I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by all the assignments which have staggered deadlines, and of course choosing partners for group assignments is a little more difficult when I don't see (and know) many people. It was nice not to have to do any reading for this week though and to get a (manageable) Final Project firmed up.

I personally found the discussion about the pros and cons of didactic vs. constructivism interesting. As I mentioned in class, there's always the impression that constructivism is always better, but that's not necessarily the case. Also, I wonder if constructivism might not work better with older students (I'm sure there are people who would make a very strong case for constructivism in the early years of schooling because of its engagement factor). I do know that I appreciated didactic teaching when I was growing up, and with the strong foundation laid by didactic teaching, I was better able to utilize and appreciate constructivism. Another difference between didactic vs. constructivism is that didactic teaching focuses on breadth while constructivism focuses on depth. I think that there are times when breadth should not be sacrificed for depth.

I also appreciated our class discussion about the ADDIE model and teaching. During the discussion, I was considering which model might be my favorite model and although it's old (read: classic?), there's something to be said for the simplicity and yet completeness of the ADDIE model. I like that recursiveness may be accounted for just through the many iterations of the model--like someone said, it's just a matter of how many times it goes round the wheel.