Designing Effective Instruction - Chapter 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Designing Effective Instruction - Chapter 3
Monday, December 28, 2009
Week 8: Learner Motivation - Reflection
Monday, December 21, 2009
Fitting the Pieces Together
Now that I have a deeper understanding of the different learning theories and styles, my view on how I learn has been expanded. Initally, I had only been equipped with fragmented pieces of information on learning theory. My views on how I learn have become more vast, at the expense of becoming more knowledgeable on the topic. I have a great respect to those that have attempted to isolate and define how people learn. Each contributor has brought relevant insight and applicability, but these are only perspectives in this unquantifiable field.
I am still leaning towards cognitivism as my closest fit, but Multiple Intelligences, Social Learning, and Adult theories all have a role in my learning schema. I found Howard Gardner's philosphy on Multiple Intelligences (Armstrong, 2000) to be the most intriguing. I learned that there is much more researchable information available on the concept of someone being 'math smart,' with respect to MI Theory. More broadly, my understandings were enhanced and organized as a whole to concepts such as; stimulus-response conditioning to Behaviorism (Ertmer & Newby, 1993), or group work and learning by doing to Adult Learning Theory (Conlan, J., Grabowski, S., & Smith, K. 2003).
As I continue to figure out how each learning theory applies to me, the role of technology has evolved into an integral component of my daily life. So much information is available electronically, it has become my primary source of research. Research studies, books, newspapers, and more are all readily evailable due the internet. Accessibility has made leaps and bounds as well. Today I have access to information via my personal computer, my laptop, work computer, and cell phone. Mobile devices and cloud computing applications (The Horizon Report, 2009) are a few catalysts of todays cutting edge technology. Since starting the IDT program, I have been using Google Docs, Blogger, and the mind mapping tool Webspiration extensively. I can't wait to experience what's ahead in the near and far-away future.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Mind Map Reflection
My computer(s) would the best tool to facilitate my learning. In addition to gathering information it is the best platform to organize and process my findings. On my computer I can view, edit, and print materials. The ability to manipulate and organize information is indispensable. I can open and edit a variety of sources from pdf's to Word documents and from audio to video. I have greatly enjoyed the mind mapping software from webspiration. It has allowed me greater organization and understanding of the connectivity of my research and thoughts. When I search a topic such as behaviorism, I can organize multiple definitions, pros and cons, influencing factors, and applications. As I collect data, I can make connections of similarity or difference with other theories. I still would use any printed text or colleague (direct or indirect, via blog posting or group discussion) as a source.
With so many options to gather information from I can't agree more that the "ability to draw distinctions between important and unimportant information is vital" (Review of Connectivism). There are so many biased perspectives on any single issue, it can be more time consuming to sift through and find what is solid and legit information. A Google search on any single, simple topic will yield millions of results (Learning Theory > 32 million hits). There's just an over-abundance of information available for our disposal (Connectivism). In all learning there will always be some degree of connectivism, it's dynamic and will vary from person to person in how it is attained, processed, and retained.