Brain Based Teaching Strategies

Brain based teaching strategies promote brain compatible learning is a thought provided by an on line journal entry at http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Sep_05/article03.htm, however I think it sums up the common thread necessary to designing instruction. In reading several articles and online resources this notion seems to be the guiding principle behind modern research into how the brain learns. Not to mention the simple fact that learning must be meaningful, in order for the brain to effectively and efficiently learn.

In this review of Brain Based teaching I used three articles, two of which I found via a search of the Walden University library and one just by Googling: "journals on the brain and learning." The three articles are as follows:

Brain-Based Learning: Possible Implications for Online Instruction, by Stephanie A. Clemons http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Sep_05/article03.htm

Beyond Learning Styles: Brain-Based Research and English Language Learners. Full Text Available By: Lombardi, Judy.

COMING TO OUR SENSES: INCORPORATING BRAIN RESEARCH FINDINGS INTO CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION. By: Wilmes, Barbara; Harrington, Lauren; Kohler-Evans, Patty; Sumpter, David

What I found about each of these articles is that there is plenty of intertwined themes since each of the entries have many common authors and researchers cited in the reference lists. Disregarding the fact that I read sentence after sentence of some of the same material, each of the articles provided a host of beneficial and enlightening material on a fairly new science; neuroscience. More specifically, neuroscience studies how the brain takes in and uses or rejects information.

Of the three articles, I liked the Brain Based Learning article by Stephanie Clemons, because it is more closely associated with the subject matter I am attempting to study, that is Instructional Design. However, what I really liked about all three of the articles is demonstrated by relatively new research pointing out that learning in brain based theories is just as dependent on the environment and emotion as it is on just learning facts and information. The most common thread of all three articles is that learning is best achieved when teaching strategies employ multiple senses affecting all commonly accepted learning styles-auditory, visual, and kinesthetic.

The Doorway To Learning Communities

This post is dedicated to the development of my own transformation into an Instructional Designer through Walden University. As part of my journey into the Instructional Design world it is a requirement to develope and maintain a public, searcahble blog as a means to creating an online learning strategy utilizing for myself and my classmates. I ahve been struggling through this process with great anxiety as I have searced and read blog after blog in order to develop a list of potential blogs I would find useful in my own personal growth as an e-educator. With the staggering number of pssible sites I could use and cite as resources for my growth, I am growing even more frustrated. However, I was able to scan through a few sites I might find helpful in my journey.

Some examples of helpful sites are as follows:
http://www.iddblog.org/

http://ideas.blogs.com/

http://etrainertalk.com

Contained within these sites there is any number of experts and laymen alike, posting helpful and isightful articles, resources, and personal entries imparting the knowledge necessary for becoming a "better" Instructional designer. Helpful postings can provide information on better presentations to debates over cognitive learning v. behavioral learning and even what elearning in the future will look like. Also,users can find tips to designing elearning opportunities for a wide variety of audiences, utilizing the latest and greatest tools or manipulating lessons to follow accepted learning strategies.

Since I am new to this method of disseminating information, I am finding things a little overwhelmming in regards to ease of navigation from one resource to the next. Through no fault of any of the sites I have chosen to follow, but through my own naivity find the searching process a little difficult. However, I will need to "chalk" this one up to my inexperience.

Wow, this is overwhelming!

Since I am new at this blogging beast, I am sure things will be a little slow to start. I only hope in the realm of my academic experiences through Walden University, I will slowly learn to navigate cyberspace with a growing ease as I continue to experience blogging first hand, rather than being an anonymous participant.