Learning Theories Wiki.

I feel that the learning design of this wiki activity was based on constructivism in that learners were able to learn and extend their own knowledge by collaborating and reviewing other learner’s perspectives on the same issues. This was also a form of peer teaching as learners could add to their own knowledge via fellow learners input into the wiki site on the learning theories.

My personal learning outcome was an understanding of Learning theories as being explanations of how learning actually occurs. They articulate learning as a complex process. Examples of these theories are: Behaviourism – Focusing on observable aspects of behavioural change in the learner. This sort of design does not encourage higher order thinking. Digital tools such as online tutorials, memory games and quizzes are based on Behaviourism. Cognitivism - Focuses on the cognitive or mental processing behaviours of the learning. Broken into short and long term memory capacities ICT uses such as interactive learning sites and drag and drop activities are useful for the short term memory bank and concept mapping tools, retrieval charts and information organising tools are valuable for long term memory banks. Constructivism – Focuses on how learners actively explore and extend on ideas and concepts. Scaffolding discussion forums, wiki sites and blogs are digital devices pertinent to constructivism as they extend and explore learning through social encounters.

As for Conceptual frameworks, I feel they are similar to theoretical concepst in that they interpret examples of learning that we can observe and assess for future learning. For example e5, where students are asked to follow the e5 framework and engage, explore, explain, elaborate and evaluate content, concepts and task throughout a unit of work to conceptualise its relevance.

Learning design frameworks I believe are frameworks for designing learning environments, not so much step-by-step but rather more of an idea generator. An example of this is Bloom’s Taxonomy. This is a guide for selecting the skill level in which you want your learners to achieve and design lessons based on these learning goals and outcomes.