Assignment 6, Annotation

This is a qualitative study, 'ROADMAP TO MEASURING DISTANCE EDUCATION INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN COMPETENCIES' by Dooley, et al. in 2007, ’ assessed changes in competence in 12 areas of adult learning strategies, using open-ended narrative interviews that were analyzed using a ‘constant comparative method’ to document the distance learning process.
The authors developed this study to investigate the need for distance education teachers to be effectively trained in the technology needed to implement their online courses seamlessly. Dooley, Lindner, et al., take it one step further to determine how well those teachers can use the necessary technology (Irani & Telg, 2001; Telg, 1995), because many instructional designers who are well versed in the technologies used in education, are not as well versed in the application of that technologies to the educational process.
Notwithstanding their skills in the technical field of the devices themselves, they “do not have the theoretical knowledge as it relates to distance education,” and many of them admitted that they learned the academic application “while on the job” (Telg, 1995).
The authors enlisted six universities to collaborate with them in a “train-the-trainer” approach to “Effective Distance Education Instructional Design” in 12 different areas including adult learning, teaching at a distance, instructional design, course development, delivery strategies for distance teaching, instructional technology resources, advanced interaction methods, accessibility, planning and conducting evaluation, evaluation analysis and reporting, administrative issues, and training and support.
The research was conducted monthly, over a period of nine months to provide a variety of related tasks to train the universities’ own faculty members. The efficacy of that training was measured using short ‘hands on’ exercises designed to test competency after three weeks of content delivery and a microproject in each of the 12 areas.
One of the aspects they were studying was the ability to measure self-assessed perceived growth as a result of competency-based training programs, which they viewed as a major issue. This study assessed the participants in their natural settings, trainers training trainers in actual learning environments, and naturally followed a qualitative paradigm, which Antonacoupolou, Kellie, and Smith each observed in separate studies in 1999.
I found this to be an extremely relevant article, especially in view of the problem of teachers of non-technical topics having to learn technology in order to teach their subject effectively. It is therefore extremely important that the trainers not only know their technology, but also how to effectively implement that technology transparently, so that it does not become “yet another job to do” for the already overworked teachers who need to use it.
Charles Lee

Bibliography
Antonacopoulou, E. P. (1999). Training does not imply learning: The individual’s perspective. Roadmap to Measuring Distance Education Instructional Design Competencies 159 International Journal of Training and Development, 3(1), 14-33.
Dooley, Kim E.; Lindner, James R.; Telg, Ricky W.; Irani, Tracy; Moore, Lori; Lundy, Lisa (2007). ROADMAP TO MEASURING DISTANCE EDUCATION INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN COMPETENCIES. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, Vol. 8 Issue 2, p151-159, 9p
Irani, T., & Telg, R W. (2001). Planning for the new wave: Assessing current faculty distance education training and development needs. Journal of Applied Communications, 85(4), 7-18.
Kellie, D. (1999). The Australian way: Competency-based training in the corporate sector. International Journal of Training and Development, 3(2), 118-131.
Smith, E. (1999). Ten years of competency-based training: The experience of accredited training providers in Australia. International Journal of Training and Development, 3(2), 106-117.
Telg, R. W. (1996b). Skills and knowledge needed by television production specialists in distance education. Educational Technology Research and Development, 44(3), 73-82.