As I reflect back on the last eight weeks of this section of the course there were several things I have learned about myself regarding my particular preferred learning style and how I will apply that in my career as an Instructional Designer. One of the things I found striking is that loss of memory is equated to loss of synapses in the brain and it is “both inevitable and desirable” (Ormrod, 2008, p. 45). I knew from my medical and environmental background that prenatal and childhood exposures to environmental contaminants, as well as head injury or certain childhood illnesses can impact developing brains which in turn can impact learning.

Another point that I have reflected on was how this course has deepened my understanding of my own personal learning process. During Week 1 I wrote in my discussion that I felt that as students we learn from all three learning styles; behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructionism. As before, I still feel that although I learned the most from the behaviorism and cognitive, my favorite learning style is still adaptive constructivism since it reminds me of a “Who done it?” type mystery where you are given all the clues in a case and you have to solve the mystery. And as before, although I enjoy the constructivism learning style I still find that it is not practical for the common skills needed for routine day to day activities.

I have also learned that there is a difference between a learning theory and a learning style. According to Dr. Artino, a learning style refers to the notion that “individuals differ in regard to what mode of instruction or study is most effective for them” (Pashler, McDaniel, Rohrer, & Bjork, 2008, p. 105).  On the other hand, a learning theory explains the underlying psychological processes that influence learning. A learning theory usually includes a set of assumptions about key aspects of the learning process that can be used to generate hypotheses which can then be tested.  And finally, a learning strategy is a cognitive or behavioral activity used to improve learning (e.g., selecting, organizing, and integrating new information, studying in a quiet place, use of elaboration, using mnemonic devices to remember new material). Another new concept I have learned is the motivation that drives the intrinsic and extrinsic learner. The intrinsic learner learns for personal satisfaction and fulfillment while the extrinsic leaner tend to be more materialistic, seeking tangible rewards such as money, position, social status and other benefits. Each form of motivation can be used to create an effective learning environment. Through the course readings and personal experience I have learned that educational technology is creating multi-dimensional learning opportunities to the tech savvy learner. Technology has advanced so far in as little as five years starting from the use of desktop personal computers to now using hand held devices for all internet and computing needs. Information storage is no longer limited to the space available in the device but to this vast “cloud” with no boundaries on storage capacity (Mell & Grance, 2011, p.2).  The only limit is the ability to access the site with the technology in your hand held device.

Here I sit late on a Sunday night and I thinking “How will the last eight weeks help me as a future Instructional Designer?” It is a hard question to answer at the moment but I do think that somewhere down the road, I will reflect back on what I have learned here, and if I haven’t replaced this memory with something newer that has made my synapses fire even faster, I should be able to recall the different theories and styles and motivations that affect learning and apply it to a course I will be designing either for an online or onsite learning environment.

Reference:

Mell, P., & Grance, T., (2011). The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing, National Institute of Standards and Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce, NIST Special Publication 800-145 retrieved December 12, 2012 from http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-145/SP800-145.pdf

Ormrod, J. E., Copyright 2008, Learning Theories and Instruction Chapter 2, "Learning and the Brain" (p. 45–46) Laureate Education, Inc., Published by Merrill

Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R., Copyright 2008, Learning Styles - Concepts and Evidence, (p. 105-119) Published in the journal of Physiological Science in the Public Interest, 2009, Volume 9 –Number 3

The last seven weeks I have developed a better understanding of the major learning theories and various learning styles used. The entire process has been very confusing and difficult to understand at times. Even viewing the videos and rereading the various articles on what is a learning theory and what is a learning style I still find myself confusing one with the other. I know that each learning theory, behaviorism, cognitivism and constructivism contributes to learning in every phase in our lives. The assignment for this weeks asked three different questions related to learning. They are;

1.      Now that you have a deeper understanding of the different learning theories and learning styles, how has your view on how you learn changed?

2.      What have you learned about the various learning theories and learning styles over the past weeks that can further explain your own personal learning preferences?

3.      What role does technology play in your learning (i.e., as a way to search for information, to record information, to create, etc.)?

As far as question number 1 and 2 are concerned I can honestly say that I do not think that my view on learning has changed since my initial Week1 discussion post. My favorite learning theory is still constructivism but when it comes right down to it, I still believe that each learning theory has its place in education and we can learn equally from all three styles. I know I have. With behaviorism learning theory where “learning is an enduring change of behavior or in the capacity to behave in a given fashion, which results from practice or other forms of experience” (Ertmer & Newby, 2009, p.52), I learned survival skills growing up and in the military. With cognitivism learning theory I was able to apply the “need for purpose, decision, values and understanding” (p.70) when developing land use management plan training for Bureau of Land Management employees. And finally, the adaptive skills developed while living in the chaotic environment of war which puts into place the practices of constructivist learning theory.

The last question, role of technology in my learning, is a bit more challenging to answer. During my last seven weeks in this class I have come to the realization that I do not like technology in learning. Now don’t get me wrong, I like the benefits that technology gives us for learning. I love the ability to access information from anywhere in the world at the tip of my fingers from my mobile device. I like the ability to share thoughts and ideas with others using technology. I like that technology has made out lives easier. I enjoy the fact that technology has been able to free the gifted minds trapped in deformed bodies such as Dr. Stephen Hawking and others in order to continue the great work that they have been doing or to give the young child just starting out the ability to go anywhere. What I don’t like about technology is the mindless dependence on it to the point that there is almost reverence to it as being the saving grace for all learning. Technology, like the various learning styles, has its place. I am afraid that some people think that technology is the only option for learning in the future.

In 1999 a movie was released called The Matrix. In the movie a nerdy computer hacker named Neo found that “this world is an illusion; people are just batteries for supercomputers” (Bowles, 2003, par. 3).  Although the basic premise sounded funny at the time I just saw a commercial on television for an internationally known chemical company where they hooked up a battery to a snail and was able to generate enough electrical from it to power a small light. The commercial went on to ask just think of where they could go with this type of technology.  The same can be said for technology in learning. Where can we go from here? We can use it to enrich our lives or is it going to be used in some sort of perverted manner where technology creates a faked learned knowledge base? Imagine that a group of young people getting together 50 years from now. Each has a mobile device directly connected to their synaptic nerves feeding them impulses based on the website they are surfing at the moment or the various applications. There would be no need for words since their “mobiles are already well on the way to becoming a universal tool for communication of all kinds. (Johnson, Levine & Smith, 2009, p. 9)”.  They would use their downloaded apps to practice language skills on one another if they do talk. Is this learning or more importantly, is this the social learning community of the future?

 

References:

Bowles, S. (2003, May 09). Faith AND FX ; 'the matrix' world is all-consuming in its mythology and mysticism. USA TODAY. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/408912978?accountid=14872

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

Johnson, L., Levine, A., & Smith, R. (2009). The Horizon Report (2009 ed.). Austin, TX: The New Media Consortium. Retrieved from http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2009/

 

 

The way in which my network has changed the way I learn is by providing me new resources, contacts, and better tools. This has assisted me in both my personal and professional career. The biggest influence has been working with others in the same field and getting their helpful hints, troubleshooting guides any standard operating procedures or step by step guidelines they have.

Throughout my career, the digital tools I have used the most have been the Microsoft Office related products, specifically Word and PowerPoint. After that Techsmith’s Camtasia and Snagit are the other two digital tools I have used the most. I use these digital tools to develop the education videos for online deployment. Another feature to Camtasia is that is has add-on software to PowerPoint that allows you to create and edit videos from your PowerPoint presentation.

If I have any questions regarding the use of new software, the development of new training aids or their introduction into a learning environment, the development of lesson plans I rely on my resource materials I have collected over the years. This includes both printed and audio-visual material, along with access to web based learning materials. In addition I will research the internet using my preferred search engines to find the information, or a partial solution to the problem.  If I have additional questions, I contact former co-workers and asked them if they have had any experience working in the area where I am having problems. If they are unable to help me I ask if they have contacts that I could go to for additional assistance. Since my wife is also in the education field I also rely on her contacts and expertise as well.

I feel that my personal learning network supports the central tenets of connectivism since without it I feel I was unable to achieve a certain amount of self-improvement.  “Just like anything else that involves human experience or interaction, the act of learning does not happen in a vacuum” (Davis, Edmunds, &Kelly-Batement, 2008, par. 1) so was the same with me. I learned a great deal from the interaction with my co-workers when trying to accomplish new task. If I was unsure the historical uses of a product or particular material and was unable to find any information about it usual web based resources, I went to present or past workers. Even in my own life experiences I have had new employees or soldiers come up to me and ask for assistance completing a task since they knew I have done it before and the written material doesn’t accurately reflect how to accomplish the task.

References:

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

 

After living in Arlington, VA for a year, my wife and I decided to move closer to her job in Manasas and into a bit more rural, if you can call it that, setting in Centreville, VA. So far we are enjoying the area but do miss the hustle and bustle of the fast paced city life in Arlington.

Brain and Learning - The Reading Rockets website

One of my first careers out of technical college was working as a licensed practical nurse in and Intensive Care Unit at nights. I understood the physiological effects brain injuries from accidents, and exposure to environmental contaminants on the human body especially children. After graduating college with a degree in Biology and minor in Chemistry I spent 22 years as a health inspector for the Wisconsin Department of Health. During that time I inspected well over 200 homes for exposure of environmental contaminants in homes and schools to children. I understand how the contaminants I find in homes could have an adverse impact on a child's and even fetus's brain development. My job was to identify the results of my findings to the families so that they could share it with their pediatrician or family doctor and incorporate it into the care plan for that child's development.

That is why I found Melissa Neely's site she recommended very interesting. Melissa recommended the Reading Rockets website on children with learning possible disabilities located at  http://www.readingrockets.org/atoz/brain_and_learning/. The sites covers many of the aspects that most all parents know to include how nutritional and prenatal care an important aspect of any fetuses development in the womb. Also it references how parents who read aloud while pregnant helps the child recognize it's mothers voice when born (Curran, 2010). At the website there is a video that talks about a husband and wife researcher team, the Molfeses, who are trying to determine if a one day old baby can distinguish the differences in the sound between the letter "B" and the letter "P" (Fischer, 1994). In 1977 they tracked 32 children and presented their findings to the National Institutes of Health. NIH awarded them a 1 million dollar grant to continue their research and since 1986 they have been following over 400 infants including their own son. I found the information fascinated from the standpoint that as an adult we wouldn't normally think that a child at such an early age could distinguish such sounds. Yet the video shows tools that the researchers use to determine the child's ability to distinguish sounds. On a side note, my brother-in-law works as an audiologist and has similar equipment to what the researchers were using. He has also done test on children at very early ages to help family practice doctors diagnose patients with possible hearing defects that cause speech problems.

Melissa’s recommendation of the Reading Rocket website is a good reminder of the research that is being done to help parents identify any potential impediments a child might have to learning. With this new found knowledge parents are then able to find the resources they need to help their child learn and develop,

References:

CURRAN, P. (2010, Dec 17). Newborns recognize their mothers' voices; section of the brain that governs learning of language is switched on. The Gazette. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/818658539?accountid=14872

FISHER, F. (1994, Sep 25). Infants' brain waves may indicate potential learning disorder, psychologist says intelligence: Computer tests of newborns may detect disability before it's too late to remedy problem. Los Angeles Times (Pre-1997 Fulltext). Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/293000961?accountid=14872

 

As we finish our second week I have stepped into areas well beyond my comfort level. The first is sharing experience with my fellow classmates on past training experiences I have had along with my person training philosophies. The second is creating a blog. I am a very private person so to talk about myself and share with it with fellow classmates along with others who might see this is a bit unsettling. But do what I must I venture in the my own personally uncharted waters.

This week I was tasked to create an account for an RSS feed aggregator. I was supposed to subscribe to my feed and those of my fellow classmates listed on the Blogs Link Board which I subscrided to at at least three. I was also tasked to read the sites of my classmates that are of interest to me and add these sites to my RSS feed. Another task was to recommend two instructional design sites and give reasons why.  In addition I have to select one of the instructional design sites that either I or one of my classmates critiqued and respond to the comments of their or my original post.

My first instruction Design Site Recommendation.

I am recommending the Instructional Design Central website at http://instructionaldesigncentral.com as a resource for those in the instructional design field. Instructional Design Central is dedicated towards providing instructional design professionals, educators, and students access to instructional designer resources, educational information, and professional networking opportunities. Instructional Design Central is a community that delivers social networking and educational opportunities to instructional design related to Instructional Design professionals around the world. It also provides resources and tools for Instructional Designers at all levels and expertise. The site provides information on the history of Instructional Design, Instructional Design conferences, models and methods, eLearning sites along with links to Instructional Design jobs. You can join directly at the site or through the LinkedIn groups site at http://www.linkedin.com/search-fe/group_search.

My second Industrial Design site recommendation.

I am recommending Instructional Design and Development Blog (http://www.iddblog.org/) a service of DePaul University. It highlights emerging trends in the Instructional Design industry and provides resources and access to service providers and educators from all over the nation. The comments and blogs from the Instructional Designers who use the sight give me insight into the challenges they see day to day in the insductry. They provide valuable tips on where to find resources or services to help people out.

I chose to write about Pat Watkins recommendation of Christy Tuckers blog found at http://christytucker.wordpress.com/author/christytucker. I think Christy provides frank and honest comments regarding challenges encountered in the field of Instructional Design. She provides examples of her work and a comment board for peopl;e to contribute to that weeks topic.

Introduction

      I just began my two year journey as a future Instructional Designer by taking classes with Walden University. I have worked in the training field all my life in one capacity or another. Now I am at a point in my life that if I want to continue on in this field I need the credentials by getting my Master's Degree in Instructional Design and Education. Having been out of college for well over 27 years the challenge of going back to school is daunting. In the past I had the face-to-face interaction with my instructors. Now I have a computer screen. The 21st Century has not been kind for the baby boomers who are trying to keep up with this new technology.
     This blog will be about my journey to reach my goal. I am not sure how long it will last but it is my plan to keep this up as long as I can humanly take it. Not being a fan of blogs I have an aversion to reading someone spilling their life activities on the internet. Now I am forced to do this very thing I don't like. Having said that, I am going outside my comfort zone and into the fires of battle called the blog world.