context. Use the outcome from Activity 2.2. Analyzing the organizational and training context (Interaction).
3) Description of the following elements:

  • Activities for the learners

  • Activities for the instructor

  • Evaluation strategies

  • Information and communication tools.

Suggested resources

EPIC Group White paper (2005) Top 10 lists: Twenty Top 10s in e-learning. Retrieved June 13, 2009, from http://www.trainingshare.com/news/topten.htm

http://asianvu.com/bookstoread/framework/blended-learning.pdfHarvey Singh

. Building Effective Blended Learning Programs. November - December 2003 Issue of Educational Technology,Volume 43, Number 6, Pages 51-54. Retrieved June 13, 2009.

Larry R. Irons, Robert Keel, Cheryl L. Bielema (2002). Blended Learning and Learner Satisfaction: Keys to User Acceptance

? Retrieved June 6, 2009, from

http://www.usdla.org/html/journal/DEC02_Issue/article04.html

Online Training (2009). Conflict Resolution Overview of Resources. Retrieved June 10, 2009, from http://www.ohrd.wisc.edu/onlinetraining/resolution/index.asp

Project management Online Class: Conflict Resolution - Learn Basic Mediation Skills (2009). From the official website at Universal Class. Retrieved June 11, 2009, from http://www.universalclass.com/i/crn/30043.htm?gclid=COegnNHhhJsCFRZM5Qod9gmqpg

Valiathan, P. (2002). Blended Learning Models

. Retrieved May 14, 2009, from

http://www.astd.org/LC/2002/0802_valiathan.htm

1.2.Writing the Report: ''The Instructional Designer's Perspective''

According to the International Board of Standards for Training, Performance, and Instruction (www.ibstpi.org), "experts practitioners are expected to document their work as a basis for future projects, as well as for presentation and publication in professional venues. Such documentation is critical to advancing the field." (Richey, Fields & Foxon, 2001, p. 61).
This is usually the last step in the consultant's work in order to communicate findings to a client. In this activity you will document your work on BL and compose a final report that includes the outcomes from all the activities plus an introduction (50 to 100 words) and a conclusion reflecting your thoughts on the implications for instructional design (100 to 250 words).
Competency: iv) Apply principles to documenting your instructional design work on blended learning.
Objective: Document your proposition of a blended learning solution.
Questions:
On what support are my ideas on blended learning based? Will the references and comments to the reference in this work help others to take decisions on the instructional design of blended learning? How robust is my proposition of a blended learning solution?
Situation:
As a consultant to the NGTD, you are asked to document your work and to present it in a professional report. This means that it presents an introduction to the mandate, including the objectives of the NGTD and your objectives as a consultant, the results for each part of the mandate, and a conclusion containing a synthesis of your work.
The activities you have carried in the context of the mandate of the NGTD assume that you have consulted a variety of resources and that you recognize the knowledge of their authors. The resulting report requires that those resources are referenced in a systematic way that shows the range and depth of topics covered. The aim is not to build a list of resources on blended learning, but to present a selection of those resources that were significant in the accomplishment of each one of the activities. In order to produce a useful report that will provide decision makers with useful information and help instructional designers to further their understanding of instructional design of blended learning solutions, the references to the resources need to be organized and commented. Use the template for the bibliography to complete the references. Present the references according to the APA style (please see information in the introductory section).
Edit the ePortfolio to provide a complete report of your project. Complete the annotated bibliography / webography. Make sure you provide, at least 2 annotated references to each part of the report.
Outcomes:
Report should include the following parts:

  • Front page containing title, your name and the date

  • Introduction

  • Definitions and characteristics of different types of BL (offline versus online; instructor-led versus autonomous or in depended learning; synchronous versus asynchronous tools)

  • Instructional Design Issues (guidelines)

  • Examples (your scenario and activities), including contextual considerations

  • Conclusion

  • Bibliography (APA style)

2.Reflecting upon your case (self-assestment)

Competency: iv) Apply principles to documenting your instructional design work on blended learning.
Objective: Reflect on the knowledge gained from designing blended learning solutions experience.
Situation: The activity in this section concludes the work of a consultant in the context of the mandate on blended learning design for government settings. It is part of the instructional designers competencies proposed by the ibstpi: " Reflect upon the elements of a situation before finalizing design solutions and strategies." (Richey, Fields & Foxon, 2001, p. 72).
Questions about learning: What did I learned by fulfilling a mandate on blended learning instructional design? What is my contribution to the field? What are the limits of my report?
Situation:
Professional instructional designers, in the words of Rowland (1993), are persons who reflect upon their work.
"Experienced designers know that design solutions often need to be revisited and modified as the underlying complexities of an organizational problem become clearer. This all characterizes design reflection." (Richie, Fields & Foxon, 2001, p.72).
To complete the project initiated in this course, it is important to do a debriefing on the learning experiences gained. You are requested to assess your learning.
Complete the evaluation form
1. Asses your learning success. Use the competency assessment tool and compare your results of your self-evaluation at the beginning and at the end of the course.
Resources:
Competency assessment tool (1)