Tuesday, January 19, 2010

LMS (Learning Management Systems)| E-learning authoring tools |

Ok, future Instructional Designers; I've taken the liberty to conduct minute research on various tools and or platforms that companies desire an instructional designer to have(skills and possibly experience) as a successful applicant. So, I'm currently searching for a new job that I could develop more experience and have much more control within the creative process of learning and education. The key to learning and or knowing about these programs is, by paying attention to the job description of what the client or job is requesting.

Here's a list of programs that you should start researching on youtube.com
1. SharePoint
2. InDesign
3. MS Project
4. Atempo(digital asset management system)
5. ThirdLight (digital asset management system)
6. WebCT
7. BlackBoard| Angel
8. Adobe Captivate
9. Adobe Flash
10. Coggno
11. Moodle (Modular Object Oriented Learning Environment)
12. IQon2010
13. Syberworks
14. eCollege

Stay tuned, for more sites will be posted . . .



Experience conducting meetings, collaboration, collecting and compiling information

Proficient with , , and is preferred

Sunday, January 17, 2010

"The Brain and Learning" A complicated machine, but yet simple to understand?

I believe that all learners have their own unique perspective, experience, and learning style, and that will affect how they finally understand. I would like to start this blog off asking a question: how does learning really change the brain? This first web-blog (http://www.funderstanding.com/content/brain-based-learning) in summary focuses on brain-based learning: a learning theory that is based on the structure and function of the brain. As long as the brain is not prohibited from fulfilling its normal processes, learning will occur. The continues the suggestion, that everyone learns; however, at an individual's pace and experience.


This next site (http://www.aarp.org/health/brain/works/what_is_learning.html) suggests, as we learn, our brains adapt to reflect the new information we feed them: our brains' ability to adjust their structures to reflect life experiences (scientists call this "plasticity") is what enables us to learn—and to change our brains by learning.

While extracting information from both sites and in conclusion compiling the two sources together, I now have a clearer understanding of the learning process.
Let's take for example an newborn/baby: how does a newborn learn information without first having an understanding of how to apply certain capabilities to new conditions etc. . . In order for the brain to process learn, somewhere along the line, a preexisting thought of memory has to be in a storage-bank or foreknowledge of thoughts. The brain essentially organizes itself in accord with its experience to prepare for the future.


So, my question now is: at what stage in our lives does learning (a knowledge of preexisting-stored information) begin, when we don't don;t have preexisting knowledge of information.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

The Doorway To Professional Learning Communities. . .

ID (Instructional Design) - http://www.instructionaldesign.org/

To begin, this website is designed to present to those seeking an effective use of educational technology as to solving many of educational challenges faced throughout the globe. This website provides and or presents learning resources to help teachers learn about educational technology tools that can improve teaching and learning.
While effective learning should be the driving force behind technology integration, it is important to keep up with technological advances in order to recognize potential solutions. Tools are abundant, but we must be able to recognize how to leverage their capabilities in order to improve the learning experience. To conclude, education is in need of a major improvement, a revitalizing creative disruption of dissonance that spear-heads the campaign for a more interesting appeal to not only those learners with academic challenges; however, presenting content in a more appealing manner which encourages our better yet, keeps the learner engaged during the leaning process.


Experiencing E-Learning - http://christytucker.wordpress.com/
I've really enjoyed previewing this website because the creator of this particular blog/website presents her approaches and personal experiences towards the instructional design field. For example, the author's blog is sectioned off into helpful resources: Instructional Design Skills - This section of the blog is an introductory of understanding towards those considering to enter in this field, basically, explaining the possible job functions of the instructional designer. The author continues by instilling a message of encouragement for learning as much as possible in regards to exploring the many resources that are readily available within the site/blog; Technology Skills for Instructional Designers - this section explains the importance of learning and or becoming familiar with various platforms; Adobe flash player, Dream weaver etc.

eHow.com - http://www.ehow.com/how_5110018_become-instructional-designer.html
Sometimes people can pursue an idea or better yet, and educational path; however, the individual is often at times sidetracked and or influence with the thought of how much money one can possibly make within a certain career. This last website keys-in towards the focus and the necessary steps of becoming an instructional designer. Successful Instructional Designers should be able to work across all forms of media, including traditional classroom settings, corporate training and advanced e-learning. They must be able to synthesize large amounts of complicated material into easily digestible segments in a manner that facilitates learning that students enjoy. Instructional Designers should have a thirst for knowledge and a curiosity about the principles of learning that drives them to seek new and innovative learning delivery methods.

In conclusion, I hope that I can continually grow with developing the skills and locating many resources to not only becoming a seasoned instructional designer; however, enhancing techniques for creating more efficient blogs.