Learning theories are some of the very best ways that learning designers can help students stay engaged. However, depending on the exact learning theory that you decide to use, this can impact the way you go about setting up lessons for students. Today I am reflecting on the different learning theories that I was able to determine by going through each of my design projects and going over the learning theory and what worked well and what didn't for each project.
Module 1: Gamification
For my first assignment, I got to explore gamification. "Gamification is the incorporation of elements of game design in a classroom setting" (Erikson, 2020). Gamification is a fun way to use games to motivate students by using games, storytelling, freedom to fail and choose, rapid feedback, and progression to keep students engaged.
I incorporated elements of storytelling to take the employees at SparkyWave Solutions on a journey to Camp SparkyWave. Employees selected a learning path and got to earn their camp badges each time they completed a learning path. Once they completed both learning paths, they were able to win a Camp SparkyWave trophy upon completion and even got the chance for their team to also win a special reward once all team members received their trophy. Gamification allows students to have a new way to engage and makes what would typically be a boring Google form a lot more fun and exciting!
For my second project, I used Keller's ARCS Model of Motivation to create an engaging infographic. "Keller’s Instructional Model of Motivation is also known as the ARCS Model, which is an acronym of the strategies used to ensure continued motivation: attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction" (Kurt, 2022).
Here is a picture of my infographic:
Attention: In my infographic, I used bright colors, engaging pictures, and a bold topic to introduce each section of the infographic, thus grabbing the learner's attention.
Relevance: By choosing the topic "working from home," is a topic that directly relates to SparkyWave Solutions employees since they all work remotely. My teammates Alexis and Derek also helped me out with helping me understand the importance of testimonials so I added real SparkyWave employees testimonials who have applied these tips to show employees the significance.
Confidence: I built confidence by providing examples of how employees can work better remotely, such as with work boundaries and socialization.
Satisfaction: The satisfaction part comes from the very end of the infographic, where employees can stay connected virtually via Slack, and the message is conveyed to employees that they can still connect with SparkyWave team members directly after reading the infographic. This provides an ongoing experience.
Module 3: Mayer's Principals of Multimedia Learning and Accessibility
Next, for my third project, I used Mayer's Principles of Multimedia and Accessibility to create a workplace safety training module. I used the "Coherence Principle, Spatial Continuity Principle, Segmenting Principle, Pre-Training Principle, and Image Principle" (Debell, 2019).
Coherence Principle: I used this principle to get rid of a lot of extra information and make my slides concise.
Spatial Continuity Principle: To relate the text to the graphics on the slideshow. (See example below.)
Segmenting Principle: I added animations to the slideshow to help break up the information on the slideshow into smaller sections.
Pre-Training Principle: I used background information and statistics to explain the relevance of certain slides.
Image Principle: I did a human narration throughout the presentation, going over the slides and providing learners with useful information.
Overall, I enjoyed this theory; however, applying Mayer's concepts can be very extensive in terms of the workload it requires.
Module 4: Community of Inquiry Framework
Next, for my project, I used "The Community of Inquiry (CoI) Framework..., emphasizing the importance of interaction, collaboration, and connections in online settings" (Cleveland-Innes & Hawryluk, 2023). I used this framework to design an online community via Slack to help engage with employees. During my project, I focused mainly on social, emotional, and cognitive presence in each of my Slack channels.
My favorite channel that I created was my emotional presence channel, which was called #Ask-SparkyWave. This channel provided a fun way for employees to engage and ask questions to management and the IT department if they have any questions or concerns. This will help employees a lot emotionally if they feel lost and overwhelmed if they don't understand something or need feedback.
My least favorite channel has to be my cognitive presence channel, #Learning-101. Although I think cognitive presence is important through the Col Framework, it was quite difficult to apply this theory to a Slack channel. Employees should have more reflective practices in a one-on-one setting than try to engage in more reflective practices in a group setting via Slack.
Module 5: Sociocultural Learning Theory and Situated Learning
One of my favorite projects was my last project. For this project, I got to design a scenario-based digital activity for team building. I love team projects, so it was fun to be able to create team-building activities for employees. I used Vygotsky's theory of sociocultural learning, which states, "The focus of this theory is on the role social interaction and culture play in the development of higher-order thinking skills" (Allman, 2020). I focused mainly on socialization between employees so that employees could create an awesome marketing pitch together.
My favorite part of this project was step one in my activity instructions. (See Below)
This activity starts the process of setting employees up for success in later parts of the project because they were able to get to know each other a lot on day one and know the expectations going forward. I enjoyed this theory a lot more than the Col Framework because of the personalization and social aspects between team members versus just doing things via writing in Slack.
Group Project:
During my time examining learning theories, I got the opportunity to work on a group project using transactional distance theory and generative AI to enhance cybersecurity training. The theory examines ways to use AI in a way that makes sense through personalization, the natural flow of information, and a personalized learning experience. Overall, during the project, I found this theory very useful and easy to apply in my work. When I used AI for this project, I was able to cater the responses to exactly what I needed for appropriate information with ease. I feel like this theory and generative AI in general could easily be used with a variety of learning theories to provide support for the learning designer. I think generative AI would be exceptional to use in gamification storytelling and also in learning objectives such as the Col Framework to enhance the learning experience and provide information and data for the learning designer.
Conclusion:
"Connectivism is driven by the understanding that decisions are based on rapidly altering foundations. New information is continually being acquired" (Siemens, 2018). Being that Connectivism explores diversity and ever-changing knowledge, having knowledge of various learning theories will help me, as a learner designer, understand what principles I want to follow as part of my design and also how to connect with others effectively, such as how I had to work with my team members in my group project. My favorite theory was gamification because storytelling helps the learner stay engaged, and it is something I want to apply to my future design projects because learning should be engaging and fun. I am someone who did not see the importance of learning theory until learning about so many theories and connecting with my peers. I would not have been able to create some of the projects I did without them, and many of the projects that I completed I am delighted with. I will apply learning theories to all aspects when I become a learning designer so that I can make sure my students have the best possible learning experience.
References:
Allman, B. (2020). Socioculturalism. In R. Kimmons & S. Caskurlu (Eds.), The Students' Guide to Learning Design and Research. EdTech Books. https://edtechbooks.org/studentguide/socioculturalism
Cleveland-Innes, M., Hawryluk, J. (2023). Designing Online Learning Communities. In: Zawacki-Richter, O., Jung, I. (eEs) Handbook of Open, Distance and Digital Education. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-2080-6_82
DeBell, A. (2019). How to use Mayer’s 12 Principles of MultimediaWater Bear Learning. Retrieved February 22, 2024, from https://waterbearlearning.com/mayers-principles-multimedia-learning/
Erickson, A., Lundell, J., Michela, E., & Pfleger, P. I. (2020). Gamification. In R. Kimmons & S. Caskurlu (Eds.), The Students' Guide to Learning Design and Research. EdTech Books. https://edtechbooks.org/studentguide/gamification
Kurt, Dr. S. (2022, October 17). Model of motivation: ARCS instructional design. Education Library. https://educationlibrary.org/model-of-motivation-arcs-instructional-design/
Siemens, G. (2018). Connectivism In R. E. West (Ed.), Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology. EdTech Books. https://edtechbooks.org/lidtfoundations/connectivism
Comments
Post a Comment