Design+Project

**__Analysis Overview __** The **purpose** **of my instruction** is to effectively instruct Preschool Special Education teachers on how to implement iPads into their classrooms. I chose this topic because I currently work in a Preschool Special Education class as an assistant. There are also two other similar programs at this elementary school. The program has received a grant for an iPad and will soon be able to use it to promote technology-based instruction and help with students’ retention of skills. My **instructional format** will be a wikispace tutorial. Placing this instruction on a wikispace ensures easy accessibility and sharing between teachers.

The **learners** are Preschool Special Education teachers. They do not have the knowledge to operate and incorporate the iPads into their classrooms. Most of the teachers do not have prior knowledge using iPads but do have basic computer skills. The main **constraint** will be that most teachers have not used Apple products before. The **context** in which the learners will be engaging with the instruction is anywhere with a device that has internet access. Teachers can access this instruction at work, home, or anywhere else they would like. Offering instruction online is convenient for the learners.

The **learning goals** for the teachers to accomplish are to become familiar with the iPad’s navigation and features so they can successfully operate it alone, to use the iPad to instruct their preschool special education students, and to present lessons using the iPad’s applications and features. These goals fall under the **cognitive domain** because they require knowledge and the development of intellectual skills to obtain. The **application** level within the cognitive domain fits these goals best because the learners are going to be applying their new knowledge about iPads to their instruction in the classroom. This instruction will somewhat increase the learners’ **intrinsic load** because it is unfamiliar information that may seem difficult at first. However, to help with comprehension and understanding, the instruction has been broken into **sub-schemas**, or subtopics.

To **assess** whether the learners successfully obtain the goals or not, a survey will be used. Each teacher will be asked to fill out a survey after they complete their instruction. The questions on the survey will be based on the learning goals, and there will also be room for specific comments about the instruction. This survey will allow me to know if my instruction could me improved in any way as well.

My instruction supports my learner’s **cognitive process**. My decisions during the design and development phase were based on my knowledge of the cognitive functions. **Working memory** has limitations, so by providing documents containing the same step-by-step information that the tutorials do, it reduces the **cognitive load**. The first time that someone uses an iPad based on their memory of the tutorial, their cognitive load may reach its limit. The step-by-step documents help provide assistance to learner’s working memory when applying their knowledge. It is important to give learners **active processing** opportunities so they feel involved in their learning and increase their retention. The video tutorials give the learner the opportunity to be active in their learning by watching the tutorial while following it with their iPad. The tutorials provide **dual channels** by providing text and video for visual learners and audio for auditory learners. Since the learners only have **prior knowledge** with basic computer skills, I have made the tutorials as simple and basic as possible since this is brand new knowledge. The learner’s **schemas** will find some familiar skills when using the iPad because there are some similarities among programming functions. I made sure the tutorials were basic enough for learners to connect their prior knowledge of computer skills with their new iPad skills.

I chose a wikispaces for the tutorial site because I believe the **layout** is clean and easy to follow. The navigation bar is located on the side, which is easily accessible and viewable. I chose to separate my tutorials so they would each have their own page to help reduce cognitive load due to becoming overwhelmed with three video tutorials on one page. The layout looks more professional, attractive, and clean with an organized navigation bar that links to separate tutorial pages. The **graphics** I chose were bright and eye-catching. However, I tried to use colors that blend well together as well as effective font color and size. The colors are bright but not blinding. I wanted the tutorial to be attractive but not overwhelming. I chose Jing as the **multimedia** delivery mode of the actual tutorials. Jing can capture audio and your computer screen, which allows for the delivery of an effective tutorial. To **reduce extrinsic load**, I tried to keep the instruction simple and focus on the essential components of what my learners needed to know. Any graphics I included were incorporated through page titles and text backgrounds instead of multiple nonessential graphics.