It's a Blog Day Afternoon

Good afternoon to all.  It has been a busy week in Denver, CO.  I am very close to the end of the school year with my eighth graders, and I started today with a very wet cold running of the Colfax Half Marathon.  The good news is I did find some time this week to do some digging and came up with a couple of interesting resources for this week's blog entry.  I chose to look up one web site on the brain and learning, and one journal article on constructivism vs. direct instruction.  I have cited the information below including the links if you would like to have a look, as well as a few thoughts on each resource.

Web Page

Brain Connection

 http://brainconnection.positscience.com/

This is a very comprehensive and user-friendly web page that deals specifically with brain function and its relationship to education.  To me the best part of the web page is the library section.  It has articles ranging from general topics on the brain, the brain and education, clinical topics as well as a series of tutorials on brain anatomy, physiology, and brain function.  I found value in this web site because I think it is a good starter page for those who are trying to get a stronger grasp of brain-based education.  The only drawback is that this site is sponsored by Posit Science Corporation, so it is a bit advertisement heavy. 

Journal Article

Kirschner, P., Sweller, J., & Clark, R. (2006). Why minimal guidance during instruction does not work: an analysis of the failure of constructivist, discovery, problem-based, experiential, and inquiry-based teaching. Educational Psychologist, 41(2), 75-86.

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a784754045

This article caught my eye, because right now in education inquiry based instruction is all the rage.  I have been working with a group over the last couple of years that is facilitating professional development specifically to bring a more inquiry-based approach into our school.  The article was pretty interesting. Its goal is to "suggest that based on our current knowledge of human cognitive architecture, minimally guided instruction is likely to be ineffective" (p. 76).  The article includes information on the relationship of working memory and long-term memory and discusses how constructivist teaching does not consider this relationship.  The article then gives a brief history of constructivism followed by the authors' guidelines for effective direct instruction.  The bottom line is the authors' feel that constructivist theories of teaching are ineffective in providing basic skills and content (especially in science) to novice or intermediate learners, and are not as effective for advanced learners when compared to direct instruction. 

Though I did not agree with all of the points of the article when it comes to the value of constructivist practices, I did find the article to be a great review of the relationship of working memory and long-term memory.  The article also gave me some points to consider as an instructional designer especially when it comes to delivering science content to novice learners (such as eighth graders).  Overall, it was interesting reading and I would recommend having a look.

Wow, I'm Feeling a Bit Blogged Down

Ok, so I have finally managed to get my first class blog posted.  To say this assignment has been challenging is an understatement.  Until this week I have never blogged, nor have I ever read a blog.  So it's amazing to me how much time I've spent over the last few days just looking, reading and deciding what is relevant and what is not.  This week was a reminder to me how much I have to learn when it comes instructional design, online learning, and the scope of technology available. 

After a few days of searching, I ended up choosing three blogs with different themes.  One related specifically to online learning, one with a focus on the impact of social media and education, and finally an education blog which offered a variety of blogs in different areas of education.  I felt by casting a wide net into the blogosphere it would help paint a clearer picture of blogs in general as well as introducing me to the varied topics and tools that I will encounter as an instructional designer.

1.  E-Learning Queen

http://elearnqueen.blogspot.com/

The first blog I choose is called E-Learning Queen.  This blog is an all purpose online education/instructional design blog that offers some practical applications for those both immersed in instructional design as well as those just beginning.  One pro of the blog is the e-learning series in which the blog facilitator Susan Smith Nash interviews various players within the fields of online education and or instructional design.  A drawback for me was the incredible amount of information presented and at times I felt completely lost as I struggled to keep up with the language in the blog.

2.  The Center for Learning & Performance Technologies:  C4LPT blog

http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/blog/

This year I have had the pleasure of watching one of my colleagues  use a social media in her classroom as a whole new way to get them to collaborate.  She set up a "faux twitter" format for her students to update on everything from homework assignments, debates, and presentations.  Her work made me do some thinking about social media and the impact it is currently having on our students as well as the impact if will have on education.  The author of this blog Jane Hart offers some interesting articles and videos on social media as well as her favorites for emerging and existing technology.  One part of the blog that interested me was her reading list for April 2011 that included a list of her reader's top 100 tools for learning in 2011. 

3.  Edutopia Blogs

http://www.edutopia.org/blogs

The school where I teach is part of a collaboration with the Pubic Education and Business Coalition (PEBC).  I mention this, because I am part of a peer lab group of teachers that works collaboratively with each other and with PEBC to improve our teaching practices.  I found the Edutopia site to be very interesting.  I like the philosophy of collaboration I found on the website.  I choose to include the Edutopia blog in this list because its blog page offers a wide variety of education related blogs.  Topics covered by blog contributors include elementary and secondary education as well as charter schools, and innovation in education.  One blog contributor I did browse was that of author Milton Chen and some of his postings in education innovation.  He had some thought provoking ideas for improving education, the drawback being his latest post was 5 months old.  There is much more to explore within these blogs, and I was only able to scratch the surface.  More information to come on this web site, and the blogs.

The First Ever Blog Post!!

So here it is, my first ever blog post.  I feel different now......Cooler.  Kind of like Fonzie.  Ehhhhhhh..