Learning Theories, blog number..... something : )

Learning theories and instructional design principles are the foundations for creating meaningful learning materials. Learning theories give designers an idea on how to create learning content for students. There are three learning theories discussed in this book and they are Behaviorism, Cognitive psychology, and the Constructivist theory. Each theory has its own purpose. Behaviorism focuses on changing peoples physical actions, which would be a great theory to use if an instructional designer wanted to teach people how to type. Cognitive theory “claims that learning involves the use of memory, motivation, and thinking, and that reflection plays an important part in learning” (Anderson & Elloumi, 7). The last theory mentioned is Constructivism which, claims that learners interpret information and the observation, processing, and interpretations, and then personalize the information into personal knowledge (Anderson & Elloumi, 7).” There is no theory that is better than the other, each theory can be used separately or mixed within a lesson. Instructional design principles provide a way for develops to know what works for delivering content and what does not. An example of an instructional design principle is the modality principle, which states that audio narrations explaining a video presentation will increase understanding of the video content. The view of technology in delivering online instructions is compared to a car. Without technology to drive instruction we would still be watching instructional videos with a VCR and the only type of learner interaction would be using the telephone to call the instructor. Technology plays a huge part in delivering online instructions. Technology provides the virtual environments, forums, branching lessons, and everything else that deals with the delivery of instruction to computers, cell phones, and any other device used for online learning. The technology that I am going to use for my learning environment is Moodle. Moodle offers chat rooms, forums, and many other features that will be instrumental in the delivery of my online learning lesson. Because of the flexible technology available to me I will integrate three learning theories behaviorism, cognitive psychology, and constructivism into my online lesson. “Learning theories help us create learning environments using new technologies that are based on proven methods of delivering sound learning. When new technologies are based on proven methods of delivering learning it decrease the time spent creating instruction, which improves the efficiency of the instructional designer” (Wilson, 1997).

The “Constructivist theorists claims that learners interpret information and the world according to their personal reality, and that they learn by observation processing and interpretation and then personalize the information into personal knowledge (Anderson & Elloumi, 7).” The role of interaction in online learning is very complex and complicated to explain. The Bransford et al.’s framework of online learning is based on three groups that interact: students, teachers, and content. Each group will interact with itself and the other two groups, so for example students will interact with other students, teachers and content. Students will interact with each other and teachers using synchronous and asynchronous communications, also students will interact with content by reading, applying, and reflecting. “Teachers interact with other colleagues with will cause continual growth in their field of study. Teachers will also interact with content. This is done be the creation of the content and learning activities by the teacher (Anderson & Elloumi, 48).”