This week's class topic involved the brain and learning, information processing theory, and problem solving methods during the learning process. Designing learning that meets the needs of a variety of students is a challenge since everyone learns differently and each may have have unique needs. Additionally learning to design learning that facilitates the storage and retrieval of information in the brain should be the goal of every instructional designer. In my quest to be a better instructional designer I have discovered a couple of resources that resonated with me and further informed my knowledge of instructional design.
The first article that caught my interest was found on the John Hopkins School of Education website. The article was written by David L. Crawford and is titled The Role of Aging in Adult Learning: Implications for Instructors in Higher Education. This article discusses learning and the aging adult learner. Crawford talks about the fact that today adults are continuing to learn throughout their lives and well into their 70’s. The workforce is aging and in order to meet the needs of our aging students it is important to recognize their unique learning needs. Crawford discusses the physiological, psychological, experiential aspects, learning expectations of the aging learner and the implications for instructors. I found this article to be extremely interesting as it reviews the specialized considerations when designing curriculum for aging adult learners. This article is an important read for anyone who is designing learning curriculum. The second resource I would like to discuss is a webpage on the Edutopia website called The Neuroscience Behind Stress and Learning. This webpage is authored by neurologist Judy Willis and discusses how stress can affect our ability to learn and process information. Willis states that “students' comfort level has critical impact on information transmission and storage in the brain.” (Willis, 2015) This article is a starting point to understanding how the chemical process that is a byproduct of stress affects the learning capabilities of our students. It demonstrates that the brain is extremely complex and in order to facilitate learning we must manage stress in the learning environment. This article is just a starting place to understanding the correlation between stress and learning but I highly recommend reviewing it. I hope you enjoy this week’s selection of articles! References Crawford, D. L. (2004) The Role of Aging in Adult Learning: Implications for Instructors in Higher Education. Available at: http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/lifelonglearning/higher-education/implications/ (Accessed: 13 September 2015). Ormrod, J., Schunk, D., & Gredler, M. (2009). Learning theories and instruction (Laureate custom edition). New York: Pearson. Willis, J. (2015) The Neuroscience Behind Stress and Learning. Available at: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/neuroscience-behind-stress-and-learning-judy-willis (Accessed: 14 September 2015).
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I am a current student studying Instructional Design and Technology. I am new to the field of instructional design and am thirsty for knowledge! Today, I have been reviewing different Instructional Design blogs to try to find the best sites to stay current, learn new ideas and techniques. I have found three blogs that I really resonate with me and would like to share them with everyone.
The first blog that I am excited about is by a company called Upside LMS. The blog is different as the focus is corporate learning and most blogs out there are focused on instructional design in a learning environment. This blog has a wide array of postings that pertain to Instructional Design in the corporate world. It also offers up information on utilizing current technology in eLearning. This site discusses how to navigate the corporate world and be effective as an instructional designer. The site has blog sections for eLearning, Learning Management and Mobile eLearning. The site includes a RSS feed option and is fully integrated into social media with a YouTube channel that includes training videos, Twitter feed, Facebook and Google+ sites. The next blog that catches my interest is by Connie Malamed called The eLearning Coach. This site has a wide range of content to mentor the new Instructional Designer including podcasts, articles on visual design, and tips to facilitate great instructional design. This site has areas dedicated to visual design, working with video and audio as teaching methods. I like that there is also an area to discuss the latest in learning techniques and theory. The site has a RSS Feed capabilities, as well as a presence on Facebook and Google+. The site also offers a variety of tools for the instructional designer. Overall this site covers the gamut of the various ways to present instructional design in today’s tech heavy world. The final site that interests me was created by Christopher Pappas is called eLearning Feeds. This website pulls in news and articles from numerous eLearning blogs all in one location. It is a vast repository of information. The site shows a current ranking of instructional design blog sites with links. The site also has a weekly newsletter that has the best instructional design articles from the week. This site provides a way for the instructional designer to keep up with all of the information being generated on the web in a concise and centralized location. It also allows instructional designers to submit their own blog RSS feeds for publication on the site. The site also has links to video training for instructional design. Overall, in a busy world this blog site makes it easy to stay connected to current topics, issues and information about the field of instructional design. What are your favorite instructional design blog sites? |
Stacy SpringerWelcome to my blog! I am passionate about great Instructional Design and Educational Technology. Let's start a discussion! Archives
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