Learner Motivation Reflection

What did you find surprising or striking as you furthered your knowledge about how people learn?

Very surprisingly, I found that the ARCS model of motivational design (Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction) developed by John Keller was vital to how people learn.  As I learned more about ARCS, I discovered that for this model to be successful for learners it has to be introduced in the  learning environment as a welcoming approach encourage a person to learn anything they desired or if required to learn.

 I teach employability skills such as interviewing skills, application writing, coping with change, attitude in the workplace, conflict resolutions, etc. to persons who were chronically unemployed, welfare/government recipients, returning citizens or have multiple barriers to employment.  They are a challenging group to motivate to learn about how to look for employment because of fear  for losing government benefits, for learning new information such as completing on-line assessments, applications for employment vs. fact-to-face completing paper applications and meeting with employers.  I found that the reason is because most of them cannot read or write well or the focus is on other barriers other than obtaining employment.

I implemented the ARCS model of motivational design and as a tool to teach employability skills materials and been successful so far.

Attention: Used visual but the audio media to gain attention because it forces all to listen and stay awake.  Usually, I utilized the lecture materials given by my manager but it did not hold the learners attention.

Relevance:  Related the materials to majority of the students current interests, career goals and general past experiences to encourage motivation and focus.

Confidence:  Encouraged self/group confidence and support for each other and everyone accountable for each other and want to be success because no one wanted to disappoint their peers.  The confidence also helped students anticipate positive outcomes of having the comfort and confidence in learning.

Satisfaction:  Overall goal was to make sure all the learners gained self-interest to be open minded about learning new methods to obtaining employment and be committed to trying.

How has this course deepened your understanding of your personal learning process?

This course has deepened my understanding of my personal learning process by introducing me to learning theories such as behaviorism, constructional and social learning and learning styles that I had very limited knowledge.  I have learned and now able to broaden and apply other my learning processes.

What have you learned regarding the connection between learning theories, learning styles, educational technology, and motivation?

I learned that motivation, cooperation, learning environment and depending on the outcome an instructional designer is going for, these are the connection between learning theories, learning styles, educational technology, and motivation.  The theories, styles, technology all have positive/ negative, strengths/weaknesses and appropriate times to use. I believe that an individual choice of learning theories (Behaviorism, Cognitivist, Constructionism, Social learning) influences the type learning styles (Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic) learner will use to develop and/or learn educational technology.

How will your learning in this course help you as you further your career in the field of instructional design?

My learning in this course will help further my career in the field of instructional design by learning how to develop curriculums that I know how to link the learning theories, styles, technology that will be most appropriate.  I believe this can be a very difficult task to achieve because of the different learning styles and theories and learners.  Not really knowing the type of learners will be the challenge but I plan to develop and design from my personal growth and knowledge learned in this course.

Fitting the Pieces Together

Now that you have a deeper understanding of the different learning theories and learning styles, how has your view on how you learn changed?

Because I have a deeper understanding of the different learning theories and learning styles, my view has changed drastically.  In the beginning I identified myself as a conventional learner because of my past limited educational experience of learning in the classroom that allowed direct peer/instructor interaction, visual learning that helped me learn, understand and retain information.  Now my view has changed to being an unconventional learning i.e. online instruction.  My recent experience as a first timer to online instruction since becoming a graduate student at Walden University has challenged me to become more of an independent learner, encourage peer/instructor collaboration and communication, improve my self-confidence, ability to learn and adapt to this online educational environment.  My written communication skills have improved, time management and organizational skills has become essential in my daily activities to be successful.  I am still a visual learner but have learned about more resources, tools and the vast technology information that is available to me.

What have you learned about the various learning theories and learning styles over the past weeks that can further explain your own personal learning preferences?

In the beginning of this course, I thought my learning preference was more aligned with the learning theory of Robert Gagne.  Robert Gagne is considered to be the leading researcher and contributor to the systematic approach to instructional design and training. Gagne known as a behaviorist, and his focus was on the outcomes or behaviors that result from training. Gagne’s theory is very simple process to follow that can allow learners to actually understand and retain the information which will get great outcomes for the learner. His “Events of Instruction,” a nine step process gain attention, inform learner of objectives, stimulate recall of prior learning, present stimulus material, provide learner guidance, elicit performance, provide feedback, assess performance and enhance retention and transfer related to the learning process Gagne, 1977.

Now my learning preference has also included Vygotsky’s "zone of proximal development" (Vygotsky 1978). According to the From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, the zone of proximal development often abbreviated ZPD, is the difference between what a learner can do without help and what he or she can do with help. It is a concept developed by Soviet psychologist and social constructivist Lev Vygotsky (1896 – 1934). Vygotsky among other educational professionals believes the role of education to be to provide children with experiences which are in their ZPD, thereby encouraging and advancing their individual learning Berk and Winsler (1995).   

The ZPD approach encourages independent learning through problem-solving with/without supervision. This causes me to read, research and learn more about things and allow me to form my own opinion, solution whether in agreement or not with the author.  I have learned through developing more self-confidence to take risks to learn the truth.

What role does technology play in your learning? (i.e., as a way to search for information, to record information, to create, etc.)?

Technology is critical in my learning because I need the variety of resources such as academic, multimedia, interactive and blogs to assist with my instructional designing efforts.

References

·         Gagn’e, R. M. (1977). The conditions of learning (3rd ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston

·         Description above from the Wikipedia article ZPD, licensed under CC-BY-SA,

Berk, L & Winsler, A. (1995). "Vygotsky: His life and works" and "Vygotsky's approach to development". In Scaffolding children's learning: Vygotsky and early childhood learning. Natl. Assoc for Educ. Of Young Children. p. 24

Connectivism

Connectivism

How has your network changed the way you learn?

My network has had a positive impact on my learning now because I allow myself to seek help when needed.  I reach out to my sources via email, educational online references, and online search engines especially Google or Ask me.com for instruction, understanding and other resources such as classmates that may help me as well.

Which digital tools best facilitate learning for you? 

Emails, electronic presentations, Google, educational online library resources are the digital tools that best facilitate my learning.   I am a visual learner and have found that looking at the assigned videos for my course helps a lot. It gives me a better understanding of the material.  I look at the video then read the material.  It seems that I can get maximize the information received from both methods and have a better understanding. 

How do you gain new knowledge when you have questions? 

To gain new knowledge I always research on the internet the subject so that I can seek resources.  If I am successful or not I often will ask someone that may be knowledgeable in that area.  Once I have done both of these I will meditate, read and get an understanding that I can possibly relate past experiences.  Because I am a learner who has to understand (what, when, why) to get the complete picture and not just know the answer because I need it sometimes it’s difficult for me even if it’s simple to others.

In what ways does your personal learning network support or refute the central tenets of connectivism?

Because the central tenets of connectivism are tied technology, my personal learning network is very much supported by the use of using electronic resources for communicating.  As time progress I notice that there is a strong dependency on technology via cellular devices, computers and vehicles too.  I depend on the use of technology for my professional and personal needs.

Kimberly Sutherland Mind Mapping

http://www.mywebspiration.com/view/771735a28174