The study of learning theories, learning styles, educational technology and motivation have provided great insights into how to approach learning and knowledge delivery. In fact, the concept of theories in general has become more practicalised for me as a result of studying how it has been used in the area of education and knowledge delivery. LearningDctr (2010) likened theories to windows in a house which give a different view of the same room from different angles. This explanation put theories, especially educational theories, in an excellent perspective for me and provided me with a richer realization of their significances and how they impact on teaching and learning.
Personally the understanding of different learning theories, styles, strategies and motivations has given me the opportunity to reflect upon my own dispositions and has brought to the fore how my biases tend to impact on my ways of developing and delivering learning experiences. This for me is a very critical eye opener. Particularly, an understanding of the linkages between learning theories, learning styles, learning strategies, educational technology and motivation has further broadened and enhanced my knowledge in the instructional design field. Learning theories which are windows to understanding the different perspectives of how learning takes place (LearningDtr, 2010), provides a framework to develop learning styles which deals with what individual preferences are with regards to the mode of instruction or study that best suits them (Frisby, 2005). Learning strategies then goes to address activities that can be used to assist learners to improve their learning based on their identified styles. Over the years, various technologies continue to be developed to provide support for different learning strategies and styles. These technologies have created whole new ways of seeing teaching and learning. They all, however, are directed at fitting into existing theories. Johnson, Adams Becker, Estrada, & Freeman (2015) describes one of these technologies, Adaptive learning, as being able to feed content to learners based on learner preferences. This undoubtedly will focus learning more on the learner than on the instructor. Such technologies have brought with their implementation new dimensions to learner motivation. Huett, Moller, Young, Bray& Huett (2008) citing Song and Keller assert that motivation is generally assumed to exist within the computer aided instruction (CAI) learning space. Huet et al content that this assumption is erroneous, however, it pertains in the CAI learning space. An understanding of this issue therefore is critical for instructional designers hoping to leverage technology to enhance knowledge delivery. Extra efforts must be made to understand and factor in the fact that the lack of direct contact with learners in most CAI learning environments require that motivation be not treated as an afterthought but as a major item in the Instructional design process.
In conclusion, a full appreciation of the theories, concepts and strategies associated with teaching, learning and instructional design gained from this course, has provided new insights into my approach to instructional design. While some grey areas have been cleared, other reflective questions have also come up to enable me execute more research and gain better understanding. For example, how do I design instructional design for a mixed mode learning environment? How do I design CAI learning environment when the learners are generally not technology literate? These and other questions will continue to spur me on in the quest for attaining industry standards in the instructional design field.
References
Frisby, C. L. (2005). Learning styles in Lee, S. W. (Ed.) (2005), Encyclopedia of school psychology. Retrieved from Sage Reference Online database.
Huett, J. B., Moller, L., Young, J., Bray, M., & Huett, K. C. (2008). SUPPORTING THE DISTANT STUDENT: The Effect of ARCS-Based Strategies on Confidence and Performance. Quarterly Review Of Distance Education, 9(2), 113-126.
Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Estrada, V., and Freeman, A. (2015). NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Higher Education Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. Retrieved from http://cdn.nmc.org/media/2015-nmc-horizon-report-HE-EN.pdf