Learning Theories and Instruction Reflection

Learning theories and instruction was a great class that challenged me to think about the way my future learners will acquire knowledge.  Multiple intelligences always impress me because it is extremely helpful to know that not everyone learns the same way and therefore having different projects and tactics in my classes will keep everyone motivated and I will keep this at the forefront of my mind.  This course has reminded me of the ways in which I prefer to learn and challenged me to think through my lesson planning to include other types of learning techniques so that I can grow as well as the people I teach.  I have learned that there is a myriad of technological advancements that I was unaware of and when I harness the power of technology this will motivate my learners as well as help me challenge my students with using various learning theories and learning styles.  This course serves as a refresher and helps me remember to be diverse in my approach and consider multiple viewpoints, learning theories and styles in order to be the most successful.

Multiple Intelligences are always striking to me as an educator because of the vastness of the way people think and process information.  As an instructional designer I feel it is essential to keep this in mind in the way that I plan to introduce new knowledge, the questions that I ask the class and the projects that I plan for the class.  By using more than one multiple intelligences I have the power to help students retain the most information.  While being in this class I have been able to reflect on the ways in which I learn and how that affects the lessons that I create.  I have realized that I make a lot of hands on projects, mapping and drawing assignments because I enjoy those types of assignments more and I tend to remember things better once I have interacted with them physically.  However, this class has helped me to remember that not everyone likes doing those things and many prefer not to.  Therefore, I should add other types of projects like debates and essays because those types of assignments are important too for other types of learners and to help people like me expand their own learning styles.  One way I can harness the power of multiple intelligences is to use technology.

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the new types of technologies and thinking about how I can use them in my own lesson planning.  The technologies I liked the most included the Geotagging and creating personal webs partially because I am a history teacher and I love geography but I think this could really help my high school students understand how geography and history applies to their own lives.  Every time I have used technology in the past many of my students became more motivated that previously so by using these technologies and others like blogging my students could retain knowledge longer.   The learning styles and theories that I could use with these technologies vary from behaviorism to provide immediate feedback to constructivism that would enable students to be more connected to their learning and enable them to transfer the knowledge more affectively.

Multiple Intelligences and various learning theories and styles are a necessity in instructional design and should always be kept in mind.  Successful instructional designer that use these theories and styles with their learners will help their students retain the information for a longer period of time.  I have been a teacher for five years and this class has expanded on my previous knowledge and aided me in keeping in mind the fundamentals of good teaching. 

Fitting the Learning Theory Puzzle Pieces Together

I have a deeper understanding of the multitude of learning theories and multiple intelligences, I now clearly understand why I learn more when I participate in the learning and I why I enjoy hands on learning and visuals more (Gilbert, 2008, Foley [Fenwick & Tennant], 2004).  As I have aged I have grown as a learner as well and have changed how I enjoy learning.  In elementary and high school I liked to learn by myself because the group work generally meant that I was doing a lot of the work as I cared more about my grade.  As I have grown I have come to learn from my colleagues in-group situations and found out that perfectionism is not necessarily always the best way to do things and that it is necessary to delegate and ask others for help and then depend on them to do the work. As an adult, I believe it is easier to delegate tasks and expect co-workers to complete the work. Before learning all these different styles I knew I enjoyed learning with technology, but never linked that to an actual learning theory like Connectivism.  Now I more readily understand why Connectivism is a great way for me to learn.

Technology is at the center of my adult learning and thus Connectivism is the theory that best suits me (Davis, Edmunds & Kelly-Bateman, 2008).  I use technology at work to learn and refresh myself on design aspects and terminology while at the same time I use technology to better understand how my children are growing and what they might need to further their development.  I use Adobe  InDesign, Photoshop and illustrator on a daily basis to design marketing materials for an array of customers.  I use Google often to search for blogs and tutorials to help with my personal and professional life.  While at the same time I utilize Facebook and LinkedIn to keep connected with former colleagues and find out what they are doing both professionally and personally and at times I utilize that connection to better understand my own profession. 

References: 

Davis, C. Edmunds, E, & Kelly-Bateman, V. (2008). Connectivisim. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved November 30, 2011, from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Foley, G. (Ed.). (2004). Dimensions of adult learning: Adult education and training in a global era. McGraw-Hill Education. Chapter 4, “Understanding Adult Learners” by Tara Fenwick and Mark Tennant. Retrieved November 30, 2011 from Walden Library.

Gilbert, J., & Swanier, C. (2008). Learning styles: How do they fluctuate? Institute for Learning Styles Journal [Vol. l]. Retrieved December 4, 2011  from http://www.auburn.edu/~witteje/ilsrj/Journal%20Volumes/Fall%202008%20Volume%201%20PDFs/Learning%20Styles%20How%20do%20They%20Fluctuate.pdf

Image Citation:

Author unknown. Steel Puzzle Sphere 1. Retreived December 18, 2011 from http://alxa.ru/2008/11/20/steel_puzzle_sphere_1.html

My Connectivism

 

This mind map explains how I connect with technology and use it to learn. My network has changed the way I learn drastically from five years ago.  I use many different types of technology to learn personal and professional information, and depending on where I am I use my laptop, desktop computer or smartphone to connect.  One example of how I use technology is five years ago when I wanted to learn something new I would often search on Google to find a book  that would explain how to do what I was looking for and either order the book or go to the bookstore and buy the book.  Now, I do a Google search on my laptop, desktop or smartphone to find information online that explains what I am looking for.  Then I read the article or tutorial online without purchasing a book or leaving my house.  Another, example of my change in technology use is how I have not used a telephone book in years, as I look up numbers online.  I have also changed my learning because I have shifted from reading things on paper to reading things online.  However, at times, I still print articles and read them on paper, but I do that less often than I used to.  I often find blogs, encyclopedias, dictionaries and other online media to learn from. 

The tools I use the most to learn from are my laptop and smartphone and Google.  For my master’s degree I use both devices to access myWalden site for my classes and the Walden Library for articles.  For lesson plans I use both devices to search for lesson ideas to incorporate in my classroom.  For tutorials or information on designing I use both devices to search for tutorials or explanations on design problems.  While in my personal life I use both devices to search for information regarding my children, health, my marriage, real estate, crafts and possible job openings. 

My learning network supports Connectivism in several ways.  I use my technological tools to learn anytime anywhere in many various ways from blogs to personal research to focus my learning in specific areas while adding new practices in my toolbox.  I learn a wide range of things at varying degrees of difficulty connecting diverse ideas and concepts to update and perfect my knowledge.  For example, I learn complex things such as how to create an e-commerce website to quick dinner ideas for my family.  Connectivism fits my current lifestyle and learning style.

Reference:

Davis, C. Edmunds, E, & Kelly-Bateman, V. (2008). Connectivisim. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved November 30, 2011, from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Websites worth the look.

There are hundreds of websites about brain research and problem solving.  While I perused the Internet looking for a few that were actually relevant, informative and professional. I found the following two that were also well written.

12 Design Principles Based on Brain-based Learning Research
By Jeffery A. Lackney, Ph.D.
Based on a workshop facilitated by Randall Fielding, AIA
http://www.designshare.com/Research/BrainBasedLearn98.htm

Interesting article about specific aspects of the brain and how brains work and why brain research should be considered when designing curriculum.  This article and site also discusses various school designs that are innovative and take into account the brain and learning.

Appreciative Inquiry

Solving problems by looking at what's going right
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_85.htm

The Mindtools website offers a lot of information about problem solving and in this particular article it discusses a different approach to problem solving.  Many times in my own classroom when a lesson didn’t go well I often reflected and looked at what went wrong.  This approach from Mindtools offers an idea of looking at what went right and building from there.  A very interesting way to look at problem solving and I could use this information in my classroom as well.  I could teach students how to problem solve by looking at what went well on their assignments.  This would allow students to look at their grades in a positive light and then find ways to expand on what is going well.  A very different outlook to grades.

Blogging – The Doorway to Professional Learning Communities

(Title provided by Mr. Anthony Artino)

Overview of Blogs on my RSS Feed

There are many blogs regarding instructional design that stimulate my thinking regarding the design of instruction and the use of technology within the design.  I have chosen four different bloggers to link my RSS feed to for various reasons.   All are easy to read and the authors make their blogs interesting by having a sense of humor.  Some blogs initially caught my eye because of their Blogs name while others I learned about through the other blogs I found first.  Each blog discusses ways to improve skills as an instructional designer while taking into account the way in which people learn, motivation and designing instruction for E-Learning that is more interesting.  As a trained high school teacher and a future instructional designer I believe that there is not one correct way and these bloggers will aid me in looking at instruction differently.

2Cents Worth
The first blog that I am following is called 2cents Worth by David Warlick.  His blog is interesting and entertaining.  He discusses a myriad of topics in education and the things he witnesses with his keen eyes that have been in education for 35 years.  He likes to ask a lot of questions about education and encourages people to think about education beyond the historical view of a schoolhouse.  I look forward to reading his blog because he has intriguing thought provoking posts, like the one about his idea for a new video game where instead of building a restaurant and maintaining it you would build and run a school (Warlick, 2011). Mr. Warlick’s blog will be interesting to read because he is not about the status quo but rather pushes for interesting ideas about educating.  In the future, although his blog is not specific to instructional design, his blog will keep me thinking outside the box and consider different views I have not thought of before.

Cathy Moore

The second blog that I am linked to is Cathy Moore.  She is a renowned instructional designer and her name kept appearing while I was searching for instructional design blogs.  Upon visiting her site I was impressed with her candidness and humor. Her goal is to create instructional design that aids people in using information not just knowing information.  I found her site very interesting because as a teacher I have always tried to help my students connect world history to more than facts.  To me it is more important that a student understand why World War I happened and what effects did World War I have on the world rather than when the war began and ended.  I have always tried to keep my classroom fresh with different activities that engage students rather than lecture to them because they will remember the conversation they had with Hammurabi (I dressed as Hammurabi for a day) rather than the lecture I gave about the treatment of women during Hammurabi’s reign.  Cathy Moore has several posts that sound very interesting from one entitled “Be an eLearning action hero!” to “Scenarios: the good, the bad, and the preachy” (Moore, 2011). Cathy’s blog will be useful to me as I continue my education in the field of instructional design because I believe she has interesting ideas that are relevant to creating lessons that are engaging.

The Useable Learning Blog

The third blog that I will be reading is The Usable Learning Blog by Julie Dirksen.  The post that caught my eye is entitled “Is learner motivation your responsibility?”  This is a larger than large topic in the public school system these days in Arizona and New Mexico because some in these­ states believe that tying teacher pay to student performance is a relevant way to go about school reform.  While I have not heard the advocates entire plan I have been in a classroom full of fifteen year olds and while I enjoy making lessons entertaining and fun not every lesson I’ve created or borrowed from friends make everyone happy.  Back to my point – motivation to learn is what drives students (many times) to do well at school so if a student is not motivated there are intrinsic and extrinsic reasons.  Ms. Dirksen’s post caught my eye because the debate still lingers regarding whether teachers can “make” students learn.  So, it is interesting to hear about the topic from someone not in my area discuss similar ideas. This blog will serve me well now and in the future by discussing the ways in which people learn while at the same time providing me with things to keep in mind as I design instruction.

The Rapid eLearning Blog

The fourth blog I found is called The Rapid eLearning Blog by Tom Kuhlmann. I found this blog from the Useable Learning Blog. Tom’s posts are typically advice on successful building of E-Learning using graphics, slides and completing this task with the user in mind.  I am looking forward to spending time on his site because not only am I a teacher but I am a graphic designer therefore I understand how good design can create interest in a presentation and actually help learners remember topics.  Visuals are help people recall information they received more so than just reading the words on a generic page.  In the future I look forward to using some of his free graphics and getting hints and tips on designing quality E-Learning lessons.

            These blogs look to be informative and humorous while at the same time making me think before I design instruction and I look forward to reading them.

 

References:

Dirksen, J. (2011, November 5). The Useable learning Blog [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://usablelearning.wordpress.com/

Kuhlmann, T. (2011, November 5). [Web log message].  Retrieved from http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/

Moore, C. (2011, November 5). Cathy Moore [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://blog.cathy-moore.com/

Warlick, D. (2011, September 21). 2cents worth [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/