Instructional Innovation & Competency Based Learning

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More schools and colleges are seeking new and innovative learning models to provide students with greater engagement, flexibility, and control of their learning experience. (Southern Regional Education Board, 2018). This statement embodies much of what I learned this week and ties together how multiple components factor into the modern educational experience for students.

Instructional innovation highlights the many ways that technology is currently reshaping how we learn, including mobile learning, social connection, and student-based creation. Competency-based education coupled with adaptive learning allows students to gain knowledge at their own pace while using periodic assessment to gauge competency, while ensuring mastery of concepts before allowing students to move forward within a course.

Familiarizing myself with concepts such as this will continue to expand my knowledge and understanding of educational technology, especially as it relates to specific frameworks such as the aforementioned competency-based learning model. Having reference for the various ways to approach educational design will not only bolster my knowledge but help me towards becoming a better instructional technologist. In this regard, it is easy to see how proper implementation of such a model would create an organized approach when gauging student progress and aiding efforts to provide them with successful outcomes throughout their secondary and post-secondary careers. 

In the future I would like to examine other concepts seen as innovative within educational technology to see how approaches and mediums deviate from more conservative learning models. This article includes such information: 

https://www.goguardian.com/blog/technology/9-unique-ways-to-use-technology-in-the-classroom/

 

Briggs, S. (2015, March 30). 10 Most Powerful Uses of Technology for Learning. Innovation Excellence. www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2015/03/30/10-most-powerful-uses-of-technology-for-learning/

Glowa, L., & Patrick, S. (2013, February). Re-Engineering Information Technology: Design Considerations for Competency Education. Aurora Institute. https://aurora-institute.org/resource/re-engineering-information-technology-design-considerations-for-competency-education/

Southern Regional Education Board. (2018, February). 10 Issues in Educational Technology. SREB. https://www.sreb.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/10issues_v8-web_version_accessible.pdf?1521568731

 

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