If you have not already, you should click on each of the links above and become familiar with ISD before you begin developing your unit plan.
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Whenever you write a lesson or unit plan, you should think about Robert
Gagne's events of instruction, the instructional
systems design (ISD) process, and the ASSURE
model (a version of the ISD process). You should not just begin
writing a plan for instruction without thinking through the issues associated
with who your learners are, what special learner characteristics they have,
what outcomes you want, what your facilities have to offer, what kind of
instructional materials are available, how will you manage this learning
environment, and how will you know if you were successful. Time spent
doing the "upfront" analysis is time well spent. Remember, your unit
plan should be thought out carefully and you should know why you are doing
what you're doing.
If you have not already, you should click on each of the links above and become familiar with ISD before you begin developing your unit plan. |
There are several ways that you can write a unit plan and you should
follow the directions given to you by your professor. Here are some
ideas on how to write unit plans. The ISD process will help you understand
how to take any education/training need and create the learning environment
for successful learning. An instructional designer can take any topic
for education/training and he/she can design a unit plan or whole course
and not even know anything about the topic. The instructional designer
will first perform a complete analysis of the learning needs, target population,
resources, and training circumstances. Then he/she will work with
subject matter experts (people who know the subject matter) and they will
design the goals and objectives and decide what are the needs and how these
need will best be met. Then the ID specialist will develop and select
the most appropriate learning strategies and instructional materials to
meet the stated objectives. Finally, the ID specialist will implement
the instructional unit plan, evaluate the results, and revise as needed.
So, the ID specialist does not need to know the subject matter to plan
a very effective unit plan. He/she must, however, know the process
involved in making the decision of what (curriculum) and how (type of instruction
and instructional materials). Teachers in K-12 should become instructional
designers. Teachers need to know subject matter, if they are the
ones to deliver the instruction, but they also must know how to design
and implement the learning environment.
| Click on each of the following links and learn more about the use of
instructional technology in the field of education. Before you write
a unit plan, you should thoroughly know what options are available:
1. Instructional technology specialists are relying heavily on the constructivist approach to learning. (Read several links from this page so you understand the constructivist viewpoint to education and learning.) 2. The progressive education approach will best meet the requirements of a technology-rich learning envirornment. (This is a whole book called Engines for Education, so read as much of it as you have time and come back to it later. You can use ideas from this book in all your education courses and teaching experience.) 3. Action
research is necessary to assess and improve upon your unit plan.
(Read several links from this page. You should use action research
on a regular basis in your own teaching.)
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Here are some more links to go to before you write your unit plan.
These links will give you some ideas on how to write a lesson plan using
technology and in so doing you will demonstrate several advanced technology
competencies for your educational technology portfolio.
| 1. Go to ProTeacher
web site. Here you should read several of the articles on common
mistakes in writing a lesson plan, writing lesson plans with technology,
lesson plan templates, and more - plus you can get sample lesson plans
in any subject or grade area.
2. If you want to write your lesson plan with uses of technology
and you want to demonstrate technology competency for your educational
technology portfolio, go to Lesson
Planning and Lesson
Plan Ideas.
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Once you have read through the above links, you will be ready to write your own lesson plan.
Remember these tips to good lesson planning:
| 1. Know your students well. What are their strengths and
weaknesses? What skills and knowledge do they have already?
What special learning characteristics do they have?
2. State your objectives clearly and precisely. Your objectives drive the instruction and the evaluation. 3. Select an engaging and student-oriented instructional approach. Students need to gather information on their own, have time to discuss and collaborate with other students, and be involved in real-world learning tasks that are meaningful to them. 4. Select instructional materials/technologies that motivate students to learn, that are on the right instructional level for your students, and that help your students meet the objectives. 5. Include a plan for how you will evaluate the lesson plan.
Make sure that your assessment instruments measure your stated objectives.
Use all evaluation data to determine if your lesson plan met the stated
objectives and revise your plan as needed the next time you do it.
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One last tip: Instructional technology can be seen as a problem-solving
process for education. The unit/lesson plans can be thought of as
the plans that come from the instructional technology process of solving
an educational problem.