Reflections – Wk 8

Tags

Behaviorism Theory, Cognitive Theory, constructionist, Educational Technology, ID, Instructional Design, Learning Styles, Learning Theories, Motivation, Ormrod, Relevance, Vygotsky

I was surprised by the Constructivist Theory concept that “Learners create their own unique education because learning is based on prior knowledge” as explained by Ormrod in Chapter 1 of our course text.  I had a vision of each learner as unique, bringing their unique background of experience to the course; but, I never made the connection that their “take-away” from the course would be unique.  What I have learned about learning through this course makes it seem an obvious consequence.

I had a cursory understanding of Vygotsky, and knew nothing of his Zone of Proximal Development, described by Ormrod in Chapter 6 of our course text, and I found it of great value.  Like many organized theories, the premise is very basic: to be effective, lessons cannot be too easy or too difficult, but the concept is quite complex.  According to Vygotsky we must gauge a person’s educational level when they enter the course and design instruction based on the information garnered.  Thus creating questions such as: how to gauge their educational level, and how to meet their individual learning needs when teaching in a group setting.

Learning about how transfer occurs helped me understand my personal learning process in a deeper way.  For example: Cognitive Theory says that learning occurs when a learner understands how to apply knowledge in different contexts.  I experienced this at times when I have felt confident that I learned a concept and moved on to learning something else.  But then I was shown the same concept in a different context and was surprised to experience the feeling of realization that comes with knowing something more deeply.

When connecting learning theories, learning styles, educational technology, and learner motivation you find that the connection-lines cross each other and the ending point becomes the starting point.  Using the example of making a pumpkin pie: you might start with educational technology: a video of pie making.  Then realize that you need to use relevance as motivation: a promise that the course will culminate in the creation of an actual pie.  Now you notice some learners are not paying close attention and you consider learning styles:  maybe some of them need to manipulate the pie ingredients as they progress in their learning so you make breaks in the video to allow them to physically process the information as it is presented.  The lesson is still not achieving the defined outcome so you decide to make a ZPD assessment: you find that many of the learners lack knowledge of the terminology you are using, so you employ Behaviorism Theory and include an interactive puzzle where they draw a line from the name of a cooking utensil to the picture of that utensil.  You progress through the course design in this manner until you arrive at the final step in the lesson, creation of a pie.  As demonstrated in this example, there are numerous connections between learning theories, learning styles, educational technology, and learner motivation and when designing instruction, they can enter the process in any order.

I feel that this course has provided me with a valuable foundation for designing instruction that includes processes for understanding the learner and thus creating effective teaching tools.

Bibliography

Ormrod, J., Schunk, D., & Gredler, M. (2009). Learning theories and instruction (Laureate custom edition). New York: Pearson.

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In Week 7, Looking back on Week 1

Tags

Andragogy, Communities of Practice, connections, Connectivism, constructionist, Educational Technology, Instructional Design, learning communities, Malcolm Knowles

Reflecting on my writing from Week 1, I now have more specific knowledge to go with that general knowledge.  As an adult learner, I feel that my learning style is closely aligned with what was described in this University of Georgia article on Adult Learning (http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Adult_Learning#Andragogy) which included this list principles defined by Malcolm Knowles:

• Adults need to be involved in the planning and evaluation of their instruction
• Experience (including mistakes) provides the basis for learning activities
• Adults are most interested in learning about subjects that have immediate relevance to their job or personal life
• Adult learning is problem-centered rather than content-oriented

In Week 1 I asserted that I benefit most from Problem-Based learning which I now know can be seen as falling within the Constructivist Theory of Learning.  I can easily relate my learning experiences with the aspects noted noted by Ertmer: (Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism: Comparing Critical Features from an Instructional Design Perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 6(4), by P. A. Ertmer & T. J. Newby.) “transfer of knowledge can be facilitated by involvement in authentic tasks anchored in meaningful contexts. . . The goal of instruction is to accurately portray tasks, not to define the structure of learning required to achieve a task.  If learning is decontextualized, there is little hope for transfer to occur.”

The role that technology plays in my life cannot be overstated; it is my life-line and my education-line because my degree is 100% online, which I feel is essential to my learning about Instructional Design.  This site, devoted to the Connectivism Theory of Learning, explains why I feel see the need for such a deep association with technology: http://www.connectivism.ca/ “The wild card in education today is abundance [of information]. . . we can’t make sense of it all. It changes too quickly. Many universities rely on a ‘design today, use for three years’ course design model. It worked great in 1950. [But] in 2009 – not so much.  Greater adaptively of content is required.”

Davis agreed with the Importance of Networks in this article:   http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/ “We can no longer personally experience everything as we try to learn something new.  We must create networks . . . of people, technology, social structures, systems, power grids, etc – learning communities can share their ideas with others, thereby “cross-pollinating” the learning environment.”

And so, those of us who are exploring how to blend technology with education are sharing ideas as soon as they come to us, weaving them together and looking for strengths as we explore.  It must be like scientific researchers who discover, revise and share almost simultaneously.

I Learn Through Connections

Tags

connections, ISTE, learning communities, NECC, SecondLife, Shirky, Siemens, walden, wesch

This blog post is between 300 and 600 words telling you that learning networks have changed my life, more specifically, my academic life.  I began the learning journey that brought me to this Walden MS program out of the desperation I felt when, in 2009, I saw  first-year university students experiencing the same teaching method I had in 1978; groups of 200+ in theater-style lecture halls.  It was at this point that my desperation took the form of ranting and raving.

I turned to distance learning for hope and enrolled in an online course but instead of being the solution, it compounded my desperation.  The method of instruction was exactly like the lecture hall except that the lecturer was replaced by a computer screen; the job of the student unchanged – gather information and recall it on command. This generic form of online education was obviously not the alternative I was seeking to theater-style lecture halls.

Around this time I met Michael Wesch, Professor of Anthropology at Kansas State University, thus beginning the creation of my learning network.  I discovered Dr. Wesch through a YouTube search which retrieved a video him being awarded “US Professor of the Year 2008”.  Oh my goodness – he was ranting and raving also; he said that the lecture theaters were not working, that we were not reaching the students, not engaging them in the learning process.  He said that the idea of a single person telling hundreds of people that he knew all of the information on a subject was no longer valid – that transferring the power to the group would mean hundreds of people could gather information from hundreds of sources, share it with the class and build a knowledge base that a single “teacher” could never amass.  Professor Wesch showed me that my passion could be into action.

His videos led me to other videos, books, journals and blogs resulting in the creation of my personal learning community.  I felt the empowerment of the “crowd”, a term made popular by Clay Shirky, an author introduced to me when I “attended” (through webcast) an ISTE conference in 2009.  My learning community led me to SecondLife where a current Walden student told me of her great educational experience, and so began my master’s education.

Having used 354 words on background information I must move quickly to the questions assigned for this post.

How has your network changed the way you learn? Approximately  90% of my learning currently happens through my learning network.

Which digital tools best facilitate learning for you? Along with those mentioned herein, I would include Elluminate (www.elluminate.com) web-conferencing tool which allows for a slide-show with live narration accompanied by live (typed) questions from the audience, with voice capability given to participants at the discretion of the moderator.

How do you gain new knowledge when you have questions? I look for keywords in my area of inquiry, search my bookmarks on delicious and follow the links provided.  If I am unsatisfied with those results, I perform a google search.

In what ways does your personal learning network support or refute the central tenets of connectivism? My personal learning network has connected me to a social group with a shared area of interest.  This fits exactly with the description by Siemens in our video this week that “with connectivism there is that emphasis on the social dimensions”.  This blog post is a testament to the truth in the statement by Siemens in his blog www.connectivism.ca post dated 11/10/09:  “Instead of experts and designers serving as the key sensemaking and wayfinding agents in curriculum, social networks and their ability for context-sensitivity must play a greater role.”

Phew – 600 words