There were many eye opening experiences that I have learned since I have been in this course. I never thought that so many different concepts went into the process of learning. As I furthered my knowledge about how people learned it gave me the opportunity to evaluate myself for the first time. I realized for the first time that my method of learning needed some adjustments. Though I based a lot of my learning to mimic that of my peers, I realized that that was not the best method of learning for me. I have however kept my previous method of learning close because it will assist me in learning how to design curriculums for a wide variety of students. This course has allowed me to mature as a learner and also allowed me to learn different theories of learning that will enable me to understand all aspects of student learning.

The connection between learning theories and learning styles has become a vital tool in my learning approach. This course has allowed me to determine the difference between the theories and the styles and how to incorporate them. I have begun to utilize these approaches for myself and hope to learn as much as I can now to master each for my future as an instructional designer. Different educational technologies will advance over the next few years but utilizing the learning resources for this course has provided more insight for the technologies coming in the next 5 years. To have an insight will not only keep me ahead of the curve but will assure that I am providing the top notch technology in designing curriculums.

My learning in this course has definitely provided the foundation needed to move to the next level in becoming a great instructional designer. Before this course I had no idea of the learning styles and theories that made up the learning process. I am taking my learning as an instructional designer slowly at this point to assure that I master some of the best practices available. My future as a designer will be enhanced also by viewing my peer’s experiences as well. I really value their life experiences and they have given me further ideas to assist in my learning process. I’m sure that this among other aspects will assure that I am a successful designer in the future.

Fitting The Pieces Together

After going back over my previous week one discussion, I am amazed at how much I did not know about learning theories and styles. My views have changed dramatically after truly learning why and how people learn the way they learn. I was also able to determine some of the pros and cons to my own learning styles as well. Most of the specific learning theories and styles were new to me at the beginning of this program so to be able to put a definition to the theories has been a great experience for me. Over the last few weeks I have been able to learn some of the strategies that have worked for me over the years as well as some I have let go after total revaluation of myself. I used an example of my tenure in chiropractic school to characterize my learning capability. I discovered that I had catered my learning style to reflect how others grasped information. Others in the program utilized flash cards and constant memorization to process and retrieve information and I followed their lead hoping I could magnify the same outcome. To make a long story short that was not the case. It had never dawned on me that I could learn in another fashion but making changes in my own learning has helped me to conquer my learning curve and has helped my increase my understanding and interest of the courses I am taken since my time in chiropractic school.

Technology has always played a major role in my learning throughout my life. I am 28 years old now and can still remember which computers were still in its elementary stages. In time computer as well as I have matured and become more sophisticated. I use internet technology for just about everything that I do but as a learner I have performed various research projects. I utilize the Google search engines and well as Bing. I also love the fact that our program utilizes different online databases to research eBooks and articles. Technology also gave me a new understanding to transfer information from my mind directly into a format that is familiar using the MindMap Application that was offered as an option in our classroom.

My networks within my mind map have definitely changed the way I learn on a day to day basis. Viewing my peers blogs give me the opportunity to observe different experiences that they go through with by using different ideas and approaches within the same field. If I tend to find myself lacking in technology or am not using an up to date learning tool, I can generally go to their blogs to find a different outlook. I am much more focused when I am searching for information because I know that the time and effort that I put into my networking will pay off.

I find that the digital tools that best work for me are the Walden Library Research Databases. With that informative tool, I am able to research a wide variety of articles and publications. Having these tools has become a very important tool for me as a current student. Google is also a great tool that I use to locate information in a timely fashion. It has always been a plus to have so much information literally right at my fingertips.

Being that this is an online based program I find that I have grown more accustom to searching for articles and essays via worldwide web. LinkedIn helps me remain in contact with professional business contact that I have developed. When I generally have questions about any of my submissions, I will tend to research the answer thoroughly before providing further information. I have found that even observing such sights as CNN.com that small articles have been dedicated to the field of instructional design.

I believe that my personal network definitely supports the central tenants of connectivism. Networking tools that I use such as Facebook and Google keep me in contact with friends and family on a personal level but also allow me to access vital information from any area or subject. The Walden MSID & Technology program has been the ultimate tool to facilitate my learning when it comes to this program and overall learning. I had no idea that this classroom environment would provide me so many valid articles and publications to perform research. My connections among my peers also provide another aspect of learning for me as well. By observing most discussion post and blogs I can learn from their professional and personal achievements and past experiences.

Connectivism

After reviewing the resources for my graduate course this past week, we have been going more in detail into learning theories and the different ways that the brain processes new and existing information. Here are two articles that I found very interesting and relevant to this weeks topics of discussion.


The Information Processing Approach to Cognition


One of the major points of discussion this week is how information is processed in the brain. This review analizes the different stage models of information processing while also chacterizing the different forms of memory. I thought this would definitely be a good contribution for all of my peers as well to review.

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


LEARNING about E-LEARNING--Rob Hubbard

After reading this article, this is another great tool for an inspiring or current instructional designer. He also tends to provide some pros and cons to learning theories.Hubbard examines the way that the brain works by chacterizing John Medina's book Brain Rules. These 12 rules are related to e-learning as well as training within an organization or company. I hope this information is as useful for you as it has been for me.


ProQuest document ID:
1742016311

http://proquest.umi.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/pqdweb?did=1742016311&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=70192&RQT=309&VName=PQD

Sunday November 8, 2009

I will be using this blog to create and share my views and ideas. Since I am fairly new to the field, I am choosing to focus on the groundwork of the Instructional Design field. Below are three blogs that I have reviewed and relate very closely to some of the ideals I want to focus on from this point forward:

How much ID do we need?--By Vineetha

Vineetha is a mostly self trained Instructional Designer. In this blog she discusses the overall need and importance of the instructional designer. She also provides a much needed distinction between instructional designers and SME (Subject Material Experts). I thought it would be a good starting point to view the options and opportunities of a designer in the current technology driven world today.

http://learning-e-learning.blogspot.com/2008/02/how-much-id.html


What Everyone Ought to Know about Instructional Design (ID)

This blog goes into the detail on the true value of an Instructional Designer. You will be amazed at the variety of ideas you will encounter as you view to video link provided. It will open your eyes more in detail concerning our field and distinguish the importance of what we do as designers. In my opinion, this blog provides everything needed to become or continue to be successful in the ID field.

http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/what-everybody-ought-to-know-about-instructional-design/

Experiencing E-learning: What do Instructional Designers do?--By Christy Tucker
This blog provides more specifics on exactly what instructional designers do within a variety of different fields. She also provides additional links to other blogs that offer career options and professional organizations to view and possibly pursue employment opportunities. Through reading this blog, I really began to truly embrace what I will be doing to assist my students. Though none of the post in the blog are recent, the information provided speaks volumes nonetheless.

http://christytucker.wordpress.com/2007/06/14/professional-organizations-and-career-options/