Entry 3: Hitting refresh

As I think about my ultimate research interest of redesigning the professional development experience for incorporating technology for in-service teachers, I have come to the realization that I must think about the situation from several angles. In Creative Confidence, the authors stress looking as a well known situation with fresh eyes. I need to make sure I'm doing that with professional development. In my mind, I feel like I know the territory so well because I've interacted with it both from the learner and trainer angles. I was already thinking that I knew the problems with the existing system, but now I realize I'm only seeing it from my perspective, and that is only one of many. I need to talk to and observe teachers using technology in their classrooms. I need to know how they think about technology when they plan a lesson. Is it an innate part of the process or are they forcing it in? How does that affect their participation in the PD for this subject? I also need to talk to current trainers and look at their design process.  Whoa! This is overwhelming....

Entry 2: Which path to take?

Talk about being split in two. David and Tom Kelley's Creative Confidence made me really consider where I fall in how I see myself in terms of creativity. In some respects, I think I am creative. I love to write fiction and make up stories. On the other hand, I feel a kindred spirit with the students in d.school who immediately want to solve a problem and move on. I too dislike unanswered questions hanging around. When it comes to my design project, I don't want the latter attitude to hinder me. As soon as I heard about and started to use Storyline, I just knew it was the tool I wanted to use for my design project. But what if I'm just looking for that quick answer, and in doing so, not allowing myself to find the best answer. As I move through the course and my research, I will have to make a conscience effort to keep an open mind.

I keep thinking back to the idea that we must take the whole spectrum of users into account when designing a solution. How can I get to to know the whole spectrum? How will I know when I've found it? For this class, I may not have enough time to truly answer this question, but as I move forward with this vision, I need to keep it in the back of my mind. I need to be willing to change and expand it. As I begin, I feel like I am standing at not just a fork in the road, but a hundred different forks with unknown outcomes, challenges, and rewards. I will need to figure out how far down a path I need to go before deciding to turn back and try another. Confidence, creative and otherwise, will be needed to make these decisions.