Fitting the Pieces Together

 Fitting the Pieces Together

At the beginning of this course, there was a moment of confusion, and time I got so lost and got hooked up into a lot of misconceptions. This course, Learning theories and Instruction has made a lot of detrimental changes and has provided me with more clarification to facts of theories and concepts about learning theories. It has built my strong foundations as an instructional designer. I now have a deeper understanding of the learning theories and learning styles. With this understanding of learning theories, I can now create lessons that enhance the learning process. It has also opened my mind, helping me to be able to explain my instructional choices. This has provided me with a stronger and firm foundation that is going to guide my instructional designing and reflecting on my practice.

I have additionally gained that unyielding knowledge about the learning styles giving me more confidence in my decisions for the teaching styles I normally employ in my teaching. Things being what they are I understand that the best practice as an instructional designer is to create an instruction that accommodates multiple dimensions of learning styles. This means I will be able to reach out to a greater extent to any given class while also challenging the students to expand their range of learning styles and aptitude at a slower speed. Furthermore, it has transformed my learning thought process and for me to know that I can mold how I learn allowing me to maximize my understanding, knowing fully that how I learn greatly depends on what I am supposed to learn.

Moreover, in this course, I have been equipped with knowledge of personal learning preferences. It has given me the understanding that learning preferences are how much a learner would prefer certain modalities over others. I come to conclude that learners retain different types of learning and knowledge best through different delivery methods, hence why it is recommended to provide multiple modalities will be most effective for learning retention as a best practice. What I need to know as an instructional designer is that firstly visual thinking tools help everyone, secondly to use the best modality or modalities for content and lastly people learn new material best when they encounter it multiple times and through multiple modalities this is because when students encounter new material in many different ways they are in a better position to make more sense of the material. Hence the best way to accommodate a variety of learning preferences is to pay attention to analysis and use it to improve the learning design.

Over and above that, I have seen the great importance of technology, it has become a powerful tool for transforming learning. It has helped me to affirm and advance my relationship with my instructors and my students, giving me an opportunity of reinventing my approaches to learning and collaboration and adapting my learning experiences. On top of that, I have realized that technology provides students with easy-to-access information, accelerated learning, and fun opportunities to practice what they learn, it enables them to explore new subjects and deepen their understanding of difficult concepts. Computer technology has facilitated a lot due to its nature, I have seen its great use in researching, capturing data, designing material accessing the course material, collaborating, viewing resources, downloading material, and storing it for further use. It has also granted me the possibility to interact with fellow students and being able to process data quickly.

 

Muniandy, B., Mohammad, R., & Fong, S. (2007). Synergizing pedagogy, learning theory, and technology in instruction: How can it be done? US-China Education Review, 4(9), 46–53.

Stansberry, S., & Kymes, A. (2007). Transformative learning through “Teaching with Technology” electronic portfolios. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 50(6), 488–496.

Peter Shea, Temi Bidjerano (2010) Learning presence: Towards a theory of self-efficacy, self-regulation, and the development of a communities of inquiry in online and blended learning environments.  University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY 12222, United States b Furman University, Greenville, SC 29613, United States