Week 2 - Evaluating and Identifying Online Resources

The assignment for week 2: Using any search engine and the Walden Library databases, locate at least two resources (Web sites and/or online journals) on this week’s topics: the brain and learning, information processing theory, and problem-solving methods during the learning process. Write a new blog entry that cites the websites and/or online journals, and comment on the value of these resources.

What a great assignment this week. I have spent hours doing research finding all sorts of relevant material and yet driven to continue looking. Clearly, there are lots of resources on learning and information processing theory and in all likelihood I could spend years doing research, however I have narrowed my search down to two resources I find interesting and relevant. I chose both of these journals primarily because of their relevance to learning and instructional design.

The first resource is a journal entitled Educational Technology, Research and Development
Publisher Information: Springer Science & Business Media

I like this journal because of the vast amount of articles that have something to do with learning in relationship to instructional design. I only read one article to completion, however I scanned a number of articles and found the information to be fascinating and in some cases very relevant to an ongoing understanding of the learning environment as it relates to instructional design. I suspect this is a journal I will review often. Here is a listing of a few articles. Please note, these links are only available to Walden University students and staff.

Learners' perceptions of instructional design practice in a situated learning activity
Nicholas Woolf, James Quinn. Educational Technology, Research and Development. Washington: Feb 2009. Vol. 57, Iss. 1; p. 25 (19 pages)

Managing cognitive load in educational multi-user virtual environments: reflection on design practice
Brian C Nelson, Benjamin E Erlandson. Educational Technology, Research and Development. Washington: Dec 2008. Vol. 56, Iss. 5/6; p. 619 (23 pages)

Learner preferences and prior knowledge in learner-controlled computer-based instruction
Theodore J Kopcha, Howard Sullivan. Educational Technology, Research and Development. Washington: Jun 2008. Vol. 56, Iss. 3; p. 265 (22 pages)

Characteristics of a cognitive tool that helps students learn diagnostic problem solving
Jared A Danielson, Eric M Mills, Pamela J Vermeer, Vanessa A Preast, et al. Educational Technology, Research and Development. Washington: Oct 2007. Vol. 55, Iss. 5; p. 499 (22 pages)

The second resource is also a journal, entitled Educational Leadership
Publisher Information: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development, 1703 North Beauregard Street, Alexandria Virginia 22311-1714

I like this journal primarily because of three articles listed below. Overall, I am not sure that the journal as a whole is something that I am likely to use at this time as a resource. Most of the articles seemed interesting, but I have not yet determined their usefulness for myself as an instructional designer.

Moving with the Brain in Mind. Full Text Available By: Jensen, Eric. Educational Leadership, Nov 2000, Vol. 58 Issue 3, p34, 4p, 2 bw; (AN 3832977)

Brain-Based Learning: A Reality Check. Full Text Available By: Jensen, Eric. Educational Leadership, Apr 2000, Vol. 57 Issue 7, p76, 5p, 1 bw; (AN 3162330)

Fragile Brains. Full Text Available By: Jensen, Eric. Educational Leadership, Nov 2001, Vol. 59 Issue 3, p32, 5p; (AN 7147042)

Week 1 - Discovering the World of eLearning

This week I am researching and then reviewing blogs or other websites I found pertaining in some way to instructional design. It is fun to have an assignment like this because on my own, I have shied away from subscribing to blogs, and really for no good reason. Now because of this assignment I am having a great deal of fun reading about and discovering more information about my chosen field of study. In this blog, I will review three of the sites that I have discovered.

Experiencing E-Learning

This site is authored by Christy Tucker who states she is an instructional designer for Performance Learning Systems. I liked this site for a number of reasons.

First off she has a section that provides information about what instructional designers do, what are some of the skill sets of an instructional designer and some possible instructional design jobs; all information was useful.

Second, she has a section entitled Categories with a drop down menu consisting of 25 topics to choose from providing information that could be useful to instructional designers.

Third, she seems to add new activity to the site on a consistent basis (close to daily), most recently providing bookmarks to other useful sites.

Overall, this blog promises to be a good resource: there is an abundance of information, consistent activity, and her writing style is easy to follow.


Instructional Design and Development Blog

This site is maintained by the Instructional Design and Development department at DePaul University. A number of staff members are contributors to the site, and when I looked at their brief biographies, I noticed each of them had a different background or specialty. The stated goal of the site is "to provide information on enhancing instruction through the use of technology.”

The site content includes a section called Categories with a section on Web Tools, which I found very useful. Another section entitled Recommended Resources also had some interesting information albeit brief.

Another useful blog site with information helpful to an instructional designer. I like that it is a site managed by an Instructional Design and Development Department at a University. The archived blogs include information over the last two years, and provide at least one post each week.

the eLearning coach

This site is authored by Connie Malamed.  Connie has a graduate degree in Instructional Design and Technology, and has 20 years of developing information, new media, and training products. In addition, she has a consulting company that produces online courses and Websites.

This website is wonderful. It is chock full of information. The site content includes categories on design, the use of, Web 2.0 technology, cognition, the use of audio and visual media, the use of eLearning in business and book and software reviews. Also included in the site is a section providing links to other interesting websites.

Overall, this is a site I plan to spend a great deal of time reviewing. I think there is quite a bit of useful information for anyone interested in eLearning and Instructional Design.

Another site I liked as an honorable mention

Design for Learning

First Blog

Hello,

This is my first blog entry. I designed this blog for a course I am taking in my adventure toward my Masters in Instructional Design and Technology. Throughout the course, I will be adding to this blog, however this is an entry just to start things off. More later.....