As Walden University’s graduate course, Learning Theories and Instruction comes to a close this week,  I wanted to reflect on my experience the past eight weeks.  What I have found striking in this course is the breadth and depth of learning theories and styles.   As I am a novice to this field,  I was a little overwhelmed at first, however, I am much more confident in applying these theories moving forward.   The great thing about having several learning theories available are the options it provides me, the instructional designer, in providing the best suite of solutions for a client.  

In previous posts, I have stressed the importance of connectivism and how it plays an important part in my learning process.   However,  as I focus on adult learners in my career, Adult Learning theory has made quite an impact on me in a variety of ways.  I am a student in an online program and I plan to serve the adult learner in the future, at some point.  So, learning styles like, experiential, self-directed, project-based and action learning (Conlan, 2003) provide tremendous insight in how I can apply these to my online course, work situations and future instructional design solutions.  Adult learning, behaviorist, cognitive and constructivist theories have deepened  my own understanding of my own learning process in their detail and scope.  In other words, some have application in certain situations while others do not have any, in my opinion.

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

Learning theories focus on the instructional designer (in this case) and how he or she chooses to deliver instruction in the most effective method possible.  Learning styles are focused on the learner and how they approach expanding their intellectual capacity.   Educational technology is concerned with the how to deliver that instruction (in this case) between an instructional designer and the learner.  Motivation is the critical component, especially in an online environment, to connecting the instructional designer, the learner and education technology.   The instructional designer’s function is to arouse (Ormrod, 2009) the learner via education technology.   Learning styles, motivation (purpose) and drive (Ormrod, 2009) are all key factors that determine the effectiveness of instruction. 

This course will help me tremendously in my future as an instructional designer.  Having an awareness of what impacts the adult learner, my focus, will help as I design interactive, effective and relevant solutions.   What tools (technology) should I enlist to create the most compelling instruction possible?  Multiple intelligences?  Learning styles?  Motivation?

References

Conlan, J., Grabowski, S., & Smith, K.. (2003). Adult Learning. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emergingperspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved December 25, 2009, from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

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

A number of weeks back I posted on the topic of connectivism, one of several learning theories explored in my current graduate program at Walden University.    Prior to taking my most recent course which focuses on learning theories and learning styles, my view on how I thought I learned, was pretty simplistic, “memory-recall”.    A lot has changed in the past seven weeks and I have a new appreciation for the many learning theories and styles, some controversial and some just beginning to ‘pick up steam’. 

That ‘simplistic view’ has given way to a theory liked connectivism which explains a lot of the way I feel I learn today.  Dr. George Siemens is a proponent of this theory and says:

 “connectivism is driven by the understanding that decisions are based on rapidly altering foundations. New information is continually being acquired and the ability to draw distinctions between important and unimportant information is vital. Also critical is the ability to recognize when new information alters the landscape based on decisions made yesterday” (Davis, 2008)

Connectivism addresses the fast-paced world of today and how technology has impacted us like never before in history.   This theory can be linked to the Internet age of today, facebook, google-reader, Twitter, online degree programs and many more entities reinforce Siemens’ opinion.   In a previous post, I detailed the many ways we find information on the Internet and how we are only restricted by the limits we place on ourselves. 

Upon evaluating other learning theories like Behaviorism, Cognitivism and Constructivism, it is difficult to say a number of these is not involved in our development, at some point.   Behaviorism stresses what is learned is observable (Ormrod, 2009), while cognition stresses conceptual reflection and problem-solving (Ormrod, 2009).   Constructivist theory expands upon cognition and stresses the importance of how our peers, the community and a mentor help us learn more than we could have on our own. (Ormrod, 2009) 

Connectivism is a learning preference as is seems so natural a course in my daily routine.  I sell access to an Internet database, my demonstrations are all Internet-driven and my outlets for news and other information is primarily web-based.   So, though,  I do not think about it that often, there is a ‘comfort zone’ with connectivism when I compare it to other learning theories.   A lot has changed in the last twenty years, five years, heck, just in the past year we are learning more and more about the potential the Internet possesses for all us. 

References

Davis, C, Edmunds, E, & Kelly-Bateman, V. (2008). Connectivism. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives      on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved  December 20, 2009, from  http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

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

My Mind-map and reflection

http://www.mywebspiration.com/publish.php?i=275818acc83

Upon reviewing my mind-map you will probably notice that many of us that use the Internet on a regular basis depend on a lot the same resources to stay informed.   More than just staying informed, today we have so many ways to learn and we are devouring information like no time in history.  My mind-map covers several avenues to which I have access on a regular basis.

A usual day begins with me picking up the Washington Post at my front door, yes I still like to read the actual paper.   From there, as I begin my day working from home, I will review several web sites that you see on my mind-map and a few more, to find out the latest news.  Throughout the day I interact with friends and family at various points to discuss topics of the day.  This does not happen every day, however, when it does, those folks have been getting their information from a wide variety of outlets as well.     It makes for an interesting conversation.  Occasionally, I will use Skype to contact folks in other countries, download free podcasts to iTunes and access Google Reader to stay connected. 

It has been twenty years since I was in college and things have changed quite a bit.  As a graduate student in instructional design and technology at Walden University, I have the ability to take my course completely online.  I have a book, access online articles, ebooks and podcasts to make the process completely work around my schedule.  Twenty years ago, I had to go to the library to use computers on the campus of my college, then save the work to a 3 ½ inch disk.   Facebook, .pdfs, email and cell phones were rare back then, so, we have come quite a way.   It is so much easier today and quite overwhelming at the same time.  There is so much information and so many different outlets, it is difficult to keep up with how fast the world is changing. 

The digital tools I like best would start with the Internet, of course, I access my email through Facebook as well as Google Reader.  Also, I enjoy the vast online library Walden University provides, it is so easy to use, I find myself exploring it an incredible amount of information. 

When I have a question about something, in other words, I am trying to gain knowledge, I usually go right to Wikipedia.   However, many times for graduate school, I will access their online library for research.  If the question is medical-related, I will go to www.webmd.com  and anything sports, www.espn.com. 

The Department of Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology at the University of Georgia posted and interesting piece, “Connectivism” out on Wikipedia (Edmunds, 2008).   The detail the six principles of connectivism according to Dr. George Siemens:

• Learning and knowledge rest in diversity of opinions.
• Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources.
• Learning may reside in non-human appliances.
• Capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known.
• Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning.
• Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill.
• Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities.

My mind-map supports many of the principles above in my estimation.   I find the most compelling principle above would be, “Capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known”.    To that end,  I will  apply a more critical eye to my mind-map to see how I can make my ‘network’ even more robust.   Connectivism is a learning theory that will continue to gain prominence, in my opinion, as it forces us to master the efficiency of information consumption in the effort to make better personal and professional decisions.

Reference

Davis, C, Edmunds, E, & Kelly-Bateman, V. (2008). Connectivism. In M. Orey  Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved December 6, 2009 from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

My Mind Map – Personal Information Network

I used Webinspiration to build a mind-map of my personal information network.  I will post more on connectivism here later in the week.  Please explore my link above.

Thanks!

Tim

I found two valuable resources to help us learn more about information processing:

http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/244/description#description

 Elsevier’s Journal, “Information Processing and Management” 

From the web site:

“Information Processing & Management is devoted to refereed reporting of:

1. Basic and applied research in information science, computer science, cognitive science and related areas that deals with: the generation, representation, organization, storage, retrieval, and use of information; the nature, manifestations, behavior, and effects of information and knowledge; communication and distribution of information and knowledge; and human information behavior.

2. Experimental and advanced processes related to: information retrieval (IR); digital libraries; knowledge organization and distribution; digitized contents – text, image, sound and multimedia processing; and human-computer interfaces in information systems. Implementations in information retrieval systems and a variety of information systems, networks, and contexts. Related evaluation.

3. Management of information resources, services, systems and networks, and digital libraries. Related studies of the economics of information and the principles of information management.” 

What I like about this site is the ability to see articles listed as most recent, most cited or most downloaded.  The range of topics within information processing is quite expansive.   Enjoy!

http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/cogsys/infoproc.html 

University of Valdosta’s W. Huitt has a paper  “The Information Processing Approach to Cognition”, I found interesting.  

This provides some valuable advice to those instructing using this approach.  A nice matrix as well as a visual describing the whole ‘process’.

http://edublogs.org/

I am linking some interesting and useful blogging sites this evening.   I found them worth my while and I hope you do as well.  EduBlogs is a terrific place to blog and you will love the layout!  I thought it was very easy to get around the web site.   The focus here is on education ,though, you can link to “Technology” from the main page and find a discussion  on a variety of topics.   There is a special section that provides advice on how you can incorporate blogging into your lesson plan.

http://en.wordpress.com/tag/instructional-design/

The great thing about the focus of WordPress’s blogging site about  instructional design is just that, it is all about instructional design.   I haven’t yet taken advantage of all the nice features of having my blog on WordPress but  it seems limitless.  I like the simplicity and have already seen posts from my fellow Walden University students out there!

http://ideas.blogs.com/

Instructional Design for eLearning Approaches is what IDEAS stands for and Ferdinand Krauss is the host.   I like the layout and organization here, a lot of referenced articles and materials on the topic as well as useful web links on the right-hand side.  The blog is wild-card searchable which is a great way to locate what you need, right away.    I plan to spend a lot of time out here as I found some interesting excerpts on the constructivist approach to e-learning.  E-learning will actually be my primary focus when I become and instructional designer, so, this might be my favorite site so far.   I really enjoyed reading a lot of the postings.  Though a novice, I hope to have something to offer in the future as I become a regular blogger amongst the various web sites.   I have been aware of blogs for a while, however, I have never gone as  far as to actively participate so this should be quite an adventure!

Welcome to Blogginfish’s Blog!  Lets hope its worth your while out here