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Evaluating and Identifying Online Resources

Week 2 Blog assignment:

This week, I visited couple sites to read more about the brain and information Processing. The first site that stood out was written by Lisa Chipongian.  Retrieved from http://brainconnection.positscience.com/topics/?main=fa/brain-based. This website discussed “brain based learning”. It analyzed the difference between brain compatible education and brain antagonist. There is a strong emphasis on how the brain learns. Page1.   The Organ of Learning Page 2: Twelve Brain/Mind Learning Principles Page 3: Where Did the "12 Principles" Come From?   Practical Use of Brain/Mind Principles     Three Conditions for Learning Page 4: Real-Life Examples     Teaching and the Organ of Learning. Each of the topics discussed the connection of the brain to learning; the twelve principles according to the author are open for further revision. This makes it interesting and useful for learners.

I particularly liked the application of the brain based learning to real- life examples where relaxed alertness, orchestrated immersion, and active processing are believed to occur in successful teaching situations at all levels.

The second site is about “Problem solving skills in Education and life”. These sites featured couple other topics, but I choose to read further on “Problem solving in Design & Science.”

The information is retrieved from:  http://www.asa3.org/ASA/education/think/methods.htm#problem-solving-methods. This site is very basic but clearly described the scientific methods of problem solving in connection with designing training. I feel connected to this statement” In design, a problem is any situation where you have an opportunity to make a difference to make things better.  Whenever you are thinking creatively and critically about ways to increase the quality of life (or to avoid a decrease in quality), you are actively involved in problem solving” I truly agree. The site also link to numerous useful information that I need to revisit. Although, I am very familiar with problem solving model, I am able to connect the ideas to designing learning.  Reflecting on other aspects of what I do or will do when I graduate as an Instructional Designer, Problem solving skills is applicable to any situation.

 Most problem solving models ends with “choose and implement the best alternative” I will like to add that it is vital to re-evaluate the best alternative. This is because, in some situation, the best alternative may not be applicable in a certain situation.

I also read about the myth about Scientific methods by David Snoke, a links to Problem solving skills in Education. This information exposed some of my bias about scientific conclusion on some issues. I look forward to reading more and learning. This is getting more interesting.

Performance Need Analysis

I like this topic. Finally, my organization seems to be getting it. Performance need analysis is very crucial to the success of designing a novel idea, or training.  The purpose is to analyze and verify the need for training. I often get calls for a new training need just as you stated and at times a refresher course.

I attended a conference on designing learning, and since then my approach to responding to this request has changed.  I am now asking for training request in writing, and then I use the request to initiate the first interview. During the interview, I have a general questionnaire that is primarily designed to inquire the needs for training.  I usually hand a copy of the questionnaire to the interviewee. At the end of the interview, it is often apparent to both of us whether training is the best solution to the request or not.

In cases where training is the need, then we go in-depth as to what the training content should be, the cost of the training, who should be attending, how much time should be allotted to the training, and how to measure the training effectiveness.

My Opportunity Has Come

I have heard about blogging all along and never pay any attention to what goes on in the world of bloggers. I perceived blogging as another time wasting social network. This course increased my awareness and opened my eyes to a wealth of knowledge about blogging.

I selected about blogs (weblogs). The author is Jay Cross of Jaycross.com. He defined a blog as a website with dated entries, usually by a single author, often accompanied by links to other blogs that the site’s editor visits on a regular basis. http://www.internettime.com/Learning/Weblogs.htm. According to him, blogging dated back to 1999, they are free, unfiltered and represented personal notions, informal and very conversational in nature. The site highlights the use of blogs for a variety of purposes. For example, blogging to learn, business blog, blog for education, and news blog. It appears that almost everything that exists today has a blog site.

I liked what he said about the bottom line. “Blog highlight useful information that I may never find on my own, or think to find on my own”. http://www.internettime.com/Learning/Weblogs.htm. This is a very meaningful statement to me as a beginner in the act of blogging. He referred readers to multiple useful sites about his learning experience that I need to revisit. 

The site discussed the following as advantages of blogging:

a.      The accessibility than face to face

b.     They scale very easily across large networks, thus reaching a wider audience

c.     They can easily archived and retrieved any number of time

d.      Providing context is much easier with hyperlinks and cross references.

 I became overwhelmed by the numerous articles, blogs, and information coupled with time that I need to sift through the information, knowing that I can sort through what I like to read. It is time consuming, but I will get use to it someway. 

I visited another site titled, eLearning Delivery Methods.

This site described eLearning as a framework that invites the use of whatever method best fits the situation at hand.  Here, the author analyzed eLearning delivery method of training in a tabulated format. In addition, the pro and cons of learning methods of learning were discussed. The tabulated information compares the benefit of each method and the challenges associated with them. Retrieved from http://www.internettime.com/itimegroup/methods.htm. 

What stood out for me was the real time discussion and chat room which requires the presence of all the parties at the same time. If you miss it, it is gone.   It gave me a flash back to what happened when I was shopping for my masters level program online. The requirement of such method is a constraint to me.

The third site is learning with Blogs and Wikis. http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenlibrary.org.(to access please log in to Walden website)  The author Ferriter Bill. The site highlight use of RSS feed to sort blog content this is very usefulness to me. The author discussed the current challenges in the school system as it impacts learners, and teachers.  The site offered some solutions to the current, challenging problems in the educational setting. The site broke the information down to easy to follow processes, and I have to continue to re-visit the information site to acclimate myself to more blogs.

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