Fitting the Pieces Together

 In my week one discussion, I stated, "As a student, I tend to learn through more unconventional means and tend to have more success if the instructor uses more theories. I know that I focus more on getting to the destination rather than the 'correct' answer; this is why I struggled so much in traditional science and math classes. I couldn’t see how my answer was wrong just because I got to it in a different manner. As the cognitive theory says, it is about how you acquire the knowledge, not necessarily the 'intended' response (Ertmer & Newby, 1993)."  After learning about all different types of learning theories, I still agree with my original statement; however, I have reworked my concept of what an ideal learning environment is like. 
In my statement, I say that I learn in more unconventional ways.  Through this course, I've realized that the unconventional methods I stated are actually not unconventional at all.  I learn more through cognitivism, connectivism, and constructivism.  Within these theories, I am a pretty common learner.  I have also realized that just because I don't retain information through behavorists methods doesn't make me an unconventional learner.  Most people struggle to gain information that way.
As far as learning styles, I said in the beginning that I am a audio/visual learner.  I still believe that to be true; however, I did have a little bit of a breakthrough in this course when I took the online evaluation to see what my perferred intelligence is.  It turned out that it is language, which I figured since I am an English teacher.  The breakthrough came in that I realized this intelligence is what stopped me from excelling in math and science, not necessarily because the instructors weren't teaching in the cognitivst theory.  As a language dominate learner, I would get hung up on the wording in the problem and the "deeper meanings" in the text, which made focusing on the linear problem difficult.  Furthermore, I had a few revelations with my 2nd and 3rd intelligence perferences: interpersonal and intrapersonal.  I didn't realize how much time I spend in intrapersonal thought until after that assessment.  I actually thought most people think about what's going on within themselves (mentally, emotional, etc.) as often as I do.  It really clarified some of the stress I put on myself and the importance I place on relationships and interactions.  The multiple intelligences section of the course really spoke to me .
If I gained this much insight into myself and my learning style and was able to clarify some elements of my life through this information, it is only fitting that I be able to do the same for the students I serve.  Therefore, as an instructional designer, I must keep in mind all learning styles from behavorist to multiple intelligences when designing learning activities.

Connectivism Reflection

My learning changes on a constant basis.  I find online learning more challenging than the traditional classroom for two reasons.  In the traditional classroom the information is relayed through a lecture/presentation, and I have physically present people with whom to converse and extend my knowledge.  In the online setting, I still have people who extend my knowledge, but the interaction is delayed by one to three days.  While I find online learning beneficial and a necessity for my life right now, it has challenged my learning.  As a visual/auditiory learner, I have had to really  challenge myself to make my own connections within the texts.  I love to read, but I learn best through the other venues.  Connectivism says that learning changes through diversity and will change to stay up-to-date.  I feel that the diversity of people (some in classroom education/some in the business sector) and the diversity of technology has changed my learning network.  I have made connections with people and thought processes in the class which have enriched my knowledge.  Also, I have learned and utilized many new technologies, keeping my learning up-to-date, that have given me connections in my education and that I will use in my high school classroom to help with student learning.  As I grow more into an adult learner, I have become more intrinsically motivated to learn and have surrounded myself with professionals and technologies that allow me to learn and grow.  Also, by expanding the way I learn, I have increased my capacity to learn (Davis, and Kelly-Bateman, 2008). In our online classroom setting, I learn best through the video lectures because the actually facilitate my connections more.  I just learn better through those avenues.  The discussions and blogs, while helpful, are delayed in stimulating my thought processes.  In my own learning, if I don't know the answer to a question or have questions about something, I  immediately get logged into a search engine or article database.  While I don't make connections as quickly through reading, I am efficient in researching topics and skimming for my answer. If that doesn't help, I look to the professional in my network for the answer.  Finally, my personal network supports connectivisim in that I have diversity in the way I achieve knowledge, have made connections to personal experiences, and have stayed up-to-date in my information.  I don't feel that my network really refutes connectivism.  I  need to continually reflect on my learning and the way I achieve it to stay current in education.  I connect to the concept of connectivism (Davis, and Kelly-Bateman, 2008).
 Davis, C., Edmunds, E., & Kelly-Bateman, V. (2008). Connectivism. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Connectivism

Connectivism

How the Brain Works: Learning Differences for Genders and Intelligences

The educational world of the past took little stock in how student's learned.  Instead, the focus in education was rote memorization and repetitive practice.  Educational experts looked at what was the best behavioral model and focused little on cognition.  Now, the research on the brain and how it helps/causes learning is vast.  Educators focus on teaching to all levels on intelligence and focus on making the material meaningful to the students.  In the book Biological Differences in Learning, the author goes beyond the standard differentiation in intelligences to look at how each gender processes information.  In the article, it states that a male’s brain is 10-15% larger than a female's due to size of body the brain must maintain.  Furthermore, the article articulates the specific differences in intelligence by showing that females normally outperform males in fine motor skills, computations, multitasking, visual recall, spelling, verbal memory, and social perception while males outperform females in targeting skills, working vocabulary, extended focus and concentration, mathematical reasoning, navigation with geometric properties, verbal intelligence, and spatial tasks.   While I am not sure that I agree with all of these, I have seen the difference between genders in the classroom.  The book's message is clear and relevant to our study of the brain in that it tells us that we must be aware of the different ways students learn.  This book is full of information on the brain and the effects certain elements will have on its ability to encode and retrieve information.  I found this chapter on gender most interesting though because I spend so much time on differentiating intelligence that I often forget about differentiating gender.
The other book I found online was called Making Connections: Teaching the Human Brain.  I was drawn to this article after posting to a few blogs about engaging students in the virtual classroom.  The chapter I focused on in this book deals with brain based learning in action.  It gave ideas for engaging students in their own learning through metacognition.  They suggested reflection journals for this. I liked this idea; however, I struggle with the standard, "What did you learn question?"  I ask my students this often, and while that question is beyond valuable, I want to make it more relevant to my students.  They often struggle with this question.  So, if anyone out there has an idea of how to update this question into a more relevant activity, please post it here. Thanks!  Their other suggestion for engaging students is to get them into the real-life situation.  While I also think this is a great idea, field trips are fading fast in our school district.  I try to bring in speakers and virtual elements to make it more real, but how can I improve this further.  I know that a meaningful connection will help them learn.  Any suggestions?

Caine, R., & Caine, G. (2001). Making connections: teaching the human brain. Wheaton, MD: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Jensen, E.P. (2008). Brain-based learning: the new paradigm of teaching. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.

Instructional Design Resources

While perusing instructional design sites, I was flooded with the amount of information dedicated to this topic.  Being in education, I design instruction everyday.  However, I guess I didn't realize how instuctional design encompassed so many fields and opportunities. The first site I bookmark was http://christytucker.wordpress.com/2010/07/06/instructional-design-and-e-learning-blogs/, and under that site I was drawn to http://in-the-middle-of-the-curve.blogspot.com/ because it is the blog of someone who has worked in teh field for many years.  She has substantial links to resources and has great insight into her real life problems as a deliverer of instruction. The blog under that same intitial site that I found value in was http://blog.thewritersgateway.com/. This site caught my attention because the entry was "Time to Eliminate Online Tutorials?"  While studying this field and seeing the changes in education, I found the entry fascinating.  Then, I scrolled down to find helpful reviews of technology used to instructional delivery.  I try to stay current on technology in my classroom, so I find it helpful.  A resource that is not a blog that I found helpful is http://www.instructionaldesign.org/. On here there are all sorts of learning models.  I wish I would have looked at this one before my intial discussion post to help give more depth to my analysis. Finally, I did use the link from our resources http://en.wordpress.com/tag/instructional-design/.  I liked this site because I can easily join the discussion.  Plus, I find all the different perspectives interesting.  I like the comfortability and networking of the atmosphere.