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LDT 100x: Instructional Design and Technology: Learning Theories
Comparing Learning Theories Personal Learning Experiences Authentic Assessment Micro-Learning Sample

LDT 200x: Instructional Design Models
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MicroLearning Sample

 LDT100x Instructional Design and Technology: Learning Theories

Published: Oct. 31, 2019

Learners were instructed to identify a technology tool they wanted to learn more about, such as an app, software or other authoring tool to support work or as a designer. Learners were to contemplate the learning theory employed and why they it is effective or not effective. 

See project on Book Creator (or click image below)


BookCover

Reflection:

Identify the tool, add a URL if online, and a short description of why you picked it.

I chose BookCreator. I was especially intrigued by two things:

  1. The portal page contained a rather comprehensive video that truly showed the tool's capabilities (despite loud, obnoxious background music). I find that the portal pages of MANY tools will tell you almost nothing before collecting your contact information via registration. How can I know I want to use the tool when I have virtually no information about it? The presence of content that helped me choose was indeed one of the reasons I chose it.
  2. The tool is targeted to students, suggesting it is very easy to use. This presumed ease-of-use was almost a drawback because I'm not certain that I would, as an instructional designer, use a tool meant for students to deliver instruction to students. I would definitely suggest it as a tool students could use for their class projects.

As I signed in for the free trial, I immediately saw that BookCreator works only on Chrome. I have Chrome but rarely use it.

A couple of weeks after signing up for Book Creator, I sat down to create my project on it. The dashboard for doing so is very stark, and the only buttons or controls on it are My Books, Pages, Undo, a plus sign (+), a lower-case i, and a right arrow.

I liked the fact that not only is Google Image Search integrated with BookCreator, but the results are filtered so only those available for public use appear.

I learned by trial-and-error that for a page with both an image and text, the image must be uploaded first.

I was dismayed that very few choices are available for text, such as color, size, and alignment. The cover-text font is the same size as body text inside! I am guessing the sparse number of typographic choices is related to the tool being targeted to young students.

Overall, except for the cover with its too-small type, I was reasonably satisfied with the final book I created.

Short reflection on the learning theory or theories that supported learning to use the new tool and why those approaches were effective.

Seeking to to bolster this reflection with research, I was very surprised at how sparse the literature is on constructivism from the LEARNER'S PERSPECTIVE.

I was a constructivist learner for this project in that I did not sit back and receive information.

I constructed my knowledge of BookCreator through hands-on experience with it. I formed questions. I created the experience of learning the tool by using the tool. I developed strategies to figure out how perform actions that were not obvious. I experienced minor roadblocks (e.g., learning that images had to be uploaded before text) that led to reexamining the process and developing new paths and strategies.
I drove my own process of HOW TO LEARN, constructing my own learning through trial and error.