Week 2: Evaluating & Identifying Online Resources

Long Term Memory: A Users Guide
http://theelearningcoach.com/learning/long-term-memory-and-learning/

The first entry I chose focuses on long term memory(LTM). What it is and why we want the information we teach or create to become part of the students LTM. This was a review from the course resources for week 2.
Dr. Malamed breaks down LTM into the following sections: basics, types, capacity, encoding, retrieval, and lastly strategies to create long term memories.
I found the information regarding the two types of explicit or conscious memories to be very interesting. They are semantic or fact memories and episodic or personal experience memories. When both types of memories are combined the learning process will be greatly improved as it facilitates the learning to occur and the information to be placed in one's LTM.
As part of the retrieval process it was noted that some psychologists believe when a person cannot retrieve a memory it is not that it is not there, the thought is the person lacks the ability to cue the proper information. In turn they are not able to remember.
Having the background information on how the brain works is important to keep in mind as we try to make a mark with our instructional design creations.



Expanding the 9 Events of Instruction
http://theelearningcoach.com/learning/expanding-on-the-nine-events-of-instruction/

The second online resource is a follow up to the strategies section of LTM from my first entry.
Dr. Gagne's learning theory was mentioned in the strategies section discussed in my first web resource. How can an instructional designer encourage elaboration? That is the question! Gagne's Events in Instruction has 9 events that occur with the learner. Connie Malamed adds to Dr. Gagne's original thoughts to bring a more current feel to the classics. Ideas on how to organize information in a meaningful way so it can be stored and retrieved from our long term memories is what making good learning material should be all about.

References:

Malamed, C. (2011) Re: Long Term Memory: A Users Guide[Blog message]. Retrieved from http://theelearningcoach.com/learning/long-term-memory-and-learning/

Malamed, C. (2010) Re: Expanding the 9 Events of Instruction [Blog message]. Retrieved from http://theelearningcoach.com/learning/expanding-on-the-nine-events-of-instruction/

Week 1 assignment: Blogs I am following

1. The eLearning coach http://theelearningcoach.com

Connie Malamed provides strategies and tips for successful elearning. She covers any topic related to online learning: writing tips, learning objectives, testing , how to interviews subject matter experts and much more.
I feel like this blog brings many different types of strategies that will be useful to the distance education courses that I facilitate. Her ideas are great but she also interviews "experts" on specific topics. This is a great way to get varied information. I also think this makes her blog valuable because it is ever changing.

2. Flirting with eLearning http://flirtingwelearning.wordpress.com/

Nicole Legult has created a blog about instructional design and elearning. I was drawn to a post about 8 Things to Consider before Designing an eLearning Course also 40+ tips on making Power Points. I like how she breaks down the information or makes pro/con lists. I find this is a great way to extract information.
I use PowerPoint's in all of my courses so getting new ideas or even refreshers on the information I have already learned is helpful. She also has ideas about how to use images, whether it is photos or clip art. How information is presented is extremely important. Learning strategies on how to present the information the most effectively is exciting!

3. Onlignment http://onlignment.com/blog/

Learning consultants, Clive Shepard, Barry Sampson and Phil Green have collaborated to create information on organizational learning, learning and communication technologies and online communication they call their creation the concept of “onlignment”. What they call the art of online communication.
This blog is different from the other two blogs I chosen to
follow. It is more formal and refers often to the information in their e-books. They discuss being a learning architect and what this means. I appreciate the information about creating
quizzes, how to discourage cheating and giving adequate feedback. In the distance education classes that I teach cheating is a concern. I have used a few ways of hopefully preventing (changing test questions year to year, having time limits, etc) however, it is good to read new ideas or see if I am on the right track of deterring cheaters.

Welcome

Welcome to my quest in becoming an Instructional designer. I have blogged in the past however it is a personal blog about my family. It was created to help stay in touch with my sister who lives in Florida. It has really become a journal for me. I love to look back and see how much my kids have changed.

I have not followed other blogs so I believe this will be a very interesting project. I had never thought about using blogs as way to add professional development into my everyday learning. It is a quick and accessible way to get new information or ideas.