Graduate / Admission Essay for MA (Instructional Design and Technology) [8]

Hi,

I am applying for a MA program and needed to write an essay on the following: State why you wish to pursue this programme and how you would use the knowledge gained from it in practice. Here is my draft. Kindly comment. Thank you.

"During a sharing session by a senior nurse educator, she summed up by inviting all of us (at the seminar) to try out the newly released online Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS) courseware. I wasted no time testing out the courseware. I thought the courseware was engaging and I enjoyed trying out the quizzes, which provided instant responses. However, I fretted. How I wished the previously developed courseware which I had seen in other contexts, was of the same standard as this 'gem'.

In almost 8 years of my working experience, I have been involved in the use of technology in teaching, learning and training. I worked with schools and in corporate education and training environment (healthcare). Till now, I am amazed at how much technology has evolved. To me, these are opportunities. Opportunities to do what was practically not possible before. Opportunities to innovate and improve.

I am still amazed at how technology is being used in promoting learning, training and teaching. Contrary to improving and enhancing, more often than not, technology was the emphasis instead of learning.

I have witnessed students grappling with technology (animation, image/audio/video editing, etc). They grappled because they wanted to hand in a "perfect" piece of work. When this happened, a lot of time was spent by students experimenting with the software. The focus on the actual learning of content was somewhat subdued.

My experience in the corporate setting brought about a different set of issues. The prominent but inevitable (I guess) was the lack of time and knowledge in developing content. Because of this, most content was developed using a rapid tool (with a small video of the presenter accompanied by the screen captures). MCQ questions were appended to complete the courseware which very much lacking in ensuring that learners have actually learnt what they were supposed to learn. Huge amount of money was spent on the systems infrastructure but it was not being utilized in the most effective way. I knew something was just not quite right.

Along the way in the course of my job, I began to shift from the predominantly technical roles, to the learning and training realm. It was not a matter of 'by chance'. It was indeed deliberate and necessary. I had to make the management/decision-makers understand how technology can be integrated effectively in training as well as the learning processes. I must convince them that it's instruction that is driving technology and not the other way.

Identifying learning needs, planning training strategies, developing learning packages and preparing evaluations were some aspects of training and learning that became part of my scope, although they were not the primary focus. I started to realize that these functions appealed to me and in fact I had already been doing them before in bite sizes. I began reading books on instructional design practices and applied what I could in the field. My interest deepened since I am able to engage my strength in the technology capabilities (e-learning). However these skills require refinement and development that a comprehensive Instructional Design program can provide.

I began finding out about the MAIDT program through friends (who have done it before) and via it's website. The program suits my needs and aspirations. It is flexible in that I am able to apply what I will learn in a wide array of educational and corporate settings. It has a wide choice of optional modules for me to choose to cater to my interest yet covering the essentials core units.

Research Papers / 1st attempt at writing research paper - A Lit Review [5]

Hi,

This is an intro to a 1:1 lit review. Pls comment of the style of writing, grammar and anything deemded to be commented. Thank you.

"It is really not about laptops. It's about what the one-to-one laptops enable in terms of new ways of teaching and learning." (article 15)

In 1985, Apple Computer Inc collaborated with public schools and other institutions that pioneered a one-to-one computer access project (article 21). The Apple Classrooms of Future (ACOT) provided teachers and students in five public school sites with personal computers for school and home use (article 42). Four years later, the first one-to-one laptop program was launched in Australia at the Ladies Methodist College (article 43). Since then, one-to-one laptop initiatives expanded rapidly across the globe. In 1996, Microsoft Corporation and Toshiba America worked in partnership and initiated the Anytime Anywhere Learning (AAL) project. 26 private and public schools were involved in the pilot study (article 41). Maine's laptop program is by far the largest laptop project to date. Entitled the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI), the project involved 36,000 laptops, 33,000 students and 3000 teachers (article 26). Soon, other states began to follow suit. One-to-one laptop programs have also made their presence in many places such as UK, France, Canada, Austria, China, Israel and Malaysia. In local context, one-to-one laptop programs are scarce. In 2005, SRI (article 32) reported their findings on laptops program implemented in two secondary schools. Another smaller self-initiated program was launched by ISS in 2008. At current, the program is still on going (ISS website). Although one-to-one laptop started about 20 years ago, research in the field of English language and Literature teaching/learning are scanty. Our scan on 45 articles, including journal publications, technical reports and websites, yielded only 20% of such studies. Most one-to-one laptops are multidisciplinary or discussed on other specific topics such as professional development, benefits and students achievements.