Three Blog Sites of Which I Did Not Know Existed Until This Past Week

            This is the first post on a new blog that I have created specifically for a course at Walden University, EDUC 6115.  Because I am particularly fond of the blog title, I will probably continue to keep this blog updated after the course is over.  In considering the top of instruction design, the best resources may be the experts, the individuals who work with the subject on a daily basis.
            "Pinnacle Point of View" is a blog maintained by Pinnacle, an organization whose area of interest is enabling and equipping individuals to share information related to their own fields to become successful.  With writings that go in-depth in explaining the research behind whatever they are discussing, the reader is able to understand what the bloggers are writing.  One of the posts, "Too Much Information Interferes With Thinking" (2013) discusses too much information too quickly can overload an individual and prohibit him or her from learning.  Points for consideration such as this are useful for an instructional designer.  At this time, there are only two posts, so it will be interesting to see how the bloggers develop the blog.
            The "Mind/Shift" blog from KQED is another blog with plenty of good resources for an instructional designer.  As I am looking at ID from the perspective of a classroom teacher, as well as others in this course, this site's blog has good advice to consider.  Most blog posts begin with a section on the concept, followed by positives and negatives from the practice, and lastly there is a guide on how best to implement strategy in the classroom.  "How Leadership Can Make or Break Classroom Innovation" (2013) seems to be a blog post which would have made a fantastic optional resource in EDUC 6105.  The blog post relates how classroom teachers should be willing to take chances and tailor curriculum in a way that meets the specific needs of both the school and the classroom as organizations both.  If the reader of the blog is able to look past the classroom-specific language to the root principles contained within, this would be a helpful post for many instructional designers.
            "Kate Miffitt: Musings on Learning, Design, and Technology" is another instructional design blog with potential.  Like "Pinnacle Point of View," there are only a couple posts on the blog at this time, but the posts published are useful and well thought out.  Miffitt's initial post, "The Value of an Instructional Designer" (2013), was an informative read for me.  I am a teacher by profession, and this blog post specifically deals with the differences between instructional designers and teachers.  She uses the analogy of someone who takes photos compared against a photographer.  This simple post has helped me in gaining insight into the program in which I am enrolled at Walden University.
            Blogs can be a valuable electronic collaboration resource, a way to learn from each other.  Through blogs, people can share thoughts and ideas with each other.  These three are some of the ones which I looked at and found interesting, as they have information which I can put into practice as an instructional designer in a high school classroom setting.

References

Miffitt, K. (2013, Oct. 21). The value of an instructional designer. Retrieved from http://katemiffitt.com/2013/10/21/value-of-instructional-designer/.

Rossett, A., & Mosher, B. (2013, Oct. 23). Too much information interferes with thinking. Retrieved from http://pinnaclepointofview.wordpress.com/2013/10/23/too-much-information-interferes-with-thinking/.

Schwartz, K. (2013, June 6).  How leadership can make or break classroom innovation. Retrieved from mindshift.