Understanding the learning theories and learning styles has been quite a fascination for me. This course has provided a wealth of knowledge that allowed me to gain a better understanding of the field of instructional design. In this paper, I wish to address a few points of interest for me regarding this course.
What did you find surprising or striking as you furthered your knowledge about how people learn?
When I first read through the description for this course, I felt that it would be of great interest to me in understanding how people learn. I was not disappointed. One of the things that I learned is that people can relate to more than just one learning theory. Each learner can learn using a combination of different learning theories. Each student possesses different types of intellectual capacities – one person may learn one way and another person may learn in a completely different way. This was definitely interesting to me when there are so many different learning theorists out there that focus on defining the learner.
Can you believe that there are so many learning theories and different variations of each? During my readings for this class and my own personal research, there are a handful of main learning theories, but there are many more variations of the same learning theory. My own personal opinion is that learning theorists are trying to define each learner; however, through their research, they tend to define another variation.
How has this course deepened your understanding of your personal learning process?
This course has provided great clarity in understanding my personal learning process. I understood how I learned and what I needed to retain the most information while learning; however, through this course, I have been able to better define how I learn. I am an independent learner, a cognitive learner. This is the method in which I learn effectively and retain the most information possible. As a cognitive learner, I have a tendency to focus on my previous experience and learnings to determine how to proceed in any given situation.
What have you learned regarding the connection between learning theories, learning styles, educational technology and motivation?
There is a deep connection between learning theories, learning styles, educational technology, and motivation. Learning theories and learning styles assist in understanding how a student, or any person, learns. Learning styles helps us to understand that each person learns differently depending on how you learn or the method by which instruction is designed. Educational technology is a tool to help people learn. Technology allows for students to have the ability to perform research online, pursue online degrees from the comfort of your own home, and allows for the ability to prepare and submit written assignments for face-to-face and online classrooms. In order to continue to have the interest to learn, you need to be thoroughly motivated. This is the link between the learning theories, learning styles, educational technology, and motivation. It all focuses on the ability of a student to learn and use the proper tools to stay motivated and retain the most information.
How will your learning in this course help you as you further your career in the field of instructional design?
Gaining an understanding of learning theories will definitely help me within the field of instructional design. How does one know the audience that they are designing instruction for if they don’t understand how students learn? I believe that understanding the learner will help to design instruction that will create the most impact on each individual learner.
In conclusion, understanding learning theories is important to the field of instructional design and understanding how each individual student learn, whether face-to-face or online. In addition to now knowing how to create blogs, this course has been enlightening. I knew how I learned, but I didn’t really consider how other people learn. This course has provided the clarity I needed to move forward in the field of instructional design.
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