Madeline Smith

EDCI 270
November 27, 2016
Instructional Website Narrative
This website was created with the intent of instructing a 7 th grade social
studies class on the Silk Road. However, in order to fully convey and present the
material so that all students had an equal chance of understanding the lesson, it
was necessary to expound upon the required primary elements of the interactive
module and instructional video. Therefore, a variety of secondary elements were
used to ensure the best learning experience possible. In the website itself, there is a
section located on the interactive module page to allow students to submit
questions directly to the teacher. This section was built to allow students to come
out of the module and if they have any questions regarding the subject material, to
immediately send them off to their teacher. Another secondary element in the
website itself is a survey and comment section on the instructional video page for
students to record one interesting thing they learned from the video. This item not
only exists so that students will pay attention and learn something new from the
video, but it also allows the teacher to get a good idea as to whether the video was
useful to the student. If the students find nothing new from the video, it may not be
very helpful. The other secondary elements are actually embedded within the
primary elements of the website. Within the interactive module, there is both an
integrated YouTube video, but also several interactive activities that can be
conducted within the module. The YouTube video was integrated to provide a
different perspective on the topic and to break up the monotony of the rest of the
tutorial. The activities on the other hand, serve as a way for learners to check that
they are grasping the presented material as well as to break up the monotony of
reading or listening to slides. Finally, there are several secondary elements in the
instructional video. The video itself was created using Camtasia, which allowed for
easy editing graphics and information into one cohesive document in order to
emphasize certain points. Additionally, a picktochart was included at the end of the
video to simplify what the video covered into one graphic as a refresher to the
viewer.
Through the creation of this instructional website, I have been able to
demonstrate two of the ISTE standards for teachers. The first standard is standard
two which says design and develop digital age learning experiences and
assessments. While creating the interactive module, instructional video, and the
assessment, I was able to design the material to be presented in a multitude of
ways for the learners, while incorporating useful technology tools that aided the
learning process. The second standard I was able to address, was actually the third
ISTE standard to model digital age work and learning. Throughout the creation of
my website, I was able to communicate the material both textually and orally to my
students with the help of a variety of tools. Additionally, I was able to create areas
in which there can be direct communication to the teacher so that there is no
hindrance should a student or parent need help understanding the assignment.

While creating this website, I have learned that through the meaningful and
strategic integration of technology, it is possible to enhance learning as you have a
multitude of ways through which you may present the material. This way, material
and subject matter may not get tedious since it will not be presented in the same
manner. Furthermore, by presenting the material in a variety of ways, you are more
likely to reach more students as each student learns differently, so one way may not
work for everyone. There are plenty of ways for the website to be enhanced given
the time. One improvement would be to add more activities, such as hand or print
outs, and resources for the student to refer to, thereby allowing them to explore the
material more in-depth if they so desire and allowing them access to more review
materials if the need arises.