Explore Instructional Design Techniques

One interesting concept about the way people learn is that people are social, and we learn from others. For example, connectivism combines considerations of existing knowledge, technology, vast amounts of knowledge, and complexity of modern problems to explain how we learn using modern computer technology (Davis, Edmunds, & Kelly-Bateman, 2008). It is surprising how few scientific studies that researchers have conducted on the effects of different online strategies and learning styles, given all of the attention that industry experts have paid to learning styles (Pashler et al., year). Masa and Mayer’s (2006) research is interesting because they found that learning did not improve for those learners who received learning support in their preferred style of learning and that all learners benefitted from effective learning strategies. The Learning Theories and Instruction course at Walden University has contributed to my understanding of my learning by helping me gain the perspe...

My views on learning have changed in a few ways. It is essential to look at learning from many different perspectives that work together to explain the complex intellectual processes involved in learning. There are helpful techniques to be learned from all of the learning theories throughout history, from Socrates to Prensky, and behaviorism to connectivism. Adult learning theory explains how adult learners are self-motivated, independent learners who focus on resolving issues that arise in their personal and professional lives (Conlan, Grabowski, & Smith, 2003). In the past weeks, after reading about new learning theories, the theories that most describe my learning style are connectivism and adult learning. Those theories align with how I am a life-long, self-directed, self-motivated, and social learner. Connectivism helps explain today’s complex world of new problems and continuously changing information (Siemens, 2005). Living in the information age has changed how humans ...