Researching Instructional Design Blogs

After spending countless hours on the web browsing through blogs I was able to narrow my search to three blogs. The three blogs I chose have a plethora of information to assist in the area of Instructional Design.

The first blog I chose was IDD blog . The primary focus of this blog is to provide information on enhancing instruction through the use of technology. I found this blog easy to follow and the layout was simple. This blog offers videos content as a resource. As an online graduate student we are constantly reading and surfing the web, I found the videos a welcoming change to give the old eyes a break. :-)! The contributors to the blogs are individuals working in the field of instructional design and can offer different perspectives on ways to be effective. The site is constantly engaging in meaningful subject topics as well as providing interesting perspectives. The blog offers a wide variety of information that can contribute to our learning community.

The second blog I chose was K-State's idos blogs. This site addresses e-learning, pedagogical theory, educational research, and high tech expertise in building learning through various means. The layout of this site is also easy to follow and the information on the site is tagged by a various range of categories. The site offers a variety of resources conducted by experts in the field of ID, education and round table seminars. I found the idea of round table seminars very interesting and well organized. There are future dates scheduled for round table seminars which will allow you to choose the seminars of interest. This is another avenue of reaching the masses in the current field of interest. The site allows you to collaborate with professionals and seek updated information in the subject matter. This is a site that I will be using frequently to receive information as well as contribute information.

The last blog I chose was discovering instructional design part1. This blog site's approach is slightly different in that his focus is understanding how people learn based upon different theories. I chose this blog because it is directly related with our current class. His emphasis is on how the individuals learn. This site is another resource to help us understand that we are not designing materials for ourselves but for others. In designing material it is important that we recognize the various learning styles. According to Michael Hanley:

"Instructional Design (ID) is the practice of maximizing the effectiveness, efficiency and accessibility of instruction and other learning experiences. The ID process can be said to have a number of steps:

1. determine the current state and needs of the learner
2. define the end goal of instruction
3. develop a learning intervention to assist in the acquisition of new skills, knowledge or expertise."

Michael believes in providing a foundation for instructional designing based upon theoretical basis for learning. He mentions the learning theories behaviorism. cognitivism, and constructivism. I think this blog will help us tremendously with our current class as another resource for understanding different theories of learning.

I really hope these blogs will assist us in our understanding of ID. The technology field is constantly evolving and I hope these blogs will keep us abreast of the changes.