Evaluating and Identifying Online Resources

http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev156b.shtml

This resource is written by Marilee Sprenger, who refers to herself as the “BrainLady.” She writes a few articles regarding steps for brain-friendly teaching. The article is especially interesting to me being new to the field as it gives me insight to teaching using the steps she outlines in her articles. While she follows the steps as she is teaching in a classroom, they are principles that you can also apply and use when designing new instructional material.

http://nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/learning/memory.html

This is a website often provided as a resource in my previous classes here at Walden. The article based on the link above is Learning and Memory.  It discusses sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory and also includes some graphics to go along with the article. Each section gives just a high level of information regarding each category. It does a good job providing basic information which gives me a foundation as I learn more detailed information through other resources, including our course text.  The website also has plenty of other articles to review in the subject of Instructional Design.

Application 1 - Blog Learning Communities

http://community.articulate.com/

I found the E-Learning Heroes from the Articulate Community (http://community.articulate.com) the most interesting and helpful resource. It is a website that includes tutorials for building better course content, answers to top e-learning questions, advice and opinion from industry experts, and free downloads. The website also features a community of blogs.

 It is a good resource for someone like me who is new to the field of Instructional Design. It gives me a chance to learn more from those who are currently working in the field. It also gives experienced Instructional Designers an opportunity to share their ideas with other working professionals. Being new I also want to network with those in my field to learn more about the field and new technologies and enhancements.

http://www.iddblog.org/

Instructional Design and Development Blog is created by Faculty Instructional Technology Services department at DePaul University. There are a lot of posts all focusing on ways to improve and enhance instruction through the use of technology. Here are some example blog post titles “Getting My Tweet Wet,” “Teaching in Disguise: Are You Game?” and “What Mobile Platforms Could Do for Higher Education but Aren’t (Yet).”

This resource is a good way for me to learn about new technologies or ways to enhance my material as I start to work as an Instructional Designer. There are ways to post comments as well.

http://ideas.blogs.com/

The third resource is ideas.blogs.com, which I found in week 1 resource folder under “Supplemental Resources.” This blog focuses on e-learning strategies and instructional design technology written by a particular individual (Ferdinand Krauss) versus multiple authors in the previous two resources.

A lot of his posts focus on E-learning which is my focus as well. It will be helpful to gain insight on new e-learning approaches and strategies. Additionally, as with all the blogs, you are able to post comments and ask questions. It gives you an opportunity to contribute and converse with others to gain a more in depth knowledge.