Sunday, February 26, 2012

My class reflection.


Learner Motivation- Reflection


I learned so much in this class but what was surprising to me was the way that adult learners learn.  I didn’t know that there was a much of a difference between adult learns and children other than the external distraction of work, family, and time management issues.  However, after reading the article by Orey (2001) from the projects website, http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Main_Page, I found that the information on adult learners was very relevant and true to my experience in my degree program that I recently finished and now in this new certificate program. 

 How has this course deepened your understanding of your personal learning process?

I had not heard of the different learning theories prior to this class and have an understanding now about what I need to learn.  I like the constructivism and the cognitivist theories as being the best match for my learning styles (Ormrod, Schunk, and Gredler, 2009).  I do like to do things hands on and make the information relevant to me as a way understand and learn.  Gardner’s article on Multiple Intelligence put a lot of facts behind the believe that I grew up with that different people had different kinds of “smarts” (2003).  I grew up knowing the difference between my brother and I and how he was so good at math while I was not.  Multiple Intelligence gives me a better understanding of people and the way our minds work.

What have you learned regarding the connection between learning theories, learning styles, educational technology, and motivation?

Completing the Learning Theories Matrix made me aware that each different learning style responds best to different technology and each has different external or internal motivations to learn.  As an instructional designer, I am going to have to know how to set up class so that all the different styles of learners that make up my student base, can get the information presented to them in a style that is familiar.  This class gave me some tools to work with such as reading the different authors like Keller (1999) and O’Bannon, Puckett, and Rakes (2006) who both have great ideas and opinions on how to use technology to teach visual learners and distance learners.  Both of which, are of interest to me. 

How will your learning in this course help you as you further your career in the field of instructional design? 

Everything presented in this course will be of use as a foundation in my instructional design efforts.  Knowing your different students is of the utmost importance and being able to draw from the different learning theories that I am aware of will help me be more aware of my student’s needs.  The ARCS –based strategies presented by Hutt, Moller, Young, Bray, and Hutt (2008) really tried everything together for me.  I believe that if I keep these principles in my class design, I will be successful as an instructional designer.  It I all about keeping the Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction of the students who are in my class so that they will remain motivated to learn.


References



Gardner, H. (2003, April 21). Multiple intelligences after 20 years. Paper presented to the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL. Retrieved from http://www.pz.harvard.edu/PIs/HG_MI_after_20_years.pdf

Huett, J., Moller, L., Young, J., Bray, M., & Huett, K. (2008). Supporting the distant student: The effect of ARCS-based strategies on confidence and performance. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 9(2), 113–126.

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

O'Bannon, B., Puckett, K., & Rakes, G. (2006). Using technology to support visual learning strategies. Computers in the Schools, 23(1/2), 125–137.

Orey, M. (Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Main_Page.

Ormrod, J., Schunk, D., & Gredler, M. (2009). Learning theories and instruction (Laureate custom edition). New York: Pearson.

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