REFLECTION

What did you find surprising or striking as you furthered your knowledge about how people learn?

There were many surprises as I furthered my knowledge as to how people learned.  Although familiar with different learning theories, it was surprising to learn that people of different cultures bring different experiences to a classroom, which affects how they communicate, how they expect to learn, and what they think is worth learning.  It was also interesting to also learn that people are particular as to how they prefer to take in and process information.  Because learners have a feel as to their own abilities and expectations for success this will influence how they engage in the learning process.  Finally, the role that technology plays in our everyday learning process and how it can be implemented effectively in the educational process.

How has this course deepened your understanding of your personal learning process?

Although prior to this course I had never thought about my personal learning process, this course has taught me that it is important to understand your own personal learning process in order to expand your learning capabilities and be able to communicate those capabilities to others more effectively.  Knowing your personal learning style will help enable you to help students take control and manage their own learning as to setting goals and taking control of their own learning process.  Finally, identifying your learning style, will assist you as instructional designer in identifying not only your strengths and weakness but those of that you are instructing.

What have you learned regarding the connection between learning theories, learning styles, educational technology, and motivation?

Information that I have gathered as it pertains to the connection between learning theories, styles, educational technology and motivation is there is a place for each depending upon the situation and environment.   Whichever situation the instructional designer finds themselves in, they will require a thorough understanding of learning theories to enable them to motivate students and provide the appropriate learning environment.  The cookie cutter approach as it pertains to instruction should never be utilized. We are all different, learn differently, and all theories should be considered when designing instruction. A good instructional designer would serve not only themselves but also individuals they are designing instruction for well by being versed in a variety of theories as well how to utilize these theories to incorporate technology and motivate their students.   An important thing to remember is that the learning process is evolving on a continually basis.  Advancements in technology give the instructional designer a broad spectrum of tools to deliver education to their students in a mobile setting. 

How will your learning in this course help you as you further your career in the field of instructional design?

This course has prepared me for success in the field of instructional design because it has deepened my knowledge as to how individuals learn.  This will help me build on student’s experiences and prior knowledge in order to assist them in monitoring their own learning and performance.  Lastly, information presented is a good foundation as it pertains to the importance of utilizing technology to educate, i.e. webpages, mobile devices, video conferencing, etc. to educate.  With the variety of instructional technologies available now, it is important to ensure that the material we create and the method in which we deliver it teach concepts effectively and motivate our students to not only meet the objectives set for them, but also the students personal goals.

I look forward to applying what I have learned in this course.  This course has made me think in ways that I have never thought before.  I can now stand in the shoes of a student and ask myself important questions as to critique my design methods/delivery and assess is it affective or not.

Fitting the Pieces Together

Discovering how oneself learns is the first step to improving the learning process.  Now that I have a deeper understanding of the different learning theories and learning styles, my view on learning has definitely changed. Now able to understand my personal learning style has helped identify both my strengths and weaknesses.  As an adult learner, each individual is unique as it pertains to their preferred way of processing information.  By examining each individual theory, identification of how my brain prefers to process information is achievable which will result in efficient learning.

Although the cognitive learning theory, “Learners are active seekers and processors of information.  They select and attend to features of the environment, transform and rehearse information, relate new information to previously acquired knowledge, and organize knowledge to make it meaningful.   Learning occurs when input first enters a sensory register, then is processed in short-term memory, and then is transferred to long-term memory for storage and retrieval (Ormrod, J., Schunk, D., & Gredler, M. 2009)” would be the primary choice to explain my own personal learning preference, I still am not sure that one theory can account for all aspects of human learning.  Occasionally, one must adapt to certain situations where a combination of learning theories maybe appropriate.  For some learning, structure is important.  In the military, safety training is required and if individual steps are not taken in proper sequence, people can lose their lives. For other types of learning, structure is not needed.  There is also learning that requires building on prior knowledge.  In the military, as member’s progress through the ranks, they are given professional training that builds from when they first join, until retirement.  This training goes from learning about organizational structure and history to seeing where the individual is within the organization and his/her role.  Regardless of the learning, I believe that when it is self initiated, and the learner is allowed to solve problems and make mistakes, they learn best.  When that learning can be tied into their daily work, it makes it more purposeful.  Lastly, regardless of the learning style, all learning must have a purpose.  That goal, regardless of whatever it may be, is what motivates us to learn.


Technology plays an exceptionally significant role in improving the learning process.  Because of a hectic work schedule, utilizing a personal computer, I am able to continue my education with Walden University.  Tanberg video conference services enable office personnel to communicate between locations (The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and the U.S.) which better enables the information flow and keeps every agency abreast of current events/opportunities.  Smart boards allow instance corrections of outdated training material when conducting training sessions.  But not only does this technology facilitate learning, it also enhances social interaction actually making communication, learning enjoyable and less stressful.

Ormrod, J., Schunk, D., & Gredler, M. (2009). Learning theories and instruction (Laureate custom edition). New York: Pearson.

Connectivism

Networking, especially through such outlets as twitter, facebook and a host of other social places online has become the choice of professionals for communication.  Because information is vital, these outlets allow you to both receive and deliver instance information.  The advancement in technology allows individuals to have information streamed live to via your iphone instantaneously and sometimes as it is happening from more than one source.  This has changed the learning process over the past 10 years and will continue to evolve.  Because of the vast social resources such as Google, Facebook, twitter and even the many universities offering distance education it is easier to gain knowledge when you have questions. 

Google and Facebook have become the most popular networking sites especially for me.  Facebook enables me to connect with friends that I have not seen in over 20 years.  I now can have conversations with people that share the same interests and over time have found myself making new friends that share my passions for such things as football, politics, food, etc.  This social networking site has also replaced the way in which professionals connect with one another.  I have set-up my page in such a professional manner that it has allowed me to network for employment.   Google is my most used search engine.  Whenever I have a question on any subject, I Google it.  Besides being quick and accurate, you can get many different views and opinions as well as a myriad of information on different subject matters and best of all, it is free.  I can remember 20+ years ago when trying to complete homework, the encyclopedia was the book of choice that became outdated by the time you received them.  With Google and other search engines, obsolete is now obsolete.

Although the advancement of technology is value, it has come with a cost.  Because of this technological revolution, people have become less social in a sense.  When I first joined the Air Force, there was no Internet.  If you wanted to know something from someone for instance, you would have to go to that person’s office and “talk” to him/her.  This would often lead to training sessions, especially between superior/subordinate.  Now what do we do, we send an email and hope that the individual that receives it, can follow directions.  But does this facilitate learning?  I don’t think so.  To me, it is just a quick answer, not involving the person that needs to know how to accomplish the task.  I find that technology is replacing human interaction, one of the central tenants of connectivism.  As a system’s administrator, often instead of troubleshooting a computer problem, young technicians will Google the problem.  By taking a “shortcut”, there are valuable steps and analyzes that the individual is missing.  It is during this these steps that other issues and learning takes place which increases the technicians awareness as well as understanding of the system.  My father often says to me, if you really want to know someone or what someone is thinking, you have to look them in the eye.  I believe although technology is a valuable resource and I continue to encourage growth in that area, it must not replace human interaction.

The Thought Process

This week assignment was to locate at least two resources, web sites and/or online journals, on this week’s topics: the brain and learning, information processing theory, and problem-solving methods during the learning process and comment on the value of these resources.

The two sites that I found most interesting as it pertained to this week subject matter were

The Teacher’s Personal Tour Guide to the Brain by David Sousa,  http://brainconnection.positscience.com/gen/?main=conf/nov00/sousa-int and

Information Processing Theory written by Rahul Thadani,  http://www.buzzle.com/articles/information-processing-theory.html.

The sites go in-depth as it pertains to the learning theory and how the brain processes information.  Both are easy to follow and provide additional information to this week’s lessons as it pertains to how learners define and solve problems during the learning process and how the brain functions, which often explains how people learn.

The brain and learning, information processing theory and problem-solving methods during the learning process invoked a lot of thought and although irrelevant in a sense, made me think of No Child Left Behind (NCLB)

NCLB is a program which supports standards-based education, which is based on the belief that setting high standards and establishing measurable goals can improve individual outcomes in education. The Act required states to develop assessments in basic skills to be given to all students in certain grades (Wikipedia, 2011).

In the site written by Mr. Sousa, he states information is often taught in such a way that it lacks meaning for the student. Mathematics, for example, is presented as a series of equations and figures, but why these numbers and symbols are important is not explained. Yet the brain, argues Sousa, needs to attach significance to information in order to store it in long-term memory.

Students may diligently follow the teacher's instructions to perform a task repeatedly, and may even get the correct answers, but if they have not found meaning after the learning episode, there is little likelihood of long-term storage," writes Sousa.

This made me ask the question are we teaching students to test or learn.  I tried to think of my days in school and how much material did I retain say over a summer break and I can honestly say, not much.  But I can remember the words to Led Zeppelin Stairway to Heaven, but can remember my 9^th grade teacher Ms Wolfe Latin lessons.  Why, stairway to heaven had meaning for me, yet Latin was a dead language that I knew I would never use, so why remember.

It is my belief that these students are being taught a test to fill a square, yet are not learning, because the majority of the information will be memorized and no meaning will be attached.

Care to chime in, please do.

REFERENCES:

Wikipedia (2011) “No Child Left Behind Act”.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Child_Left_Behind_Act

Thadini, Rahul (2009).  “Information Processing Theory”. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/information-processing-theory.html

Sousa, David (n.d.).  “The Teachers Personal Tour Guide to the Brain”.  http://brainconnection.positscience.com/gen/?main=conf/nov00/sousa-int

Welcome to my Blog, glad you stopped by.  I have developed this blog site to provide a brief overview of the type of content that can be found on instructional design blogs.  Hopefully you will find each site useful along with my critique’s as we continue to research work in the instructional design field.

The Rapid e-Learners Blog

http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/

This blog is well written and very educational and every post is extremely helpful.  The design of the blog is well thought out and easy to explore as well as being entertaining to read.   The captions over the pictures really grab your attention and make you want to continue to read more.  There are informative links to the right of the blog titled “resources”.  Here you will find information on e-learning, instructional design and audio & video tips.  A must read  “Instructional Design What Am I Suppose To Do With All This Material”.  Basically the author explains how to organize information so that the instructional designer can help people learn.

The e-Learning Coach

http://theelearningcoach.com/

This blog is packed with loads and loads of information especially for those interested in designing online educational courses.  Again the design of the blog is visually pleasing to the eye and everything is easy to find.  A must read, “What is cognitive load?”  Here the author examines working memory and long-term memory and how as instruction designers we can harness the power of both.

IDEAS: Instructional Design for e-Learning Approaches

http://ideas.blogs.com/

Although not that pleasant to read as it pertains to design, this blog offers an abundance of information and insight on e-learning strategies and instructional design.  By clicking on the links or categories to the right of the site a user has instant information to links, which cover Educational Technology to Teaching Online.  A must read “Online Course Design and Faculty Development”.  In this section, the authors examine the collaboration between faculty and professional course designers at Washington State University and the impact that this work had on the student learning experience.