Reflection – week 8
What did you find surprising or striking as you furthered your knowledge about how people learn? How has this course deepened your understanding of your personal learning process?
I was really surprised with what I learned during these 8 weeks. I referred many number of recourses, went through the course book, discuss and exchanged ideas with peers and the instructor.. For me it was busy 8 weeks after which I got “memory full” with lot of new things .Learning is the lifelong process of transforming information and experience into knowledge, skills, behaviors, and attitudes. How people learn is a very important Smith, M. K. (1999) in his article says learning is “But not the lifeless, sterile, futile, quickly forgotten stuff that is crammed in to the mind of the poor helpless individual tied into his seat by ironclad bonds of conformity!” he is having a style in describing a traditional class room. How I learn some subjects at school was like that. Even though I did follow a psychology class I never paid much attention to how people do learn. But these 8 weeks I was amazed to see the amount of research people has done still doing on how people learn.
When I joined this class I thought I know how I learn what I learn and why I learn...All these attitudes got changed after first few weeks .My formal education did not give any idea about learning theories. But when I went through learning theories for each week assignment I was fascinated by the difference in individuals of learning, how many factors are affecting learning and so on…Specially I had an insight on how my 8 year old is dealing with learning..(I think I figured out correctly!)
As I study through Behaviorism, cognitivism, social learning theory, connectivism, adult learning theory in depth for posting my views on how people learn changed dramatically. I completely agree with Bill Kerr saying “each _ism is offering something useful without any of them being complete or stand along in their own right”. and I really liked his and Karl Kapp views on learning theories. When I went through Adult learning theory with self directed learning I could understand the difference between school children and us.
Reading and discussing the Horizon report opened my eyes and my mind to possible uses for technology which I had never heard of before. The idea of semantic aware is so exiting, what I find equally exciting is how we can use mobile in learning! These advances that are sure to come over the next few years will transform whole learning process.
Then the ARCS idea of motivation was striking. The Keller’s model incorporates needs assessment based on an analysis of the target audience and existing instructional materials, supports the creation of motivational objectives and measures based on an analysis of the motivational characteristics of the learners, provides guidance for creating and selecting motivational tactics, and follows a process that integrates well with instructional design and development.(Keller J.,1987).I’m planning to incorporate this model in to my instructional environment (face to face ) near in the future.
Technology mediates my learning. I use it to connect with data, ideas and most importantly other people – whether via email, blogs, podcasts, websites or eBooks. Earlier most of my learning happened in a classes. Now I realize that that with the aid of my computer, I’m spending a far larger amount of time learning/studying/researching than I had previously recognized. Now that I am more conscious of the role technology is playing, I find I am relying on it more and more. Throughout this course, I was re-defining and expanding my idea of what learning actually is and how people learn.
I have categorized me as a visual learner earlier, but I found out now I’m using different learning styles. I have used all these learning styles sometimes in combination some time alone but have got the results. Even though many studies have suggested that students who identify their learning styles can use the information to improve comprehension and memory, I think as an adult learner it is useful to be able to adopt and adapt whatever the learning technique available. But the knowledge I acquired will be useful when I work as an instructional designer.
What have you learned regarding the connection between learning theories, learning styles, educational technology, and motivation?
There is a connection between each of these things. All these depends on the learner even though there are learning theories to tell how your memory works and styles are there to find out which is the best way to grab the knowledge, technology is there to take you where w]ever you want in the world and find whatever you want it is the motivation which plays the major role. As an instructional designer we need to use theory, styles, technology and motivation to create an effective learning experience. They are the essential elements that come together to be more than the sum of their part.
How will your learning in this course help you as you further your career in the field of instructional design? From this course I got a clear view on learning theories technology and motivation from which I will be able to draw when designing instruction. My knowledge of learning and my perspective of teaching has been expanded and enhanced. I am able to look at learning experiences with a positive attitude and from multiple points of view , not only as a classroom teacher., I have gained a lots of ideas to improve learning experiences for my students whether their young ones or adults . I’m hoping to use the knowledge I gained in my learning environment and I look forward to learn more and more on instructional designing!
Smith, M. K. (1999) 'Learning theory', the encyclopedia of informal education, www.infed.org/biblio/b-learn.htm
http://karlkapp.blogspot.com/2007/01/out-and-about-discussion-on-educational.html
http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/01/isms-as-filter-not-blinker.html
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Fitting the Pieces Together!
Wow! Seven weeks have gone; it is amazing how this course has changed the way I learn. As mentioned in the week one post, I was a conventional learner and this is my first online learning experience. While learning in the school, we only did memorize whole bulk of content and tried to reproduce it as it is during the exam where only the knowledge part was checked. We had no idea about skills and attitudes though we have acquired some of them without knowing. After wards when I was doing masters in biotechnology, I used search engines like Google and yahoo. But integrating technology in my studies was restricted to that only. Now I have hands on experience using different technological tools thanks to Walden University.
While participating in the discussion throughout these 7 weeks, I have learned a lot about learning theories and learning styles. View of mine about how I learn has changed completely. I had categories me earlier as a visual learner because I have drawn pictures of scientific process as I study for a test, used to Copy what’s on the board, Use highlighters, circle words, underline, like to sit in the front raw and keep eye on everything etc. But then most of those techniques were not suitable for this course, sometimes we had a video to watch ,some times an article to read, some time discussion post of others to learn etc. These techniques fall in to categories of auditory and kinesthetic learning styles. When I looked back I have used all these learning styles sometimes in combination some time alone but have got the results. Even though many studies have suggested that students who identify their learning styles can use the information to improve comprehension and memory, I think as an adult learner it is useful to be able to adopt and adapt whatever the learning technique available. But the knowledge I acquired will be useful when I work as an instructional designer.
As I have mentioned in week one post “When consider the learning theories, the way I learn sometime is related to cognitive learning theory because teacher provided with the content of the learning activity and did not have any stimuli or social interactions and my learning was a process of acquiring information, remembering and problem solving. Regardless of the individual differences we had to study what teacher gives us, in the way teacher suggested us to do so. So what I can figure out is my learning process was not directly related to any of these learning theories” after this 7 weeks I have the same idea about how I have learned earlier but how I learn today is totally different from it. I was using behaviorism and cognitivism as a child but now I `m more towards constructivism , and connectivism And even my learning did fit in to adult learning theory and social learning theory while following this course. I think I’m comfortable with all these theories. I can relate this to one of the blog article we refer of Bill Kerr , he stated “It seems to me that each _ism is offering something useful without any of them being complete or stand alone in their own right” it is very true in my learning .
My own personal learning preferences will change according to the content and the learning situation. As a child from a traditional school my learning was focus mostly on logical and linguistic intelligence but as I come to know about other intelligence types I tried to learn more about Interpersonal intelligence, Intrapersonal intelligence because Howard Gardner called them as 'personal intelligences' which are very important for working in the field of education.
Technology is playing major role in my learning today. There was a time I was afraid to try new technology, but when I was left with using technology as the only option to carry on with my studies at Walden university I had to try it. Now I’m much more comfortable with technology and I’m willing to adapt them in my instructional designs. Using blogs wikis, social networks, e-books etc has become a foremost part in my learning today. I feel whole world is opened to me and I use the tools for communicating, sharing, creating, researching, professional improvement, personal needs and responsibilities etc.
Kerr, B. http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/01/isms-as
https://my.waldenu.edu/portal
Ormrod, J.L., Schunk, D., & Gredler, M. (2009). Learning theories and instruction. New York: Merrill
While participating in the discussion throughout these 7 weeks, I have learned a lot about learning theories and learning styles. View of mine about how I learn has changed completely. I had categories me earlier as a visual learner because I have drawn pictures of scientific process as I study for a test, used to Copy what’s on the board, Use highlighters, circle words, underline, like to sit in the front raw and keep eye on everything etc. But then most of those techniques were not suitable for this course, sometimes we had a video to watch ,some times an article to read, some time discussion post of others to learn etc. These techniques fall in to categories of auditory and kinesthetic learning styles. When I looked back I have used all these learning styles sometimes in combination some time alone but have got the results. Even though many studies have suggested that students who identify their learning styles can use the information to improve comprehension and memory, I think as an adult learner it is useful to be able to adopt and adapt whatever the learning technique available. But the knowledge I acquired will be useful when I work as an instructional designer.
As I have mentioned in week one post “When consider the learning theories, the way I learn sometime is related to cognitive learning theory because teacher provided with the content of the learning activity and did not have any stimuli or social interactions and my learning was a process of acquiring information, remembering and problem solving. Regardless of the individual differences we had to study what teacher gives us, in the way teacher suggested us to do so. So what I can figure out is my learning process was not directly related to any of these learning theories” after this 7 weeks I have the same idea about how I have learned earlier but how I learn today is totally different from it. I was using behaviorism and cognitivism as a child but now I `m more towards constructivism , and connectivism And even my learning did fit in to adult learning theory and social learning theory while following this course. I think I’m comfortable with all these theories. I can relate this to one of the blog article we refer of Bill Kerr , he stated “It seems to me that each _ism is offering something useful without any of them being complete or stand alone in their own right” it is very true in my learning .
My own personal learning preferences will change according to the content and the learning situation. As a child from a traditional school my learning was focus mostly on logical and linguistic intelligence but as I come to know about other intelligence types I tried to learn more about Interpersonal intelligence, Intrapersonal intelligence because Howard Gardner called them as 'personal intelligences' which are very important for working in the field of education.
Technology is playing major role in my learning today. There was a time I was afraid to try new technology, but when I was left with using technology as the only option to carry on with my studies at Walden university I had to try it. Now I’m much more comfortable with technology and I’m willing to adapt them in my instructional designs. Using blogs wikis, social networks, e-books etc has become a foremost part in my learning today. I feel whole world is opened to me and I use the tools for communicating, sharing, creating, researching, professional improvement, personal needs and responsibilities etc.
Kerr, B. http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/01/isms-as
https://my.waldenu.edu/portal
Ormrod, J.L., Schunk, D., & Gredler, M. (2009). Learning theories and instruction. New York: Merrill
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Reflection
Reflection
When I went through the application task I could not understand what to do , but quickly I went through the resources given and just typed “network connections” in Google and I got lot of information which I will never be able to have at the finger tip if not of the technological connections . That is how network has changed my way of learning. As a traditional student I had only face to face experiences. Due to the social network sites and others now I’m learning quickly and I also enjoy learning. Main difference is that I do not need to buy books and any other printed materials. As I illustrated in my mind map my main network activity is posting massages and using email. Before 2 months I was not familiar with most of the network examples I have given in my mind map. It is Walden university course which initiate and expand my network connections..As we are learning with all the social barriers the ability to connect to any source of knowledge is an advantage. The network connections changed my learning style. Earlier my style was reading a note and recalling but now i use listening, watching, typing, voice chatting, etc These different types of network connections stimulate the nervous system in different ways .
Google is the best tool I have used up to now. Even though we need to be aware of the amount of information we get and how to select appropriate information,I love to search for new topics through Google. When I have a question I will blog or will mail or will post the question. I will get the answers quickly than referring a book. Answering to others questions also will help us to gain knowledge. Because before answering I have to read and find about the context. My social networking sites such as face book, yahoo, you tube, blogs etc have helped me in several ways such as connecting friends,providing information once it has given me support and encouragement specially by connecting peers, teachers ,friends ,students Instructors, professors etc
According to George Siemens’ theory , Connectivism is the combined effect of three different components: chaos theory, importance of networks, and the interplay of complexity and self-organization. My personal learning networks such as Wikipedia, podcasts, university web sites have been very useful in this course. Specially Walden U library site in which I have referred many useful documents for each week. Net work connections have supported central tenets of connectivism .
Reference : Davis, C., Edmunds, E., & Kelly-Bateman, V. (2008). Connectivism. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Connectivism
When I went through the application task I could not understand what to do , but quickly I went through the resources given and just typed “network connections” in Google and I got lot of information which I will never be able to have at the finger tip if not of the technological connections . That is how network has changed my way of learning. As a traditional student I had only face to face experiences. Due to the social network sites and others now I’m learning quickly and I also enjoy learning. Main difference is that I do not need to buy books and any other printed materials. As I illustrated in my mind map my main network activity is posting massages and using email. Before 2 months I was not familiar with most of the network examples I have given in my mind map. It is Walden university course which initiate and expand my network connections..As we are learning with all the social barriers the ability to connect to any source of knowledge is an advantage. The network connections changed my learning style. Earlier my style was reading a note and recalling but now i use listening, watching, typing, voice chatting, etc These different types of network connections stimulate the nervous system in different ways .
Google is the best tool I have used up to now. Even though we need to be aware of the amount of information we get and how to select appropriate information,I love to search for new topics through Google. When I have a question I will blog or will mail or will post the question. I will get the answers quickly than referring a book. Answering to others questions also will help us to gain knowledge. Because before answering I have to read and find about the context. My social networking sites such as face book, yahoo, you tube, blogs etc have helped me in several ways such as connecting friends,providing information once it has given me support and encouragement specially by connecting peers, teachers ,friends ,students Instructors, professors etc
According to George Siemens’ theory , Connectivism is the combined effect of three different components: chaos theory, importance of networks, and the interplay of complexity and self-organization. My personal learning networks such as Wikipedia, podcasts, university web sites have been very useful in this course. Specially Walden U library site in which I have referred many useful documents for each week. Net work connections have supported central tenets of connectivism .
Reference : Davis, C., Edmunds, E., & Kelly-Bateman, V. (2008). Connectivism. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Connectivism
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
web resources
Memory Improvement Techniques.
As the blog assignment 2 of the week two I have to search for two resources relevant to our topic this week. "Mind Tools " is a very interesting web site I have come across some time ago. It contain essential skills any one in regardless of their field can use .Our understanding of how our brain works in the context of education is very important and also knowing some tool or rather "tricks" to improve the brain function is much more important specially as an instructional designer. You can access the memory improvement techniques article which contains mainly about "Mnemonics, Designing Mnemonics" through http://www.mindtools.com/memory.html .This site also contains article "Review Techniques - Keeping information fresh in your mind" "Learning Styles - Learn in a way that suits you" The Conscious Competence Ladder - Making learning a happier experience " are very much related to our topic and has very valuable information.
The next web site Ifound which is informative is "teAchnology" link is http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/methods/info_processing/ . It is an online teacher resource which contains various information specially for teachers such as "Body-Mind Mini-Lessons for Learning Academic Concepts - Mini-lessons to teach academic concepts . Brains.org - Classroom Application of Brain Research " and also web articles on information processing theory such as "Information Processing- Reviews the physiology aspects of information processing. Information Processing Disorders- From the National Center for Learning Disabilities" etc . This site also contains articles about structure of the brain and how it works. It is a very good site for a teacher because it gives materials like lesson plans, work sheets and so many tools to use in teaching- learning process.
As the blog assignment 2 of the week two I have to search for two resources relevant to our topic this week. "Mind Tools " is a very interesting web site I have come across some time ago. It contain essential skills any one in regardless of their field can use .Our understanding of how our brain works in the context of education is very important and also knowing some tool or rather "tricks" to improve the brain function is much more important specially as an instructional designer. You can access the memory improvement techniques article which contains mainly about "Mnemonics, Designing Mnemonics" through http://www.mindtools.com/memory.html .This site also contains article "Review Techniques - Keeping information fresh in your mind" "Learning Styles - Learn in a way that suits you" The Conscious Competence Ladder - Making learning a happier experience " are very much related to our topic and has very valuable information.
The next web site Ifound which is informative is "teAchnology" link is http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/methods/info_processing/ . It is an online teacher resource which contains various information specially for teachers such as "Body-Mind Mini-Lessons for Learning Academic Concepts - Mini-lessons to teach academic concepts . Brains.org - Classroom Application of Brain Research " and also web articles on information processing theory such as "Information Processing- Reviews the physiology aspects of information processing. Information Processing Disorders- From the National Center for Learning Disabilities" etc . This site also contains articles about structure of the brain and how it works. It is a very good site for a teacher because it gives materials like lesson plans, work sheets and so many tools to use in teaching- learning process.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
My Blog assignment
According to my blog assignment in the instructional design course I have to create my own blog and select another three blog sites related to the course or my field of work. Then I have to comment on them .
The first one which caught my eye was The rapid E learning Blog which can be linked through http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/instructional-design/ .The opening statement is mentioning that it is providing “Practical, real-world tips for e-learning success.” This is hosted by Tom Kuhlmann who has over 15 years of hands-on experience in the training industry. This site has the information on instructional designing in a sequential order and it is very helpful for a new comer to the field to learn about the field. At the beginning it also answers to the question “What is the role of the instructional designer? And how do I convey that to my clients and subject matter experts?” Posts in the site explore key elements of instructional design to help you think through how to build courses that truly help people learn. Some examples are “Create Engaging E-Learning Courses You Can Be Proud Of, “What Everybody Ought to Know about Instructional Design” etc. I found this site very useful also with the recourses Rapid E-Learning 101 ,Designing the Right Course ,Visual & Graphic Design ,Audio & Video Tips etc
Free as in freedom is the next blog site which I would like to share with you all .You can access it through http://www.learninggeneralist.com/ . It is hosted by Sumeet Moghe from India who has 9 years of experience in Training and Development. Which attracted me towards this site is the statement” If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got and there is always more” in the home page. I found it is very interesting to read through this because there are many attractive posts regarding e-learning and instructional designing. The most interesting one is “The 4 Passions of an Instructional Designer.” in this he has named The Passion for Embracing Constraints ,The Passion for Simplicity ,The Passion for Learning and The Passion for Excellence as four passions of an instructional designer Also there are very interesting posts like” Here are 6 Tips to make your Rapid E-learning a Success” “5 Tips to help you Plan your Next Presentation” etc. It is a good example of an engaging eLearning tutorial. Good post and beautiful pictures. He is trying to prove that even if you have the best tools, you may still fail to spread your massage if you don’t have a good design.
Elearning instructional design ideas - Making Change blog is the next site I was interested in and found informative for a new comer. You can connect to this blog site with blog. http://blog.cathy-moore.com/. In this blog, you'll find practical ideas that will help you create lively, powerful e-learning for adults. It's written by Cathy Moore. The useful post is the “How to design action-packed e-learning” in which a recording of a webinar is given to explain how to design lean, lively e-learning. And also there is a video on How to design e-learning that’s memorable and budget-friendly . The other posts are “The big mistake in e-learning” “E-learning example: Branching scenario” “Could animations hurt learning?” “Why you want to focus on actions, not learning objectives” and I found out this blog site having many e books related the field. And most interesting thing is it is having “e-learning blueprint’ to help anyone who wants start designing a course.
The first one which caught my eye was The rapid E learning Blog which can be linked through http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/instructional-design/ .The opening statement is mentioning that it is providing “Practical, real-world tips for e-learning success.” This is hosted by Tom Kuhlmann who has over 15 years of hands-on experience in the training industry. This site has the information on instructional designing in a sequential order and it is very helpful for a new comer to the field to learn about the field. At the beginning it also answers to the question “What is the role of the instructional designer? And how do I convey that to my clients and subject matter experts?” Posts in the site explore key elements of instructional design to help you think through how to build courses that truly help people learn. Some examples are “Create Engaging E-Learning Courses You Can Be Proud Of, “What Everybody Ought to Know about Instructional Design” etc. I found this site very useful also with the recourses Rapid E-Learning 101 ,Designing the Right Course ,Visual & Graphic Design ,Audio & Video Tips etc
Free as in freedom is the next blog site which I would like to share with you all .You can access it through http://www.learninggeneralist.com/ . It is hosted by Sumeet Moghe from India who has 9 years of experience in Training and Development. Which attracted me towards this site is the statement” If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got and there is always more” in the home page. I found it is very interesting to read through this because there are many attractive posts regarding e-learning and instructional designing. The most interesting one is “The 4 Passions of an Instructional Designer.” in this he has named The Passion for Embracing Constraints ,The Passion for Simplicity ,The Passion for Learning and The Passion for Excellence as four passions of an instructional designer Also there are very interesting posts like” Here are 6 Tips to make your Rapid E-learning a Success” “5 Tips to help you Plan your Next Presentation” etc. It is a good example of an engaging eLearning tutorial. Good post and beautiful pictures. He is trying to prove that even if you have the best tools, you may still fail to spread your massage if you don’t have a good design.
Elearning instructional design ideas - Making Change blog is the next site I was interested in and found informative for a new comer. You can connect to this blog site with blog. http://blog.cathy-moore.com/. In this blog, you'll find practical ideas that will help you create lively, powerful e-learning for adults. It's written by Cathy Moore. The useful post is the “How to design action-packed e-learning” in which a recording of a webinar is given to explain how to design lean, lively e-learning. And also there is a video on How to design e-learning that’s memorable and budget-friendly . The other posts are “The big mistake in e-learning” “E-learning example: Branching scenario” “Could animations hurt learning?” “Why you want to focus on actions, not learning objectives” and I found out this blog site having many e books related the field. And most interesting thing is it is having “e-learning blueprint’ to help anyone who wants start designing a course.
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