In my first reflection a paper I started my ruminating on my initial thoughts prior to enrolling for this class. Most of my professional background is in direct-services, but transitioning over into educational broadcasting and merging that with Family Engagement peeked my interest in Technological product-based work. Being that I don’t a have strong background in Technology, I find it challenging at times to really articulate or use the verbiage while discussing instructional design.

However, I’ve learned so much already.

Reading through the few chapters that we’ve read, has opened my mind to understanding exactly what instructional design entails. Through the readings thus far, we’ve explored key foundational concepts. I’ve also enjoyed learning about the differences between training as a task vs. training as a profession. A big aha moment for me was learning that a lot of the work in instructional design is research-based and analytical. Attaining information about the learners and their needs is probably the largest most important task.

Although instructional design has evolved a lot over time especially with technological advancement, I love that fact Cennamo and Kalk provides a holistic overview approach to the field. The Define, Design, Demonstrate, develop, and deliver is a sound and comprehensive framework. I like how they provide really practical examples of how to apply these concepts and how they look in the real world, additionally to our case study activities. Chapter 2 of Cennamo and Kalk has been my favorite thus far, because it really focuses on the learner and this work is learner-centered.

I love how both books give statistics and keeps us abreast to how these theoretical concepts have translated into outcomes in the real world. Although, we are learning a lot of theoretical concepts, the content is still very pragmatic.