Final Reflection

What I Found Surprising
When I first started this course, it had been a while since I was exposed to learning theories. My initial exposure occurred during the Masters of Arts in Teaching program in 2004. In that program, I learned about many of the theories that we have studied in this course. However, it was great to get a refresher on them, especially now that I am a little older and a little more experienced in the field of instructional design. I found it particularly surprising that there were a few theories that I had never heard of yet directly pertained to my current job. An idea like Connectivism with its focus on technology was a tremendous help to me and gave me a few ideas to use when creating lessons. Also, I realized that how I learned at a younger age in a brick and mortar campus is drastically different from my preferred learning style. I am more of a constructivist learner where I prefer to uncover the answer to a problem using previous knowledge and new knowledge that pertains to real-world situations. Throughout most of my life, I was relying on rote memorization to learn. We now know that the process of moving information from short-term memory to long-term memory is challenging and requires us to relate the learning experience to experiences we can draw upon from our own lives.
How My Understanding of Personal Learning Experiences Has Deepened
As I reflect upon my educational experiences, I realize that the instructional methods that were the most effective for me have changed over time.Throughout my undergraduate and graduate degree programs at traditional brick and mortar institutions, I was convinced that conventional approaches to education were the "best" way to learn. In the last year of my masters program, my views began to change as I was exposed to many unconventional methods of instruction. These thoughts have been reinforced in my current career at an online university and as I began to work more frequently in an instructional designer role.My preferred method of delivery is a kinesthetic approach. I am a hands-on learner and I have trouble with a strict auditory approach. I remember sitting in a large lecture hall, listening to a professor speak for a solid two hours and having to take notes without the aid of a simple overhead projector!The first theory that best describes how I learn is personal constructivism. I thrive in a learning environment where I control my own learning rather than relying on rote memorization, "an emphasis on learner control and the capability of the learner to manipulate information." (Ertmer and Newby, 2003, p.65). As an instructional designer, I try to incorporate a constructivist approach into my lesson plans. For example, I just finished a project using Captivate that includes interactive training portions.I also am aligned with the cognitive approach. The essential element here is to build upon the knowledge already in the audience's memory, then use the previously acquired knowledge to build upon and introduce new unknown material in the most efficient, organized and structured way (Ertmer and Newby, 2003, p.61). I structure my online trainings in such a manner by breaking the overall lesson into organized, sizeable chunks and relating that information to previous knowledge obtained.
Connecting the Pieces
As I learn more about the various learning theories, I realize that an instructional designer has a tremendous responsibility to create trainings that will appeal to all learning styles. We are all different, and a designer needs to be aware of this when developing new trainings. It is very powerful to create something that can benefit everyone in the audience.

There are many different learning theories and many different learning styles that exist. The relationship between the two is that in a typical classroom, an instructor will have all different learning styles to design for. The trick is that a designer cannot rely on strictly one learning theory to create the lesson around. Rather, more than one theory should be used in order to cater to as many different learning styles as possible.
Technology is used to increase the availability of different learning styles into a lesson. By using technology in a lesson, a designer can include multiple learning styles into the plan.
According to Omrod, there are several different factors or needs that are likely to motivate learners. One of these needs is arousal. Learners simply need to be stimulated. We have all been in boring situations before. What happens after about 20 minutes? We simply lose focus and our minds start to wander. Another need is for competence. Learners need to feel that they have accomplished something and accomplished it well. A third need is in self-determination. Adult learners need to feel as if they are in control of their learning to some extent. Finally, relatedness, or a need to interact with other people is critical.Increasing motivation for our adult learners needs to have a solid plan behind it. To accomplish this, we can utilize Keller’s ARCS motivational process.

Furthering my Career

I now realize that designing instruction to meet an audience with all different preferred learning styles is difficult. Designers cannot include all theories into a single lesson in order to reach everyone in their audience. Rather, designers need to incorporate more technology into training so that multiple methods of instruction are being utilized. With this in mind, I have started to create lessons that incorporate some of the theories and technology that we have discussed in class with the hopes of it translating well to the real-world. Due to my enrollment in this course, I have learned enough information so that I am now qualified for promotion to Instructional Designer. The lessons learned here have already started to pay off for me.