Week 2 The Brain and Information Processing Theory

This week our course has focused around the brain and the theories that influence on the field of instructional design.  I remember these theories, although vaguely, from my undergraduate studies in Education and graduate work in the past.  

I find that as a curriculum developer and professor currently, much of what we covered this week is inherent into the nature of the job.  However, having the information processing theory spelled out helped me to think more deliberately of this process.  

Schraw in his web article "Information Processing Theory"  revisits the concepts of Sensory, Working, and Long term Memory.  In that the material needs to present in such as way that it triggers sensory memory, is processed in working memory, and submitted to long term memory.  "Automaticity makes available limited processing resources that can be used to engage in labor intensive self-regulation and comprehension monitoring" (Scraw, 2012). Simply stated course content needs to be easy to encode as there is limited capacity in sensory and working memory.   Much of what Schraw outlines as the implications of Information Processing Theory tie to my teaching philosophy rooted in Constructivism and the use of learning styles.  

Additionally,  a presentation from Professor John Pantana from Liberty University reinforces this thought process.  In his presentation in discusses the idea of brain based learning and their implications into online course development at Liberty.  He capsulizes the brain as seeking, processing, and organizing information constantly.  He reinforces this with 12 principles of brain based learning.  

• ·       All learning engages entire physiology
• ·       The brain/mind is social
• ·       The search for meaning is innate
• ·       The search for meaning occurs through patterning
• ·       Emotions are critical to patterning
• ·       Learning involves both attention and peripheral perception
• ·       Learning is both conscious & unconscious
• ·       Two approaches to memory (rote & spatial/contextual/ dynamic memory system)
• ·       Learning is developmental
• ·       Each brain is uniquely organized
• ·       The brain/mind processes parts and whole simultaneously
• ·       Complex learning is enhanced by challenge & inhibited by threat associated with helplessness & fatigue 

http://works.bepress.com/john_pantana/3/

To conclude I can simply say that I have much to learn still as I work toward a future in formal Instructional Design.  I have come a long way thus far but to effectively reach my students it is far more than just creating catchy activities and assignments.

John

References:

Pantana, J., & Deckard, S. (2007, November). Brain-based learning theory: An online course design model. Virginia association of science teachers. Retrieved from http://works.bepress.com/john_pantana/3

Schraw , G., & McCrudden, M. (2007). Information processing theory. Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/information-processing-theory/?coliid=831096

Educational Blogs and their value

For this assignment we were to review educational blog sites and wed articles to find one that we really felt were valuable and that we could use and refer to on a regular basis.  Here are three that I found of particular value.

eLearning Technology---http://elearningtech.blogspot.com/

This blog is one that I have been subscribed to for several years.  This site focuses specifically on instructional technology.  I have been constructing courses that I teach for about six years, and have used many of the tips and applied concepts from this blog throughout that time.  Now as I study to do instructional design full time, this blog will become ever more important.  

The blog itself is very well laid out and easy to use.  The posts are few are far between about every few months, but what is posted is immediately useful.  One post for example, was a list of free and low cost LMS systems, this came in particularly handy when I was consult for a company picking a new LMS.  Another gave reference to eLearning conferences around the world in 2012. 

THE LEARNING CIRCUITS BLOG---http://learningcircuits.blogspot.com/  (Now moved to the ASTD Learning Technologies Blog… http://www.astd.org/Home/Publications/Blogs/Learning-Technologies-Blog.aspx)

Another blog that again I have used for some time is the Learning Circuits Blog.  Again it is a blog that focuses on Instructional Technology.  For older posts reference the learning circuits blog and for new content the ASTD Learning Technologies Blog. 

This blog offers a wider view of Instructional Technology as it looks from both a business and academic point of view.  A current focus of this blog that has produced quite a few guest blog posts is that of mobile learning.  It covers everything from considerations to limitations of Mobile Learning.  One recent article that provides an example of the versatility of this blog is a recent post called ‘Think like a product manager’.  This article focus on how as instructional design folks we sometimes do not look at the marketability of what we design.

Blogs about: Instructional Design---http://en.wordpress.com/tag/instructional-design/

This last one that I wanted to share is not a blog per say but a review and hub of educational and instructional design blogs.  It allows you to see the most recent post from many of these blogs and then provides a link to the blog itself.  Some of the examples are articles and subsequent links to articles about bad design, new technologies, teaching methods, and the list goes on and on.  This is definitely something to bookmark and refer back to regularly.  Also one may want to bookmark some of the subsequent blogs found on this page.