Sources of interest

As you will see from my blog list to the right, the following blogs and websites have caught my attention recently.
As a forerunner I should just mention how hard I found it to find anything related to Instructional Design that didn't relate either to the field of Business Education, Adult Learning, or ICT professionals. The blogs and sites that I settled upon had a strong "practical" component and a limited use of unfamiliar vocabulary. I was seeking information that I could hooked into and hopefully add to and/or use in my daily life.





The first one, Integrating Technology into the Primary Classroom , is Kathleen McGeady's professional website about... well the title says it all really. A bonefide and self-proclaimed techno geek, Kathleen shares her experiences and adventures in Elementary ICT. The blog is user-friendly and visually stimulating as well as being packed with practical ideas, links and tech tools for teachers. I feel that Kathleen and my own experiences are likely to overlap and intertwine through this journey of Instructional Design Discoveries and that it will be valuable to share and reflect on each other's developments.



The next blog I chose was the Instructional Design Development blog out of DePaul University. Here we have a blog hosted by University faculty and students (much like MyWalden)which discuss new and interesting developments in the field of instructional design. As quoted "The site’s primary goal is to provide information on enhancing instruction through the use of technology". Some of the terminology here can be challenging for us "ICT immigrants" but I'm hoping that it will also help me become more familiar with some new concepts and with the common terms used by Instructional Designers.





The third blog Mewanderings is a more personal account of one man's journey through technology integration in the international school system (which is the system that I always have taught in). Paul McKenzie shares with us the trial and tribulations of his job as K-12 integration specialist in a variety on international school settings. This blog is probably most inline with what I do on a day-to-day basis and for this reason it has a more personal connection. As a true believer in "learning from others", I feel that his writings will help me reflect on my own thoughts. And, from reading some of his entries it would appear that Paul is open to professional collaboration.





And finally I have attached The Edublogger. This is site offers "Tips, tricks, ideas and help with using web 2.0 technologies and edublogs." The site is thorough and easy to access. The Edublogger's step-by-step tutorials really help me put what I am learning into effective practice.

As a footnote, I trust you have noticed the divergent roots of the blogs I chose. As an internationalist, a citizen of the world, a national of "wherever I lay my hat" I have deliberate chosen blogs written by people of different culture backgrounds to my own. I know what I think and how my culture shaped me. Now I want to know what the rest of the world has to offer! :-)