The Learning Process

For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated with the way people think and the decisions that they make as a result of their thought process.  As a high school student, I wanted to pursue a degree in Psychology in order to continue my pondering and to help others, but that did not happen. My oldest daughter, however, obtained her Bachelor's of Psychology just over a year ago, so I guess she pursued my dream for me! 

As I am pursuing my Master's in Instructional Design, I find it ironic that I am learning something similar and I am loving it!  To this day I am still fascinated with the things that people do, the ways they react, and why they make the decisions that they make.  With this course I am currently taking, I may not find the answers to these questions; however, I will hopefully be able to figure out how and why they learn the way that they do!

I am also learning a lot about the way that I learn and/or process information, as well as retain it.  What I am finding the most is that I am not encoding information in my brain so that I can pull it back out later as needed, as described at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_processing_theory.  I do a good job of thinking and analyzing information to the extreme, but I do not do a good job of storing this information in my long-term memory.  Most of the reason, I believe, is because I do not participate in proper methods to help myself retain this information, such as writing it down to help it soak in.  My life has become so busy that I do as little as possible to retain the information in my short-term memory then merely forget about it or do not take the necessary steps to retain it long-term.

As a firm believer in wikipedia and the information they provide, I am also relying on information from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_(learning_theory) to assist in the learning process.  I am a firm believer that childhood activities can and will shape a person’s entire life and this belief has been proven time and time again, especially by children who have had traumatic experiences.  This may not be exactly what constructivism is or what it pertains to, but events from childhood, whether they be playing or traumatic, can be critical to how someone learns throughout their lifetime.

Week 1 Blog Assignment: The Doorway to Professional Learning Communities

This blog, http://www.upsidelearning.com/blog/index.php/tag/instructional-design/ , I found very interesting because it is dedicated to helping beginner Instructional Designers learn ways to improve upon their craft.  There are lots of tools presented to inspire a young designer to look within themselves for ways to better relate to all types of situations.  For someone with no background in this field, I found the material to be very intriguing and beneficial for my future endeavors.  I also really like the way the site is laid out because it also includes pictures and such that attract me and make me want to know what they are talking about.  The comments on some of the posts make me think that there is the potential for a lot of learning from other members of the blog as well!

This blog is actually part of the IDD department of DePaul University, http://www.iddblog.org/, so I feel that it was built to strongly assist people like me who are starting out in this field from an educational stand-point.  I like the layout of the site and found it very easy to navigate.  There is also an interesting blog about online teaching, which is something that I hope to do once I have completed my Master’s Degree.  It also provides a good post about the history of Instructional Design that was quite informative.  Overall, this site is a nice, clean place to get information and share resources.

I really like this blog site, http://www.elearninglearning.com/blog/instructional-design/, as it appears to have a plethora of information that will truly be beneficial for me going forward.  At first glance, I am not that attracted to the layout of the site, but upon exploring further, I see that there is a lot of information here.  One of the posts recommends other sites to explore further that look interesting and I think this particular blog might be the main one I will use in my future endeavors.  There are also useful tools along the left-hand side to assist with many different things, such as using PowerPoint presentations in your design efforts.  Besides the site layout, I really feel as though this site is very powerful and will give me an incredible amount of direction in my career!

Hello World!

Hello everyone!  My name is Shannon Reynolds and I am currently seeking my Master's Degree in Instructional Design and Technology!  I am starting this blog as part of a class project and hope to be successful at both blogging and IST!  :-)