Week 8 BLOG

What did you find surprising or striking as you furthered your knowledge about how people learn?

Among the various learning theories that was covered, the advantages of social, constructivist, and adult learning theories were of particular interest to me, as I am interested in online learning in a corporate environment. I enjoyed reading and discussing the challenge of creating a truly social environment in an online class. This class itself served as a great example. My learning was greatly increased by the discussions, blog posts, and other interactions that I had with my fellow students. They shared many insights that I would have otherwise missed or overlooked.

I particularly enjoyed the material on Keller's ARCS approach to promoting motivation. This model provides me with a structured approach to ensure that my instructional design includes a solid strategy for maintaining students' motivation. I plan to do some more study of this model.

I had thought that learning was a pretty simple process. How hard could it be? People do it all the time. Instead I discovered that the variables are complex, dynamic and “sometimes unpredictable”.

How has this course deepened your understanding of your personal learning process?

I genuinely believed that technology, people and environments were relatively incidental to learning. It was always good if these worked to my advantage, but more often than not these were simply obstacles to overcome. I approached the theory of connectivism with a great deal of skepticism. The more closely I examined connectivism, the more I came to realize how powerful these elements were, especially in light of the rapidly decreasing half-life of knowledge (Davis, Edmunds & Kelly-Bateman, 2008). Siemens doesn’t explain everything about learning, but I’ve found his observations on technology, complexity, networks and connections to be extremely powerful. As a result I’ve become far more aware of the role people, technology and environments play in the learning experience and no longer think of them as being a simple ‘pro’ or ‘con’ .

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

Probably the most valuable thing that I have come to appreciate, is that you cannot consider one of these aspects of instructional design by itself. Each is influenced and supported by the others in various ways. Completing the matrix on the learning theories was a valuable exercise for me, in that it gave me a structured method for summarizing the key points of each. This allowed me to understand that each has its merits and there are situations where each can be most valuable. I also now appreciate how motivation can be impacted by the way that a course is constructed and delivered. And that motivation can be a particularly difficult challenge when considering the use of technologies such as online training. As stated above, Keller's model seems to be a very valuable one.

How will your learning in this course help you as you further your career in the field of instructional design?

I always struggle with learning theory, but I had assumed that once I struggled through it I would be looking at something relatively simple. ‘Relative’ to what I actually found, which was complex to the point of chaotic. This doesn’t scare me, it’s something I find exciting. So to the extent that being excited is motivating, and being motivated leads to success, that I’ve learned what I’ve learned will further my career. In the same vein, I believe that my learning in this course has made me a better learner.

My awareness of the myriad resources and information available to me as an instructional designer was greatly increased. I will continue to expand my learning network so that I can be the most effective that I can be.

Fitting the pieces together
How has my view on how I learn change?

I was a teacher for ten years. I did my diploma in education and masters. I found three learning styles and I categorized my self as a visual and auditory learner. And mostly I used books and notes given by the lecturers in my learning. I now have a new and deeper appreciation for the importance of the advantages of connectivism. I realize that my personal network is important in my learning process. I realized what a crucial foundation these resources are to my learning.

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? My preference of learning theory, at this point, may be personalized to how I learn. Piaget’s Cognitive Development theory sets a foundation for how I learn, especially with its focus on a learner’s repeated interaction and experimentation, to promote more logical ways of thinking (Ormrod class text). Now, as an adult learning, adjusting to the technology advancements of today’s society, the incorporation of technology to my new learning environments, Constructivism and Connectivism provide additional support and exploration of social connections and broadening of my personal learning environment by adding additional layers to how I am able to learn and master new information.

What role does technology play in my learning?Technologies largely refers to computer soft ware computer application that may incorporate the use of multimedia in an educational setting.The internet plays a major role in my learning. Many of the items in my learning network mind map are internet related and others are facilitated by internet technology. At home, we have a “family” desktop computer that we can use wirelessly anywhere in and around our home as well as via wi-fi when travelling. I use Google search to get to know about unknown or new things. And I also use face book in my learning. For learning, it is becoming commonplace to use online tutorials, videos, and classes such as this one. I stay connected to my personal networks through tools such as online professional societies, Linked In, Facebook, etc.

This mind map gives a picture of what my learning network looks like . I write the way I learn using the given mind map .I use professional network,social networking sites, personal learning networks and other technologies in learning.
Reflection of my mind map illustrates all the different sources I can retrieve learning.The expansion of my social net work has certainly changed the way I learn by the various sources of information available.
My favourite place to learn is through professional blogs that arrive in my eReader.These blogs quickly get me thinking about perspectives of education and provide real life examples of effective instructional design. I have all of these ideas in my head of what makes up a good piece of instructional material ,these blog posts put those ideas into action in a way that helps solidify them in my own mind.
When I have questions ,I use search engines like Google or Ask me to get information.some times I use skype to communicate with my friends dispersed all over the world to clarify the issues.And I use Wiki sites also to get new knowledge when I have questions.
Connectivism is a new term and discusses how we learn using the expansion of social networks.My personal net work cannot refute the central tenets of connectivism because information is not flowing in a linear sequence and they do not stand alone in a holistic sence.Each of my social net work units offers some type of learning either through facilitation or direct information.

This mind