Week #1 - Blog Assignment

Jason Wells
EDUC-6115-3, Learning Theories & Instruction
Dr. Artino
November 3, 2013

 

As I searched for blogs that reflected my interests related to the instructional design field, I wanted to focus on those highlighting the learner experience and technology.  My search produced thee blogs as follows:

1.     eLearning Brothers: http://elearningbrothers.com/10-elearning-game-ideas-for-instructional-designers/

 

eLearning Brothers is a blog that is focused on ways in which games can be incorporated into eLearning instruction to make for a more engaging and interactive learning experience.  In addition to providing information about ways to integrate gaming, the blog is also useful in that it features links to templates for graphics, audio, and games.  I plan to use this blog as a resource for the development of eLearning.

 

2.     Voices of Global Online Academy: http://globalonlineacademy.wordpress.com/

 

Voices of Global Online Academy is a blog that highlights educational technology reviews, student testimonials, and teacher contributions.  Global Online Academy is a consortium of independent schools.  The blog has a very clean and user-friendly interface that allows readers to quickly access postings of interest.  After perusing the blog, I found that the online teacher insights are quite useful.  I am especially interested in what motivates learners in an online environment.  The teacher insights often include student satisfaction survey results that back their postings.  In addition to becoming an instructional designer, I also have an interest in contributing to the field by teaching.

 

3.      Learning Snippets: http://learningsnippets.wordpress.com/

 

Learning Snippets is a blog created by an Australian Instructional Designer named Matt.   In addition to his professional work, Matt is completing his Masters at University of New South Wales.  Matt’s postings are created as diary entries of major concepts and useful tips that he is learning in his graduate program.  Matt’s blog has postings related to the use of technology in learning, gaming, learner motivation, learning theories, etc.  I think that this blog will be useful as I am also completing the same program at Walden University.  Matt’s reflections will serve as reminders of concepts that I have been introduced to, and may also present new concepts that I have yet to discover.