Identifying and Evaluating Online Resources

The theories behind learning and how the brain works seem to be never ending and can be quite overwhelming.  There are the traditional beliefs and theories that have been around for years, and there seem to be new ones continuously appearing. 

In the spirit of "all things theory-based", I found a great article on the Instructional Design Central website that appropriately enough is titled Instructional Design Models & Theories.  The thing I found extremely valuable about this article is it basically provides a "one stop shop" for Instructional Design Theories.  The opening paragraph simply states; "There have been multiple instructional design models that have been developed and implemented over the years.  Below are just a few of today's most commonly applied and practiced instructional design models, theories, and methodologies" ("Instructional Design Models & Theories," n..d.).  The article then proceeds to outline a number of the most recognized and widely used ID theories and models:  Merrilss's Principles of Instruction, ADDIE Model, Kemp's ID Model, Gagne's Nine Events of Instruction, Blooms Learning Taxonomy, and Kirkpatrick's 4 Levels of Training Evaluation.  Each of the theories are then outlined in the article and contain videos, graphics, and some really simple and informative visual aids to help describe the different attributes of the theories.  I found the site extremely useful and will continue to refer to it when I need some ideas for development of material and evaluation/assessment items.  

http://www.instructionaldesigncentral.com/htm/IDC_instructionaldesignmodels.htm

The other article I found was based more on the idea of learning styles and creating an appropriate environment for learning.  The name of the article is: Understanding Different Learning Styles and I found this article on the NDT Resource Center website.  This article is definitely geared toward those in the field of education, but I still found the information to be valuable for those of us who are creating material for adult learners in a corporate setting.  What I liked about this article was how simply stated the information was, the additional learning styles it outlined (not just the traditional auditory, visual, kinesthetic) and also how clearly it described the most conducive learning environment for each of the learning styles.  It also provided a wealth of links and additional articles you could access for more information on learning styles, learning theory, etc.    http://www.ndt-ed.org/TeachingResources/ClassroomTips/Learning_Styles.htm



References:

Instructional Design Models & Theories. (2009). Retrieved July 8, 2011, from http://www.instructionaldesigncentral.com/

Understanding Different Learning Styles.  (2011).  Retrieved July 8, 2011, from http://www.ndt-ed.org/index_flash.htm