Curriculum? Instructional design?

As I learned that Toastmasters has a Chief Instructional Designer, and after I got even to speak with her, last summer, I went in search of what "Instructional Designer" means.

That was the first image I liked, even if I did not understand it yet really well. Of course, "keep innovating" means also the cycle begins - if not from all the beginning again - and as Smedey said, we learn in a fun and engaging environment. But this picture as pretty it is, has not all in it. 

Then I found this three books all talking about how you create a new educational environment for adults. Going in details and describing all the different methods and means and new time's possibilities. Blending them into one "curriculum" delivered usually nowadays by more then one means.

Here they are in the order I found them, "More then Blended Learning" from Clive Shepherd in February. I wrote about it first in February. 

His book, written 7 years before that, The New Learning Architect, discovered by me in March. Both take up the same subject from different angles. He considers himself as an "Architect", putting in the broad lines of what will then be constructed by a builder: perhaps Pat did that part mostly for Pathways, even if it was experiential and team of 250 Toastmasters volunteers work and lasted through years. 

Design for the people to learn, is a relative recent book, with delightful speaking images in it, explaining me some new aspects of creating a NEW Adult Education Environment. I will show (did I not yet?) some of them in another post.

Last week I went again to web and googled, this time to discover what is "curriculum" or "curriculum design" Pat Johnson (see yesterdays video) used often. 

Selecting aims and objectives. 
Selecting a "learning experience". 
Selecting the content. 
Organizing and integrating the "experience" and "content". 
Evaluating again.

To understand the "Experience" the more then Blended Learning explain the different ways the same content could be delivered, or means blended together. In class or club, online, together or alone, top down or on-demand and so on. It also explains while how we learn (methods) did not change in thousand years, the possible methods of delivery changed with the information age.

Developing a curriculum? 
Developing a content?

Remember from Pat: deciding the Target audiences, Main Goals. Main principles. 

Then only begin thinking about the "instructional strategy", the logistics and possibilities.

How the instruction will be assessed In the case of Pathways, by oneself, as it is no Fail/Pass as already Smedley decided it. Honor system, Pat called it. 

It will take time to Evaluate Effectiveness, and then change some parts of the curriculum. Add to it, as it is projected already.

And all this is only preparing and not yet implementing the new system. A lot of work!

In Pathways, we have Peer to Peer not teacher based. 
Based on Projects and inside a club speech and evaluations. 
We have a learning platform that is the Base Camp, global connections and community based. Level 1 develops our Essential skills. Level 2 makes us reflect on our past experiences. But there is more to it. All this pictures are nice, round, but not complete. 

Remember? All of you who did begin does remember that every Self Assessment After, finishes in Pathways with "Do you recognize that this is useful outside Toastmasters?" Pathways was designed to Do, Reflect on what we did, Discuss what we found, and also to take it outside the club.

Now you understand why I have difficulty with my Research Project. I found a lot of information, and here I showed you a bit of it only. I begun to understand how Pathways was designed and why. Begun. Still a long way to go even if after listening to Pat and the answers she gave also (see yesterday video) I understood more then before.