After exhaustive blog and resource searches, I finally picked selections for the week 1 assignment of EDUC:6115 Learning Theories and Instruction. It was somewhat challenging for me because most of my blog searches yielded undesirable results. I primarily played with my keywords in the Google and Wordpress blog searches for plenty of hours. Most of the undesired results were others completing their ID assignments or a sales pitch for a product.
My first choice was http://davidtjones.wordpress.com/2009/10/04/learning-theories-and-e-learning/. This was the first resource with intriguing information regarding Instructional Design that I came across. The author (David Jones) identifies 4 levels of learning theory. Having had my first dose of Instructional Design theory coming from Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (1993)
The introduction of a possible 4th theory called Connectivsm, had spiked my interest into looking further in his referenced material. Initially, I was surprised that learning theory as whole was contained by 3 categories. As my exposure into the field deepens; I feel it borders ultimate questions like, "what is the meaning of life?"
I selected http://www.about-elearning.com/learning-theories.html, which provides a detailed perspective of the Behaviorism, Cognitivism and Constructivism theories. Aside from the sales ads fully integrated within the site, the sub page http://www.usask.ca/education/coursework/802papers/mergel/brenda.htm went further into the differences and of the theories and helped me mentally connect dots of my understanding of them. I was especially amused by the atomic theory to learning theory development continuum diagram. As I read the Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (1993) article, I kept feeling as if Behaviorism, Cognitivism and Constructivism somehow correlated to the level degree expertise of bachlors, masters, and Ph.D. respectively.
The site Training & E-Learning Zone for Quizzes site and blog are more useful in the practical sense. This site: http://www.quiz-creator.com/blog/2009/09/8-ways-create-online-test/ provides direct instruction for creating online tests and quizzes using a variety of software and methods. Knowing that we will be using Adobe Web Premium in the future, the information on using Adobe Flash and Dreamweaver may be extremely valuable to me. Generally, I need more than the software guide for learning new programs. After subscribing to the blog, I found even more tutorials, instructional tools, and software reviews.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
G'day Chadd,
ReplyDeleteI'm like you I can't see 3 "categories" being enough for learning. I was actually arguing against the worse case again where there is only 1. I see this all the time person X pushing learning theory/method Y as the universal silver bullet.
I was trying to make the point that how we understand learning through our theories is diverse. There are at least 4 big groupings, many of those groupings have significant diversity within them and as time progresses we're developing more groupings.
I like the connection with "what is the meaning of life".
David.
Chadd,
ReplyDeleteTraining & E-Learning Zone for Quizzes is a great site. I like the fact that it looks clean and neat, but it has so many different types of quizzes. New ideas can be a problem with online learning. As an instructional designer, keeping boredom at bay is my main goal.
Using YouTube Video to Make Online Quizzes More Engaging is the best new tool for designers. This site uses sound, video, and interactivity to catch your attention. That is about as good as it gets.
I have a weakness for the following information on a instructional design site:
• There is a step by step tutorial on how to use YouTube videos for your quizzes.
• The site has a mini example that you can submit an answer and you get feedback as soon as you click the submit button.
• Some questions are only answerable by movie clips or sound.
• How to integrate videos into quizzes was a great point by list some example of sites like CNN or TeacherTube.
This is really a great site. How did you find this?
Chadd,
ReplyDeleteTraining & E-Learning Zone for Quizzes is a great site. I like the fact that it looks clean and neat, but it has so many different types of quizzes. New ideas can be a problem with online learning. As an instructional designer, keeping boredom at bay is my main goal.
Using YouTube Video to Make Online Quizzes More Engaging is the best new tool for designers. This site uses sound, video, and interactivity to catch your attention. That is about as good as it gets.
I have a weakness for the following information on a instructional design site:
• There is a step by step tutorial on how to use YouTube videos for your quizzes.
• The site has a mini example that you can submit an answer and you get feedback as soon as you click the submit button.
• Some questions are only answerable by movie clips or sound.
• How to integrate videos into quizzes was a great point by list some example of sites like CNN or TeacherTube.
This is really a great site. How did you find this?
Chadd,
ReplyDeleteI followed your posts, especially the davidtjones one and found that it was really very interesting for novice bloggers. I continued to an Australian's site, a Susan Waters, which helped me, as well.
Now you even have really interesting comments in response.
I follow you with great interest!