Lauryn Davis

The Power of Online and Blended Learning As a former teacher and current college student who has worked and attended classes in both fully online and blended learning environments, I’ve come to understand and appreciate the benefits that both blended and online learning offer to learners. Both forms of education possess the potential to transform our approach to learning. Today, I will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of blended and online learning and their impact on education. What is Online and Blended Learning? My definition of online learning is an educational experience that occurs in a virtual environment. Students complete assessments, classwork, projects, and more entirely online. Educators and students utilize platforms like Microsoft Teams, D2L, Canvas, and Zoom to facilitate virtual learning. Within the virtual classroom, tools like discussion boards, videos, modules, and live video instruction enhance understanding and assist students in their learning. As Rottmann...

Reevaluating the Curve At the beginning of this fall semester, I began the exploration of emergent technologies; I initially positioned myself as an early majority adopter and now positioned myself as an early adopter. "People in the early adopter category seem to have the greatest degree of opinion leadership in most social systems. They provide advice and information sought by other adopters about an innovation" (Ou, n.d.). Originally, I was an early majority adopter; this categorization reflected my comfort level with adopting new technologies after they had been proven and widely accepted. I was drawn to the potential benefits of these technologies, particularly their ability to streamline processes, enhance productivity, and revolutionize industries. However, as I dove deeper into the intricacies of AI, blockchain, and big data, my perspective began to evolve during my time in LDT 511. The initial excitement gave way to a more in-depth understanding of the ethical impli...

The Early Majority: Rodger's Diffusion of Innovation Theory suggests that people are divided into five categories in which they go about understanding new technology within learning design. "The five categories of adopters are innovators, early adopters, early majorities, late majorities, and laggards" (ASU, 2024).   Image of the Bell Curve for Rodger's Diffusion of Innovation Theory (ASU, 2024) Upon reflecting and learning about the different categories of adopters, I consider myself part of the early majority of adopters. Today, I want to share my perspective as a learning designer and how I make decisions that align with where I stand on Rodger's Diffusion of Innovation Theory bell curve. I will then reflect on the possible changes to the curves impacting me as I learn more about learning design and the steps I need to continue learning more as an upcoming learning designer. What is the Early Majority?   First, let's reflect on what it means to be par...

Building an E-Learning Module Being able to build an effective e-learning module has been one of the many goals I have had throughout my learning design and technology graduate program. I recently took one of my last classes in my course sequence LDT 504, where I got the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of Articulate Storyline to build my own e-learning module. Today I want to highlight the good and the difficult tasks that I have found in building an e-learning module, and then I want to highlight some future changes that I can see with e-learning going forward. The Overview: For context, I was assigned a task where I was to select a scenario-based design case to help me with building my e-learning module. I chose to work on the Mia Grace Environmental Foundation. Please review a little about my role below: After virtually meeting with Carol, essentially my goal was to create a learning module to help the parents of students work with their students in order to help their stude...

Digitally mediated learning is the idea that learning can happen using digital tools in order for students to learn. Some examples include the use of online courses, virtual classrooms such as Zoom, or even using various educational apps to help students learn. Digitally mediated learning includes things such as technology, flexibility, interactions, collaboration, and a personalized learning experience catered to the learner. Examples of digitally mediated learning: Virtual classrooms: online learning environments where teachers and students can interact and engage in discussions to promote learning. This is very similar to an in-person classroom experience just done online. Online  courses  are delivered either in a hybrid model or fully online using a platform such as Canvas, Blackboard, or Moodle. Simulations:  interactive experiences that allow students to learn about real skills and help problem-solve. For example, students are using virtual reality to mimic ...

Inclusive design is one of the many ways that learning designers can build and create learning experiences for all students. Without accessible and inclusive design practices, students with learning disabilities or even just students who need information presented differently to them so that they can learn best may suffer and may not reach their fullest potential when it comes to how much they will learn. Accessibility is one topic that, based on my experience with learning design before, I knew was important. Still, as someone studying learning design, I felt as though I had no clue how I could implement accessible practices in my design. This semester in my LDT 508 class, I have had the opportunity to be involved in empathy challenges that put me in the shoes of someone with learning disabilities such as dyslexia, color blindness, hearing loss, and upper body dexterity. This semester I have also had the opportunity to learn new ways to implement more accessible practices in my de...