Recently I was asked to search the Internet for other blogs and websites regarding learning and instructional design. Here is a brief discussion of what I stumbled upon…
1. Inspire 2 Learn: ( http://richardwatson64.wordpress.com/ ) In this blog Richard Watson uses his space for updates and information on training, instructional design, E-Learning, and social media topics. I personally found his blog very helpful for my job. He has compiled a list of Top 10 lists that I think every instructional designer should read. These were very useful for me and I plan to share some of them with the learning community at my job. Check them out! http://richardwatson64.wordpress.com/2010/09/22/the-top-10-top-10-lists/
2. Teaching With Technology @ Tufts: (http://blogs.uit.tufts.edu/id/ ) At this site you can find several useful posts about using technology in the current classroom. This site is a great resource for the university and other educators looking to find information on instructional design methods. They do a “Friday’s Pick” section that highlights key topics in various arenas. I think this site will prove to be a useful resource for me and my journey.
3. Making Change: (http://blog.cathy-moore.com/ ) Cathy Moore has created this blog in order to help its’ readers create impressive eLearning for the business world. Here she goes through helpful pointers on creating eLearning that will prove to be useful for me personally. In my current position we are trying to transition out of classroom learning and focus more on online modules to better reach our employees. We have experienced some resistance, and are working to make it more meaningful for our learners.
All of these blogs have exciting information that any instructional designer would deem useful. I hope you enjoy checking them out!
Thank you Sara M...
ReplyDeleteI love the Cathy-Moore Blog. This site delivers the quick bites of remember to's and make sure you do not do's.
I learned a lot of quick tips rapidly and will use this in my job.
Pam :-)
Learning styles: Worth our time?
ReplyDeletehttp://blog.cathy-moore.com/
My thinking of learning style left-right brained thinking have me re-evaluating my teaching style. Normally, I observe students, checking if they are learning and how they are learning. I have always observed learning styles to reach my students. Now after researching learning theories and how the brain works, my teaching is now gravitating towards learning theories and instructional methods.
The blog “Learning Styles: Worth Our Time brought up some interesting points. For one the blog stated that learning style studies are weak. I disagree, because in my observations of students I observe the best way to reach my students. For example, in teaching Social Studies I was teaching concepts of North Africa. In the textbook there was a picture of an 800 year-old church in Lalibela, Ethiopia. The church was carved from solid rock entirely below ground level. As always, I pulled down the map (too bad I could not have taught this class using multimedia tools) to locate Ethiopia which is in North Africa. A week later I brought in a photograph that I have in my living room that my brother-in-law took of the church. The picture was taken looking down at the church, so you can see a cross on the roof. The students were able to have a discussion about Ethiopia and the church. My observation of this lesson said that the students connected with this lesson because the lesson was visual and auditory.
The blog stated that we should build learner’s metacognitive skills and use formative assessment. As a teacher I must have an environment to help the learner develop self-regulation skills and at the same time have formative assessment. Hopefully by the end of this class I will be able to incorporate many new skills in my classroom.