Closing Reflections

What did you find surprising or striking as you furthered your knowledge about how people learn? Dr. Ormrod states, “To teach effectively, you've got to know how students learn. And you've got know in particular how they think,  what's going on in their heads  as they're studying, as they're reading, as they're responding to questions.” (Laureate n.d.).  What surprised me most about how people learn are the various ways people transfer information from short-term memory to long-term memory and the tricks we as learners and designers can use to help in that process. To reach the majority of learners a designer needs to provide education using a multi-faceted approach and hope you have a learner who engages themselves in the learning process.  So what approaches should we cover to attract a majority of learners? Education content should have verbal, visual, and practice components to reach as many learners as possible.  

How has this course deepened your understanding of your personal learning process?  My original reflection of who I am as a learner has not changed much since week 1. However, I do understand more about how the learning process takes place inside my brain.  How best to move information from short-term memory to long-term memory.  I have realized I need to place information (such as names) with the object (or person) in order to make a connection.  To describe an orange to me does not help me learn what an orange is.  But to tell me what an orange is as I hold one and eat one does (please excuse the analogy).  Ertmer and Newby detail "the goal of instruction is not to ensure that individuals know particular facts but rather that they elaborate on and interpret information." (Ertmer and Newby, 1993)  I employ much of the social learning theories in my own learning process and use that social facet to help in my elaboration and development of information.

What have you learned regarding the connection between learning theories, learning styles, educational technology, and motivation?  This course has taught me that everything is connected in some way. Designers and learners need to be aware of the approaches and connections in order to derive the most out of a learning experience. Ertmer and Newby state, “Knowledge of a variety of such strategies is critical when attempting to select an effective prescription for overcoming a given instructional problem.” (Ertmer and Newby, 1993).  As instructional designers we have to take into consideration all learning styles but not necessary write to them all, use technology as a tool in delivering education but not as a gimmick, and we should include ARCS in our designs to try and address the basic cravings of a learner.  We cannot be solely responsible for a students learning process but we are responsible to provide an atmosphere that is optimal for an engaging learning process.

How will your learning in this course help you further your career in the field of instructional design? I think I will take away the most from the last segment on motivation and what we can do to develop engaging education and also the information on transferring information from short-term memory to long-term memory. I wish we had more discussion on the application of the theories in our work lives as it would have helped me move the information into working knowledge.

References:

Laureate, n.d. An Introduction to Learning. Available from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=4603374&Survey=1&47=8013418&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (1993). Behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 6(4), 50–71.

What I Have Learned About Learners and Me

My understanding of how people learn has been greatly expanded in theories and styles but I find that I do not agree with one theory exclusively.  So, though the concepts help to define a learner they do not explain them to me.

Learners will take all experiences they have and overlay them on what they are learning.  Learners will desire different ways of gaining information depending on the topic being discussed, the reason for the learning, and the external influences impacting that learning. Learners desire to know when and why the learning will be used and the value it will hold for them.

For myself, as a learner, I want to place my personal experience on the topics I am learning about and I desire to understand other people’s life experiences as they apply to the topic.  I value this information as much as the “textbook” information and in some cases, even more.  For this reason I would, in general, assign myself to the Adult Learning theory and the Social Learning theories.  I greatly valued the discussion portion of this class and found it was an equal learning tool. I like to learn through visual mediums like video but desire a physical print out of the transcripts to read at the same time. I do not like reading material on an electronic format, I need the paper.  I want what I learn to apply to what I am doing in my life or career.  Without that link I become disinterested. So, again, I think I am a fairly typical learner.

Technology for me is everywhere, so much so that at times it is so integrated I do not think of some items as technology.  I am still a ‘digital immigrant’ and question the long-term value of such technologies as blogs and social networks.  I am not under the impression they are going away.  But I am not of the opinion they actually have been refined enough to add a layer of value add to the world of education. With the heralding of Semantic-aware applications, maybe my opinion on this will eventually change.  I will leave that door open. 

  

Connectivism



The mindmap lays out the resources I use for my learning processes. The items in red are learning resources related to my work.  The blue items are my personal life (which appears to be lacking). The green items are for school. 

• How has your network changed the way you learn?
• My network in the last few years as changed my learning quite a bit.  The expansion of it has allowed me to be introduced to new topics, new processes, and new methods of execution.  I was a typical “I know so much” (never it all) person.  But joining my new team and being exposed to so many new people and their experiences have taught me an incredible amount. I also find I have a wide pool of people I can now call on for consultation and mentoring.  I respect their knowledge base and they are open to share it with me.  I usually introduce myself as a homegrown ID professional, but with my networks influence and feel myself turning a corner and becoming a trained ID professional which adds a nice layer of affirmation.   
• Which digital tools best facilitate learning for you?
• For my work learning the best digital tool is the preproduction sites that allow me to play and practice on my own as I learn the applications I will then write about.  These environments also provide me a physical place where I can screen shot to provide a visual element to the text I am writing.
• For my personal life I would have to say my only digital learning is Walden and these classes and discussions.  Beyond that, the only real digital aspect of my life is the infrequent visits to social networking sites for gossip and friend updates which do not garner me much in the way of life-long learning. My personal life is dominated by toddler children and their learning needs, not mine at the moment.      
• How do you gain new knowledge when you have questions?
• When I need new knowledge in my work life, I exhaust all my network contacts.  Which is pretty cool since I usually pick-up one or two additional contacts along the search.  I use documentation that support the projects I am involved in and also other education documents supporting the application.
• In what ways does your personal learning network support or refute the central tenets of connectivism?
• I think my professional learning network supports the tenets of connectivism since my circle is constantly growing and reaching across geographical borders. We use technology to share information and provide references for all involved if needed. The environment also supports connectivism since people learn from those in the group and take past experiences to build a better present.  Experiences are not forgotten but intertwined (good and bad). 
• I think my personal learning does not support connectivism since this process has showed me my personal learning is shrinking and I am losing the connections I once had.  I think more than anything to move back to connectivism I have to realize my desire to learn is equal to my desire for my children to learn.  But the again, as I teach my kids, I expand an area of learning that I did not explore on the mindmap…the learning of how to teach my kids and how to learn what their emotional fluctuations mean to them and me and how I can be sure they will be happy young people and adults.  So thinking like this, I guess I should have included on my mindmap items such as: webmd, parenting.com, friends who are parents, teachers, and my family members who are also parents. 

New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education Journal

Using ERIC, I found the New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education journal. 

This journal focuses on adult learning theories and how the adult learner 'works'.  There are many articles you can search for on various topics including how the adult brain is functioning and can be optimized during learning. 

My work focuses on designing materials for distance adult learners. I think there is a lot of good information I can learn about the role the brain plays in learning and more specifically plays for the adult learner.

Journal of Instructional Psychology

http://psychology.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=psychology&cdn=education&tm=36&gps=203_112_1020_530&f=00&su=p897.9.336.ip_&tt=2&bt=0&bts=0&st=14&zu=http%3A//articles.findarticles.com/p/search%3Fqt%3D%26tb%3Dart%26qf%3Dm0FCG

The Journal of Instructional Psychology provides a great resource of information focusing on the psychology of learning.  Many of the articles strictly focus on the how the brain learns, retains information, and retrieves that information.

I also think this journal is highly valuable since it also talks about teaching strategies and learning assessments. 

It offer a full range of information that will help understand better ways to design, deliver, and assess learning.

Aggregate Blog site for eLearning

http://www.elearninglearning.com/
This website aggregates the content from various websites about eLearning. The site's mission is to provide a collection of information, a starting point, and help.
I think this site will be useful to me to help centralize a ton of information into one place.  As I am not a blogging expert - I hope this site will serve as a filter to direct me to other blogging sites that will be useful to me in my pursuit of my graduate degree and in my career (current and future)

Blogging Site for eLearning ID&T

http://info.alleninteractions.com/
"As organizations try to create e-learning, many attempts will fall short of ideal.  And having something finished is often better than obsessively working to perfect a single design while too many other topics remain untouched." (All the Things e-Learning Can Be Posted by Allen Interactions on Mon, Oct 11, 2010 written by Ethan Edwards.)
After I read this sentence I knew I wanted to read more - this is my job summarized in a few sentences!
This blog shares ideas about e-learning designs and effectiveness.
I think this blog will help me to learn what other e-learning professionals are doing and learn from their gains and losses.  I also like the idea to read about others who are in the same boat I am in! 
I AM NOT ALONE!