Connectivism

Learning has involved overtime for me. I have never been one to learn by reading the book and then the teacher teachers on the subject.  In this type of learning I often zone out because it is boring to me.  The way I learn now is by observing and watching what is around me.  I love to listen and watch the news for what is going on around the world.  I am a minister in training and I love studying the Bible and scriptures.  One of the sites that I used on my map was biblegateway.com.  This site offers many valuable tools which help a believer understand the Bible.  One area that I love about this site is the face that it has every translation of the bible.  When I study the word, I love reading the different translations to get a good revelation of what the scripture is talking about. My network has changed because I gain insight from people at work, church and conversations with friends.  I am always asking for their thoughts because it opens up dialogue and everyone has an opinion. 

The internet is my number one digital tool that I use.  I search the internet for hours when I am trying to find information on a topic.  I teach Sunday school and I research the internet to gain knowledge on a subject from different sources.  The different sources allow me to gain perspective from every possible angle.

Knowledge is powerful when it is used correctly.  I gain new knowledge by doing my research and asking family and friends about a particular subject.  You always can learn something from someone who has experience in an area you are learning something about.  For example, if I am trying to learn how to bake a cake; I would ask someone who is knowledgeable in this area. 

My personal learning supports connectivism in a major way.  The world is more than what we see on our streets and in our neighborhoods.  I learn so much from watching television about other countries and the way things are done.  I believe diversity is important when it comes to  learning.  There is more than one way to aspire our children to learn. 

connectivism

Problem Solving Methods

I reviewed this article on www.teachervision.fen.com that deals with problem solving methods.  According to the article problem solving is the ability to identify and solve problems by applying appropriate skills systematically.  It is a process where we take what we know to discover what we do not know.  There are three basic principles that are associated with problem solving.  They are seeking information, generating new knowledge, and making decisions.  Problem solving skills are essential to the growth development of students as they progress through school and even into the workforce.  Students should have the ability to take a situation given and find a solution from beginning to end. (retrieved from www.teachervision.fen.com. The article list five techniques that are helpful to problem solving.  They are list all related relevant facts, make a list of all the given information, restate the problem in their own words, list the conditions that surround a problem, and describe related known problems.  It is said many different ways but trial and error is an excellent tool in problem solving.  The article says try out a solution.  Trial and error allows you to try many different ways of getting to your solution. Algebra is a  good example.  There are sometimes a couple of ways you can work the problem to end up at the right answer.  Perhaps you may try one way but it doesn't work for you. The end result after trial and error is you have the correct answer.

Information Processing Theory

The blog http://jaylordlosabia.blogspot.com discusses information processing theory.  Information processing theory explains acquisition of knowledge in a step-by-step manner. (  http://jaylordlosabia.blogspot.com)  The article discuss the three primary process which are encoding, storage, and retrieval which goes back to the computer model that has been taught about processing in times past.  Briefly encoding is when information is perceived, storage is when the information is stored in the short or long period of times and retrieval is reproducing this information when it is needed.  There are three main stages on information processing which are sensory memory, short-term memory and long-term memory.  Sensory memory is the first stage of information processing.  The brain receives electric impulses or synapses and process this information for the next part of information processing.  Short term memory is also called working memory.  It is a snapshot of our mind at that moment.  An example is I am in the grocery store buying fruit.  The fruit is the only thing on my mind at this particular moment.  Long term memory is the final stage of information processing.  With long term memory, the information is stored for later user.  In this phase, I can use the same example.  I stored in my memory that in two weeks I have to buy fruit at the grocery store.  Once I am at the grocery store I can recall the information from my long term memory which was I needed to buy fruit.

http://jaylordlosabia.blogspot.com

My second blog post on Instructional Design and Development blog.

The blog that I am writing about comes from Professor J blogs.  She chose the Instructional design and development blog from Depaul University.  This blog has been created by the instructional technology department at Depaul and the purpose of this blog is to enhance instructions through the use of technology ( (http://www.iddblog.org/).  It is composed of several instructors from Depaul University who blog concerning the world of instructional technology.  The blog offer categories on administration, conferences, digital living, hardware, and web tools to name a few.  Since I am a new comer to the world of blogging and earning a degree in instructional technology and design; I believe this website offers a wealth of knowledge on the subject.  The greatest part is that it is being delivered by instructors in this area.  The blog also offers past archives of blog.  You can also search the website for a topic and it will provide information on the subject matter.  Finally as you read the blogs you can comment on what you've read which also is a great feedback tool as I move forward in instructional design.

My blog sites

I am new to this.  I am posting some sites that I think will be helpful.  The first site is http://ideas.blogs.com/ which stands for instructional design for elearning approaches.  This site focuces on reflections and insights on elearning strategies and instructional technology design by Ferdinand Krauss. I believe this will be helpful for me as I learn the blogging world and progress in my career. 

http://edublogs.org/ is also another blog that I believe to be helpful.  This blog offers blogs for students professional and college students.  This blog  lets you easily create & manage student & teacher blogs, quickly customize designs and include videos, photos & podcasts.

Finally blogger.com/ is a good blog that I think will be helpful.  This is the site I think most of us have subscribed too.  We can add our RSS fed and we can view other people blogs and reply.This site makes it simple and easy to navigate which is most important. 

welcome to my blog

Hello my fellow Walden Univesrity class mates.  Welcom to my Blog.  I am looking forward to blogging with you during this class.  I believe we are going to learn alot and have a lot of fun.