Learning Theory and Information Processing

This week, we have studied how the brain works to process information and solve problems.  As an assignment this week, we have been asked to examine journals and/or blogs relating to these areas.  To that end, here are a couple of sites I found that I believe offer excellent information about these subjects.

Learning Theories at Te@chthought.com:

On this blog site, the te@chthought staff offer several blogs relating to learning theory and information processing.  The article that I have highlighted deals specifically with three levels of information processing: the structural level, the phonetic level and the semantic level.  While this particular posting relates to how we process the information about words, I believe it serves as a good model for how the brain can process all manner of information.  The structural level, as the most shallow layer of processing, deals only with the outward appearance of the word.  The phonetic level, the second layer of processing, relates to the learner listening to the sound of the word while the semantic level is where the learner actually considers the meaning of the word.  All three of these areas are used when processing information about a word and, similarly, all three of these areas can be related to other areas such as math where the structural stage is where the learner examines the outward appearance of an equation, the phonetic level is where the learner deals with the sound of the equation and the semantic level where the learner considers the meaning of the equation.

Educational Theory and Practice

This blog site deals with learning theory ad how it relates to instructional design.  This site presents some of the findings related to how the brain and learning work for students with diverse learning styles and also provides insights into how instructional designers can create learning experiences that will be meaningful and effective.  For example, this blog features posts on how to help learners with AD/HD challenges beginning with outlining some of the challenges in learning faced by students with this disorder then moves to strategies for creating academic success.  Additionally, other articles address the issues of learner intrinsic motivation (how the learner approaches learning) and using mobile technologies to increase learning and problem solving.

Some Excellent Blogs and Resources for Instructional Designers

As instructional designers, it is imperative to stay up on some of the best practices that are evolving in the field.  To that end, I have examined several blog sites relating to instructional design and highlighted why they are excellent resources for those of us in the field.


1) IDDBlog

This blog, sponsored by DePaul University, provides contributions from a wide variety of instructional designers working at many different levels.  This blog provides many ideas about implementing new strategies as well as ways to enhance current strategies to make them more engaging.

• Gamification: In a post by Kevin Lyon entitled Gaming the System: Understanding How Games Can Influence Course Designs, and Why You'd Want Them To, the author discusses how the use of games in a course can enhance learning in a variety of subjects.  While this subject has oft been discussed, many institutions have been slow to adopt employing games into their pedagogy.  This post makes a strong case for changing our mindset about using games in courses.
• Threaded Discussions: In a post by Ashanti Morgan entitled Reviving Threaded Discussions: Strategies to Enhance Virtual Conversations, the author provides thoughtful examples of how discussion prompts can be created that provide a better experience for students.  I found that these strategies could be employed when collaborating with faculty.

2) Corporate eLearning Strategies and Development

This blog page is focused more on the corporate training aspect of instructional design and provides some excellent ideas and resources for making training courses/modules effective.

• Storytelling in Training: In a post entitled Is Classic Storytelling a Good Model for Corporate Training?, the author outlines how a classical story model could be used to create training for corporations.  This can also be used in creating courses in academia.  Understanding how storytelling (referencing some of the models set forth by Joseph Campbell) can be employed as a means of transferring knowledge is a valuable tool for any instructional designer.
• Reflections on the Future of Education and Training: In a post entitled Future Thoughts: Degrees, Certifications, Certificates Become Meaningless, the author discusses a trend that is taking hold throughout the corporate world, that is what is the value of degrees and certifications?  Although Mark Cuban is one of the commentators, the article still has value as instructional designers look toward the future of their field.

3) The Rapid eLearning Blog

This blog provides effective strategies for designing elearning courses.  In addition to pedagogical suggestions, the blog also provides resources for the instructional designer that could be used in their own contexts.

• Building Interactive Scenarios: In a post entitled How to Build Better Interactive Scenarios for E-Learning, the author provides a list of principles that can be employed by instructional designers as they create activities to enhance student learning.
• Designing Courses to Satisfy All Online Learners: In a post entitled How to Build a Course that Satisfies Many Online Learners, the author outlines some of the different types of learners that we as instructional designers will encounter when we create courses.  Additionally, the post outlines strategies for reaching the various learner types.