Week 4-Learning Design Authoring and Technology Integration.

Learning designs as we've learnt,can be at the level of a subject, or subject components.
A learning design can be considered the framework which supports the learning experiences of a student.
A learning design comprises the following key elements:

Tasks that learners are required to do.
Resources that support learners to conduct the task.
Support mechanisms that exist from a teacher implementing it.

Representing learning activities: The learning activities are represented by a series of rectangles, arranged vertically. These activities represent the learner’s "journey". Each rectangle has a description of what the learners are required to do or produce. Activities that are assessable are distinguished with an asterisk (*).

Representing learning resources: Learning resources are represented by triangles to the left of the activity sequence. An arrow from a resource (triangle) to an activity (square) indicates that resources are available to the student when doing the activity. An arrow from an activity (square) to a resource (triangle) indicates that a resource is produced during the activity and becomes a resource for others to use later.

Representing learning supports: The learning supports are represented by circles to the right of the activity sequence. An arrow from a "circle" to a "square" indicates that support strategies are being used to assist the students in their learning.

Representing different combinations of activities, resources and supports: Resources and supports can be specific to an activity, they can be introduced before beginning an activity or when an activity is complete, or they may be available for the entire duration of the learning experience.

To represent this graphically, the following convention is suggested:

• If learning resources or supports are limited to particular activities, their availability is represented with a horizontal arrow to the specific activity for which they are available.


• If a learning resource or support is available for multiple activities then the resource triangle and/or support circle is drawn once (where it is firstly introduced to the students) and a vertical arrow indicates the resource and/or support is available for period of time.


• If students produce artefacts from a learning activity that are used as resources for subsequent activities, an arrow is drawn from the activity to the resource.

Below is an illustration of a learning setting in a classroom

As much as I agree that Learning designs can aid in providing a very effective visual as it clearly list the intended outcomes and the tasks and resources and support systems required to achieve our desired outcomes, it is incumbent that we be highly critical, analytical and meticulous when we try and produce one. Because of the rigid nature of a Learning design, once it has been finalised, it is difficult to make further changes to it.Moreover, it is expensive to produce.

In order to produce a foolproof learning design, the instructor has to go through all areas of planning and thinking thoroughly in his mind and this will undeniably take up a large amount of time and effort.However, if done successfully, the learning design can prove to be a very effective method for the planning of a wholesome learning experience and aid the instructor tremendously in achieving the desired outcomes.

3 Theories we talked about in class.

During lecture, Mr Alfred showed us videos and explained to us about the 3 theories, Behaviorism,Cognitivism and SocioCultural Approach.It is mandatory that we understand these approaches as they still form the foundation of learning.Furthermore, a good understanding of the theories will help further enhance learning through appropriate changes in pedagogy.I also feel that it is highly interesting to apply these social psychology theories into today's modern world of E-learning.

Behaviorism

Behaviorism is described as a developmental theory that measures observable behaviors produced by a learner’s response to stimuli. Responses to stimuli can be reinforced with positive or negative feedback to condition desired behaviors. Punishment is sometimes used in eliminating or reducing incorrect actions, followed by clarifying desired actions. Educational effects of behaviorism are key in developing basic skills and foundations of understanding in all subject areas and in classroom management. According to behaviorism, knowing is giving the correct response when exposed to a particular stimulus. The behaviorist is not concerned with how or why knowledge is obtained, but rather if the correct response is given.

In terms of the concept of learning, the process tends to be passive with regard to the behaviorist theory. The learner uses low level processing skills to understand material and the material is often isolated from real-world contexts or situations. Little responsibility is placed on the learner concerning his/her own education.Typical classroom instruction consistent with the behaviorist theory includes; classroom management, rote memorization, and drill and practice. One example that could be used to show behaviorism would be using a token system to reinforce positive academic performance and student behavior in a classroom. A classroom application of using drill and practice includes computer software, such as Math Blaster’s or any other software. These types of software provide positive and negative reinforcements for answering math problems correctly or incorrectly. A final example highlighting the behaviorist theory is rote memorization. Rote memorization may include memorizing addition or multiplication facts or memorizing state capitals.

Strengths : The learner is focused on a clear goal and can respond automatically to the cues of that goal.

Weaknesses: The learner may find themselves in a situation where the stimulus for the correct response does not occur, therefore the learner cannot respond.

Cognitivism

The cognitivist paradigm essentially argues that the “black box” of the mind should be opened and understood. The learner is viewed as an information processor. The cognitivist revolution replaced behaviorism in 1960s as the dominant paradigm. Cognitivism focuses on the inner mental activities – opening the “black box” of the human mind is valuable and necessary for understanding how people learn. Mental processes such as thinking, memory, knowing, and problem-solving need to be explored. Knowledge can be seen as schema or symbolic mental constructions. Learning is defined as change in a learner’s schemata.

Contrary to the behaviorism theory, the theory of Cognitivism states that people are not “programmed animals” that merely respond to environmental stimuli; people are rational beings that require active participation in order to learn, and whose actions are a consequence of thinking. Changes in behavior are observed, but only as an indication of what is occurring in the learner’s head. Cognitivism uses the metaphor of the mind as computer: information comes in, is being processed, and leads to certain outcomes. An example would be the different ways in which people react to their surroundings or to different problems because we each have a different set of thinking.This set of thinking might also change after we recieve other inputs.

Strengths: The goal is to train learners to do a task the same way to enable consistency, it may be important do an exact routine to avoid problems.

Weaknesses: The way learner learned to accomplish a task, may not be the best way, or suited to the learner or the situation.

SocioCultural Approach

Socioculturalism differs from the other 2 theories as firstly, the unit of analysis is not the individual organism or the individual learner but a whole system of things. Socioculturalism deals with social interaction and cultural understanding. People are equipped with tools like language and are able to learn through the interaction with their environment and other people as well as through collaboration, therefore in a way, people interact with a whole system of things, rather than just educator and learner. Examples of socioculturalism would be an organization which consists of general workers and managers who understand the organisation's core values and are working towards a common goal and basically any other sort of environment which requires teamwork.
Strengths: The learner is better able to deal with real life situations, and may better apply their existing knowledge to dynamic situation.

Weaknesses: In a situation where conformity is essential divergent thinking and action may cause problems.

As Learning is complex and multi-dimensional, I feel that these three theories have to be interwoven to gain a clearer and more in-depth picture of our environment.As there are multiple realities and the environment is made up of a multitude of elements and real-life situations present themselves differently all the time,I feel that to fully understand life, our environment and its complxities,all theories should be applied together and that no one theory can exist on its own.

The three blogs I viewed are :

http://leeweining.blogspot.com/
http://iheartnm3204.blogspot.com/
http://sandeepbhandal.blogspot.com/

The blog that I commented on is :

http://sandeepbhandal.blogspot.com/

E-Learning to Me.

My stance on e-learning is that it is beneficial to the growing number of technologically-savvy people around the world.Because E-Learning is networked, learners and teachers are able to consistently update, store,retrieve and distribute learning materials in a smooth fashion. E-learning in my opinion makes learning fun and very interactive as students are able to share their views and perspectives with people from various other countries and this, adds an element of fun and depth in their learning journey.
E-learning is also undeniably a cost-effective way to deliver instructions and information.Now,with only a simple click of a button, information can be disseminated in seconds to people living a hundred miles away via electronic mail. I also like the fact that E-learning is very flexible and can take place at our own convenient timing.I personally find this my favorite part about E-learning as being a rather nocturnal creature, I like reading materials and learning in the late evenings and because E-learning is 24/7, I can learn about anything and take my time to go through the thousands (and more) learning materials readily available on the internet.
The fact that you can build online communities also makes E-learning more appealing because by reinstating the group identity, people tend to feel more motivated and encouraged to keep learning , contribute and share ideas. The online community can thus operate like a family and people are more inclined to share their knowledge.
That said, I am looking forward to this journey of E-Learning and hoping that I'll learn many useful things..I mean you never know when your knowledge of things can come in really handy..though I have to admit attending 8am lectures is quite a challenge!My friends call me Dinosaur because I'm not exactly the most technologically-savvy person around but of course, aI am looking forward to learn and expand my knowledge on E-learning.So a Big Cheers to that!
=)