Evaluating and Identifying online resources

Brain and learning, Information processing theories and problem solving methods during the learning process


Dr William Huitt website on Educational Psychology Interactive (http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/ ) is a very useful website for anyone interested in the psychology of learning. This site identifies different aspects of teaching and learning for teachers and instructional designers. Though not specifically designed for Instructional designers, this website is arranged in course format and has a great number of references and citations that would prove useful for further research.

Dr Huitt has also provided extensive internet links that did help me browse a number of external links to his website and gave me better insights on teacher education and information processing. His systematic approach and use of the different multimedia approaches such as videos and drawing makes the website learner friendly and comprehensive.

The second resource I came across for The Brain and learning was “Understanding a Brain-Based Approach to Learning and Teaching” by Caine, R N and Caine, G. This journal article offers 12 principles as a general foundation for brain-based learning, including (1) the brain is a parallel processor; (2) learning engages the entire physiology; (3) the search for meaning is innate and occurs through patterning; (5) emotions are critical to patterning; (6) every brain simultaneously perceives and creates parts and wholes; and others. This article also provides 27 references that one can use for further research. It is articulate in advancing knowledge on brain and learning and is useful for instructional designers to peruse in appreciate the vastness of human brain capability.

These two resources and many more that can be derived from Google scholar and the many references provided by the authors will help me in research and may also help stimulate further insights in instructional design.


Thank you for reading my blog and feel free to make a comment.

Doorway to professional learning communities

Overview of the contents of the sites and blogs I have identified as resource

 

The first site I have found relevant is Robert Gagne's wiki at Nine Learning Events: Instructional Design for Dummies. This wiki, accessible by clicking here gives a simplified overview of instructional design using Gagne’s Nine Learning Events. While not going into the details of the nine events, any person starting out in the field of instructional design and technology will find this wiki quite relevant and helpful. The layout and citations also points to further areas of exploration that can prove to be the doorway to professional learning communities.

The second blog that I have found useful and relevant to me as an instructional design professional is Pdrum blog on instruction design and technology. He appears to have been going through this course last year and has great insight on the journey we are embarking on. I will be better placed to review his input as a guide post on the journey to becoming a professional instructional designer and maybe he will provide me with insights on ways and means of getting the best out of this course.

The final site that I have reviewed is the instructional design central available here that appears to be the home of major design information and resources. He site is dedicated towards providing instructional design professionals, educators, and students access to instructional designer resources, information, learning opportunities, and community services to enhance professional growth and interaction. This site provides instructional designers with various resources including  jobs, instructional design conferences, instructional design sites, instructional design definitions, instructional design history, instructional design models, etc.

These sites and others that I will find as I progress in this class will be useful sources of information about instructional design. I have perused through them and I would encourage all my cohorts to scan through them and see the sizeable amount of information available there. I will also invite you all to make useful additional comments that will broaden and enhance my body of knowledge.