In this post, I will discuss two resources that provide information about this week's topics of the brain and learning, information processing theory, and problem-solving methods during learning.
The first resource, http://www.emtech.net/ , is an Internet website I discovered through a Google search of 'learning theories'. The site is sponsored by a group called emTech Consulting which, according to the homepage, provides "over 15,000 resources organized by topics for teachers, students, and parents." The site offers information on various topics relevant to our coursework in Learning Theories and Instruction including constructivism, learning theories, and learning styles. Additionally, many other resources on the site may be useful in Instructional Design study, such as journals, online communities, teaching resources, and reference sites. The site's learning theories page provides links to journal articles, papers, web sites, and other scholarly resources. The resources are divided into subtopics such as behaviorism, dual-coding theory, and information processing. There are also sections devoted to theorists such as Piaget and Vygotsky.
What I like most about emTech's site is that it is easy to navigate. It allows me to find information quickly by clicking a few links. There is no complicated searching involved. On the downside, some of the resource links are not working. Of the seven articles listed under information processing theory, I could open only four.
While the site provides easy access to resources on information processing theory, it is far from an extensive library. I think the real value of emTech's site is that it offers information on a wide variety of learning topics. It is not a one-stop shop for information on learning theory, but it is a good place to start. I think it will be very useful in locating outside sources to supplement course materials.
The second resource is the American Educational Research Journal. I found this journal in the Walden Library database. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with using the Walden library, I will quickly explain that I located this journal by clicking on Research Databases > Education > Education: a SAGE full text database. I then used the Browse tab to view journals available by discipline. You may also find this resource at http://aer.sagepub.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ .
American Educational Research Journal is a quarterly journal first published in 1964. The journal "publishes original empirical and theoretical studies and analyses in education that constitute significant contributions to the understanding and/or improvement of educational processes and outcomes."
The online version allows you to view full text articles by issue or search for articles using keywords. With the amount of articles available it is important to be very specific when searching for studies on specific topics. Entering broad search terms returns an overwhelming amount of results. For example, when I searched for "reading" and "comprehension", I received 380 results. When I added the term "adults" the list was narrowed to 157.
I think this journal will be a very good resource because it contains numerous studies on information processing, metacognition, and attention. Although it may be a little more difficult to locate the pertinent studies, I feel more comfortable obtaining information from a scholarly journal than from the Internet. Scholarly journal articles reassure me that the material has been heavily scrutinized and held to the highest standards.
Thanks,
Brandey
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Instructional Design Blog Review
In this post, I will review a few instructional design blogs as part of an assignment for my Learning Theories and Instruction class. This is my first journey into the world of blogs and all I can say is WOW. I had no idea there was so much information available. What a valuable collection of resources. I don't know how I ever lived without them.
The three blogs I am reviewing this week are:
elearningpost, The Rapid eLearning Blog, and Instructional Design and Development Blog.
The goal of elearningpost is to "explore news, views and stories around Corporate Learning, Community Building, Instructional Design, Knowledge Management and more". The site provides links to numerous articles, interviews, and videos about eLearning and instructional design, and also about learning and education in general. Some interesting posts I've read so far have focused on the transition from traditional classroom to online learning and the use of social media in learning. There are tags available for searching specific topics and the articles are archived by month. There is no area to enter comments directly on the blog that I could see, however, in many instances comments can be posted on the sites where the articles are found. This blog provides links to a wide variety of recent content which will be helpful for staying on top of the latest instructional design news.
The Rapid eLearning Blog "shares practical tips and tricks to help you become a rapid eLearning pro". I have to say, I absolutely love this blog. eLearning development is what I am most interested in and is a big part of my current job. This blog provides many useful tips. For example, there is a post about how to manage eLearning course files. That may seem simple, but, when you are creating many modules with different versions, files can get pretty messy. This blog is very practical and is designed in a way that is visually appealing and entertaining. You may enter comments and "tweets" for each post. The resource section allows you to jump to specific topics and includes a section dedicated to instructional design. The host also provides free templates and tutorials on using them. Who doesn't love getting things free? I'm very excited to follow this blog because I think it will provide great information that I can use on a daily basis.
Last, but not least is the Instructional Design and Development Blog. This a blog maintained by the Instructional Design and Development department at DePaul University. "The site’s primary goal is to provide information on enhancing instruction through the use of technology." Being that this is a university-based blog, it is certainly the most "academic" of three I'm reviewing. The content is extensive, with articles archived monthly dating back to August 2007. One thing I really like about this blog is that they they provide an estimated reading time for each article. This is a nice touch. I often open articles, realize I don't have time to fully read them, and then have to come back to them later. The articles themselves are pretty diverse. Some of the posts I have read so far focus on learning management systems, creativity, use of wikis, and organization. There is a category list for specific topics including pedagogy, audio and video, and web tools. I think because this blog comes from an academic community, it will provide very useful in instructional design studies.
Thanks,
Brandey
The three blogs I am reviewing this week are:
elearningpost, The Rapid eLearning Blog, and Instructional Design and Development Blog.
The goal of elearningpost is to "explore news, views and stories around Corporate Learning, Community Building, Instructional Design, Knowledge Management and more". The site provides links to numerous articles, interviews, and videos about eLearning and instructional design, and also about learning and education in general. Some interesting posts I've read so far have focused on the transition from traditional classroom to online learning and the use of social media in learning. There are tags available for searching specific topics and the articles are archived by month. There is no area to enter comments directly on the blog that I could see, however, in many instances comments can be posted on the sites where the articles are found. This blog provides links to a wide variety of recent content which will be helpful for staying on top of the latest instructional design news.
The Rapid eLearning Blog "shares practical tips and tricks to help you become a rapid eLearning pro". I have to say, I absolutely love this blog. eLearning development is what I am most interested in and is a big part of my current job. This blog provides many useful tips. For example, there is a post about how to manage eLearning course files. That may seem simple, but, when you are creating many modules with different versions, files can get pretty messy. This blog is very practical and is designed in a way that is visually appealing and entertaining. You may enter comments and "tweets" for each post. The resource section allows you to jump to specific topics and includes a section dedicated to instructional design. The host also provides free templates and tutorials on using them. Who doesn't love getting things free? I'm very excited to follow this blog because I think it will provide great information that I can use on a daily basis.
Last, but not least is the Instructional Design and Development Blog. This a blog maintained by the Instructional Design and Development department at DePaul University. "The site’s primary goal is to provide information on enhancing instruction through the use of technology." Being that this is a university-based blog, it is certainly the most "academic" of three I'm reviewing. The content is extensive, with articles archived monthly dating back to August 2007. One thing I really like about this blog is that they they provide an estimated reading time for each article. This is a nice touch. I often open articles, realize I don't have time to fully read them, and then have to come back to them later. The articles themselves are pretty diverse. Some of the posts I have read so far focus on learning management systems, creativity, use of wikis, and organization. There is a category list for specific topics including pedagogy, audio and video, and web tools. I think because this blog comes from an academic community, it will provide very useful in instructional design studies.
Thanks,
Brandey
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