Instructional Design

Reflection

Learning is the act of acquiring new information and or modifying and reinforcing existing knowledge that an individual has acquired in the past. Learning is also complex, in that it does not all happen at once but it is a gradual process that changes as individuals grow, mature and are exposed to various aspects of their environment. Learning constantly reinvents itself and each individual develops their own learning personality, so to speak.

As I furthered my knowledge about how people learn, I found a couple of things surprising. One of the most significant was the vast amount of theory, philosophy, understanding anatomy and research that seems to explain learning. There are also so many theorists who studied learning, each whom added a different view of how people learned and how the learning process was directly related to the century that they were living and the access of information available. Collectively all of this information greatly influenced learning and developed the foundation of the learning process.

My previous knowledge barely scratches the surface on how people learn. There was input from so many psychological perspectives at times it was mind blowing. There are psychologist, behaviorist and theorist who applied behaviorist, cognitive, interactionist and developmental-interactionist theories which influenced learning as well. It was like opening up Pandora’s Box for learning and development.

This course has deepened my understanding of my personal learning process in so many ways; I will touch on a few.

·         First, by enhancing my own knowledge in how people learned, I gained a better understanding of how to transform my own knowledge to make an acceptable contribution to my learning and teaching process.

·         Second, being in the environment with other education professionals, I can relate my experiences and challenges with theirs to share information and solve problems in which I had previously and will have in the future.

·         Third, since learning is a continuous process, like other adult learners I’m motivated and excited to learn useful information that pertains to my job. I have gained a new found respect for other educators and since I am adding to my professional experience, I have a better understanding on why teachers do things in a certain way. With education, nothing is black and white. There are always alternatives in teaching to get the message across which could be as successful as the next idea.

·         Technology is my friend. I thought the only way I could learn was by taking notes and memorization. As I learned, my learning style needed to be upgraded, I now think of my learning style as an appJ. I have to constantly be in tuned to the new technology being introduced to the education genre and explore.  Try something different only if it applies to the course curricula being taught and continue to do research.

The connection between learning theories, learning styles, technology and motivation are intertwined. I think a person will have to be open to the various ways of learning information to be successful in business and in life. Motivation is the drive that determines the style, technology and theory. How a person adapts to information will determine how they choose to learn it. Learners’ motivation has been consistently linked to successful learning. For example, Galusha noted that knowledge about students’ motivation may help educators determine which students are likely to participate in and benefit from online education. Similarly, Tallent-Runnels et al asserted that an understanding of learners’ motivation is the key for effective instructional design. (Clayton, 2009)

As I further my career in instructional design, I will keep and have easy access to all of the reference material used in this course. I would also be inclined to read more on each one of the topics to get other views and explore different research to see what others have determined about learning. I will be more open to various technologies and I will pay more attention to how people learn so I can develop the best product to accommodate their needs. As we used to say in the Navy, “I have added some more tools in to my toolbox”. Thanks for expanding my view in learning. Thanks Dr. Artino!

References

Video Program: Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). Motivation in learning [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Course Text: Learning Theories and Instruction, Chapter 7, "Motivation and Affect" (pp. 241–262)

Article: Keller, J. M. (1999). Using the ARCS motivational process in computer-based instruction and distance education. New Directions for Teaching and Learning (78).

Karen Clayton, Fran Blumberg and Daniel P. Auld itecideas.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/59664147/clayton_motivation.pdf by K Clayton - ‎2009