Human Performance Technology

I had a few thoughts that made me really think about things from our class discussion today that I'd like to mention here.

First, we discussed Conference, and how the Spirit influences teaching. I wasn't going to mention that because I was trying to rely on secular learning to defend my ideas. But really, for me, one idea that stuck out to me from Conference about teaching and learning was the importance of love ina classroom, specifically love of a teacher for his or her students. While perhaps a very difficult factor in learning to measure, I feel these are very important.

I once wrote a paper for a journalism class titled "Spit Responsibly," comparing the evils of texting (with its interruptions and disrespect for person next to you being ignored while you reply) with the baseball-player's habit of spitting seeds. In certain contexts, both may seem like necessary, but in those same contexts, both may seem offensive and annoying to others present. The topic I was trying to describe was the idea of technology etiquette, which we discussed today. I looked up the topic online and there were a few ideas for cell phone etiquette and online etiquette, and not much for technology etiquette, but I know that it is a very real issue. I enjoyed Julie's remarks on the affects of technology on the family, how we are much more distracted in general. I believe technology is unfortunately distracting, at least as often as it is helpful. This idea of the origin of etiquette was very interesting for me as well. In the end, each of us really does get to choose how we will use or not use the technology before us, because it is so readily available. I also like the idea that technology is becoming less an issue of content, but of helping people know how to choose the best content. This is something that interests me.

Learning about Human Performance Technology was also enlightening for me. The more time I spend with instruction, the more I realize its limitations. There are so many other things that influence a person's learning, many of which are very difficult to isolate and control. But the more often we attempt to do that, the more often we will succeed. I think more people implement human performance technology than realize it.

I also really enjoyed the article we read at the end of class, as it helped me see learning about Instructional Technology in new ways. I have personally been trying to understand better my purpose and role as a student in Instructional Technology, so learning about the proper way to be an Instructional Technologist from a Computer Science and Graduate Student perspective was very helpful and interesting for me. I especially enjoyed the truth in the irony that for an area of learning that concentrates so much on teaching and learning, how much of that do we actually apply in our classes?

Class today was great and helped me to see things in a new perspective.