Cognitive Processes and The Learner

This week I found a site that, based on Jung’s cognitive processes, provides a wealth of information on the various personality types defined by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® Instrument. It provides information on Cognitive Processes and Problem Solving and Cognitive Processes and Learning. These variables are aspects of our target training audiences that we should consider when designing and developing learning events. The site states:  When we look at learning, we need to examine three factors: 1. What—the content or skill to be learned; 2. How—the learning context; and 3. Who—the learning style of the learner. When these items are congruent, effective learning occurs.

If you’d like to take the test to determine your personality type, there are free online sites. You can try Human Metrics or Similar Minds.
 
Additional online tests are available to determine your Cognitive Learning Style: Memletics Learning Styles Questionnaire,  Edutopia's What's Your Learning Style? or AES which offers a great tool for your students/younger folks.
 
Some additional sites I found interesting:

• For K-12 educators, you might find Dr. Kathie Nunley’s Brains.org site interesting. Dr. Nunley is committed to connecting “current psychological and neurological research to the classroom”.
• Cognitive Sciences Archive … An extensive electronic archive hosting papers in the areas of psychology, neuroscience, computer science, philosophy, biology, anthropology and medicine. 

IDT Resources and Blogs: Scratching the Surface!

The American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) is an invaluable resource for the IDT professional. You will find the most extensive amount of training and IDT information available on this well established website. While their site partially intends to promote their training programs and conferences, there is an incredible amount of “free” information available on this site for non-members. That said, I highly recommend becoming a member of ASTD as membership will get you significant discounts on their programs, give you access to a wealth of in-depth articles and a subscription to their monthly publication, T+D magazine. T+D magazine, available online and in traditional print, never fails to provide meaningful articles by industry leaders on cutting edge learning technologies, best practices and cutting edge approaches to training (both f2f and eLearning). You will also find practical information on the challenges of IDT and training professionals with recommendations and innovative solutions. ASTD is the leading professional organization in the Training and Development industry. Be sure to check them out!

 The Instructional Design & Development Blog is a well developed site through DePaul University. There is some excellent blogging going on there amongst students and professionals of IDT. Some of the interesting categories include Pedagogy (the art and science of teaching), Web Tools, Digital Living, Video & Audio and Library. Bloggers share their experiences with various development tools and provide recommendations, tips and tricks. This is an active and interesting blogging site.
 If you've spent any time reviewing blogs, you realize that - generally speaking - you must be a tad skeptical and always consider the source when reading or gathering information. Everyone has an opinion and it's a good idea to consider blogs a place where people share them! That said, educational and professional forums and sites like ASTD's tend to provide more reliable and valid content. The point is, it's important to keep your "critical thinking" cap on when exploring the world of blogs and forums.

The Innovative Learning website has an impressive collection of information and resources. The site provides clear and concise information about various aspects of instructional design, online learning, instructional technology and Teaching and Learning. A list of Educational Blogs is available with a link to the Innovative Learning blog.

Another site I ran across was Instructional Design Central. They provide a well rounded list of IDT resources on everything from ID History and ID Models to ID Jobs. The IDC Forums and Blogs offer a place for discussions and exchanges on ID Design Resources, eLearning Technology and Tools and ID Theory & Models. This seems to be a fairly new site but appears to be a good place to share information or post your IDT related questions for discussion. The Blogs and Forums sections of the site has the potential to be quite helpful – particularly for those new to wiki’s/blogs and IDT. The site is well organized and easy to navigate. The non-intimidating simplicity of the IDC site, wiki discussions and blogs might be good place for folks that are new to blogs and wiki's to get their feet wet.

Welcome!

Hello and welcome!  My name is Beth Graham and I'm an instructional designer/Lead Training Manager for a global telecom corporation. I've created this blog as a forum to share my experience from my work, as well as thoughts, information and key learning from my M.S. in Instructional Design and Technology degree program. I look forward to an exchange of ideas with fellow IDT students and other IDT professionals. 

Please share your thoughts, experiences and other valuable information regarding learning theories, methodologies, training strategies, technologies and tools of the profession. Use this space to share and discuss IDT challenges, solutions, tips and tricks...and be sure to check back often for updated links to meaningful instructional design & technology related sites, design & development tools and blogs!

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you'll be back soon!