Learing and the Brain...

This week, I took some time to look at a few articles that dealt with the brain and learning.  I found these articles interesting because they had new insights into learning theories that we already know about.

Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age

This article is very interesting because it recognizes that as times have changed and technology has become more important in people’s lives, the ways in which people learn have also changed.  The article does not dismiss behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism, but makes the point that learning theories and needs would be best if they reflect the surrounding social environment (Siemens, 2004).  In addition, the article points details some important trends in learning.  These include informal learning becoming more important, learning is continual and lifelong, etc.  One big trend to be noted is that many things that fell into the different learning theories can now be supported by technology.

The idea of connectivism  proposes that learning is not entirely under an individual’s control.  Instead, it can happen outside of oneself and focuses on the connections that can help us learn.  Connectivism appears to take into account the idea that as things change in society, the way people learn also changes and this is shaped by changes in technology as well.  This is valuable to consider as an instructional designer because it is important to keep learning theories and styles in mind when designing lessons but at the same time keeping in mind that technology is changing the face of things so also should be considered as well.

References:

Siemens, G. 2004.  Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age.  http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

How the Brain Reads and Writes

This article examines reading and writing and how the brain is involved with these two tasks.  In 1973, two individuals, John Marshall and Freda Newcombe suggested that when reading, there are two processes that play a part.  The phonological pathway deals with the sounds of words and then using it to create meaning.  Secondly, the semantic pathway produces meaning by looking at the different patterns of words.  The two pathway model goes hand in hand with the mistakes that people make when reading because of the corrections people make while still keeping the meaning of what is being read (Jamieson, 2003).  Words are first broken up into chunks which then join to provide a mental picture of the word (Jamieson, 2003).  This was interesting to read because it goes along with the week’s reading for class because it is breaking things down into meaningful parts which then allow them to be processed and put into memory more effectively.

This information is valuable because it also looks at how people read and write, which are important tasks for acquiring new knowledge.  Also, it serves as a reminder that there are different ways in which people acquire new knowledge and as a result, we must be conscious about this as we design lessons.

Jamieson, R. 2003.  How The Brain Reads and Writes.  http://www.e-speec.com/functions.htm