Assignment 2: Evaluating and Identifying Online Resources

This week our assignment was to use a search engine and the Walden Library databases, to locate two resources on the topics: the brain and learning, information processing theory, and problem-solving methods during the learning process. We were then tasked to comment on the value of these resources.

My resources for this assignment are as follows:

On the Walden Library I retrieved an article from Human factors titled Using Noninvasive Brain Stimulation to Accelerate Learning and Enhance Human Performance. The authors of this article were Raja Parasuraman, from George Mason University and Richard A. McKinley, from the Air Force Research Laboratory. The objective of the article was evaluate the effectiveness of noninvasive brain stimulation, in particular, transcranial direct current stimulation, for accelerating learning and enhancing human performance on complex tasks (August, 2014).

The value of this article was the finding from their test. The outcome found relatively low discriminative resolution from all learning styles test applied, but electrical brain activity phenomenology associated with test could possibly be a promising research field to follow (August, 2014).

The second resource I found was from the internet by Gregory Schraw and Matthew McCrudden on Information Processing Theory. Their article was extremely helpful to me this week in explaining information processing theory in layman’s terms I could fully understand.

From Schraw and McCruddens article I learned it is essential for students to become automated at basic skills such as letter and word decoding, number recognition, and simple procedural skills to help in information processing (2013).

Finally, the last article I found came from the internet also. This research article was written by Felisa M. Cordova, Hernan Diaz M., Fernado Cifuentes, Lucio Canete, Fredi Palmninos. The title of the article was Identifying problem solving strategies for learning styles in engineering students subject to intelligence test and EEG monitoring. By using several test methods like Kolb, VAK or Hermann dominance they report out their research findings on learning styles used by the first year engineering students (ScienceDirect, 2015). The results from their research found there was relatively low discriminative resolution from all learning styles (2015).

Stated in the opening of this blog we were tasked with commenting on the value of these resources. When researching for academia I have found that you need to be especially careful as to where you are gathering your information and citing your sources from. Online sites like Wikipedia may be great starting points to give you ideas on the path of research you would like to follow; the content provided on Wikipedia is not always factual. Many individuals can add to Wikipedia and the additional information they provide may not be based on facts.

The three resources I found this week are backed by creditable sources. All writers were able to back up there research or writings with creditable references found in their reference section of their papers.

When it comes to finding creditable references for your academic work from the internet “researcher be aware”. Do not take everything you read at face value. Continue to research and question what you read. 

References

Parasuraman, R., & McKinley, R. A. (2014). Using noninvasive brain stimulation to accelerate learning and enhance human performance. Human Factors, 56(5), 816-824.

Schraw, G., & McCrudden, M. (2013). Information Processing Theory. Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/information-processing-theory/

Cordova, F., Hernan Diaz, M., Cifuentes, F., Canete, L., & Palominos, F. (2015). Identifying problem solving strategies for learning styles in engineering students subjected to intelligence test and EEG monitoring. Procedia Computer Science, 55 (2015), 18-27. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877050915014787

The Doorway to Professional Learning Communities - Blogs

Assignment: Application: Blog


Bill Rerriter (February 2009) included in his article Learning with Blogs and Wikis, that Richard Elmore, professor of educational leadership at Harvard wrote,

 "As expectations for increased student performance mount and the measurement and publication of evidence about performance becomes part of the public discourse about schools, there are few portals through which new knowledge about teaching and learning can enter schools; few structures or processes in which teachers and administrators can assimilate, adapt, and polish new ideas and practices; and few sources of assistance for those who are struggling to understand the connection between the academic performance of their students and the practices in which they engage." 

Now it is 2016 and we have a tool called a blog. This tool helps create social communication and the sharing of information amongst all different kinds of groups with all different kinds of interest. In my case searching out blogs that contain information on instructional design would interest me the most since I'm an Instructional Designer.
This week our assignment was to create a blog, set up an RSS feed and then go out and find blogs that would be beneficial to Instructional Designers. We were also required to critic three blogs that we found would be useful to us.

The three instructional design blogs that I will be taking a careful look at this week are: eFront, Experiencing E-Learning, and Upside Learning blog. Below I have included the url links to each blog. Click on the link to open blog in a new window.

• eFront: https://www.efrontlearning.com/blog/category/best-practices 
• Experiencing E-Learning: https://christytucker.wordpress.com/ 
• Upside Learning: https://www.upsidelearning.com/blog/ 

Let’s start with a quick overview on the type of content offered on each blog. eFront is owned by Epignosis, which is a leading technology vendor that specializes in eLearning solutions. What interest me on this site is the categories of blogs they offer such as: best practices, eLearning, and resource tools just to name a few. They also have a section called Featured Posts and they talk a lot about open source tools. 

Next, we have Experiencing E-Learning. This blog is created by Christy Tucker. I came across her blog a while back. Christy shares a lot of knowledge about working from home and telecommuting. She includes information like the going hourly and salary rates for instructional designers, tools for making freelancing easier and more efficient, and she shares other blog links that relate to the industry of instructional design. 

Finally, we have Upside Learning blog. Upside Learning is located in India and covers content like: eLearning, learning management, and mobile learning. They also offer a featured posts section and address topics like captivate 9 responsive eLearning, the importance of learner engagement, and currently is running a blog post about eLearning Caught in the Phenomenon called Pokemon Go. 

I found each of these blog sites to be well laid out and user friendly to navigate to the posts that interest me. Each one seems to offer a slight twist to the same topics being covered which will help me in thinking out of the box for new learning solutions. Yet, each blog also seems to have their own focus areas of content. Some examples of these are Experiencing E-Learning focuses on instructional design freelance work. eFront focuses on free open source tools. While, Upside Learning is focusing on the technology end of eLearning. 

For the reasons provided above on the content each offers, I feel that subscribing to them will offer me a fountain of updated information for my industry.

References

Ferriter, B. (2009). Learning with Blogs and Wikis. Educational Leadership 66(5), 34-38.

Epignosis LLC. (2016). eFront. Retrieved from https://www.efrontlearning.com/blog/

Tucker, C. (2016). Experiencing E-Learning. Retrieved from
https://christytucker.wordpress.com/

Upside Learning Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (2016). Upside Learning. Retrieved from https://www.upsidelearning.com/blog/

Evaluating Learning Technology

This week’s blog we needed to provide an example of a currently available technology that would not be a good fit for the lesson we are trying to teach and explain why. Then we are to give what tool, wither new or emerging, might be a better fit? So after pondering this assignment I choose to go with teaching someone how to tile his or her bathroom floor.

I don’t believe I would use asynchronous learning to teach how to tile a floor. The learner would become frustrated with reading a long e-mail on how to do it. A discussion board would become to long also and text messaging would take way to long. So what I would have accomplished by using this form of instruction is one really upset individual who just wanted to tile his or her own bathroom floor.

Instead I would probably use Audiographics technology. Audiographic technology is used to provide multiway audio and a shared screen, and was used to conduct real-time tutorials with remote students (Mason, 2003). Mason writes that Audiographic technology is good for problem solving sessions in mathematics, language practice in second language classes, syndicate work in business courses, and collaborative project work among student in many subject areas. I believe this would also be helpful technology to teach an individual the skill of laying tile, especially if it could be archived. This would allow the individual to play it as often or pause the archived Audiographic as they need to.

I would not have given this any thought of possibly working in the past because this type of technology required two telephone lines: one for sound and one for the audio. With the way the Internet is changing and with the new Collaboration Software that is available this can be easily achieved now. With collaboration software you have available communication software and content development software combined.

The most important thing to remember as an Instructional Designer is that not all software and technology is going to be a good fit for your instructional purpose. Research is your friend and you need to find what combination of technology and software are going to give you the end result.

Reference

Mason, R. (2003). Evolving technologies. Encyclopedia of distributed learning.

Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Media. Walden University. Flash Program: "Classification of Learning Technology

Software"