Module 1

What are your beliefs about how people learn best?
I believe people learn best when the information is presented to them in a variety of ways. There are three differnt learning styles. There are auditory learners, visual learners and kinesthetic or hands-on learners. In my opinion if teachers taught the same information in each of these three ways the students would benefit the most. They would benefit the most because the information is not only presented to them in different methods but it is also presented to them repeatedly.Repetition is another key factor in learning. Even as adults we need to hear, see, or do something over and over again in order to truly retain the information.

What is the purpose of learning theory in educational technology?
The purpose of learning theory in educational technology is very similiar to the purpose of learning theory in general education. Learning theory is an attempt to describe how people learn (Hill, 2002). Educational technology was created to supplement general education. It supplements education by presenting the same information that students are being taught in the classroom but in a different manner. Educational technology needs to be able to support students learning, therefore there needs to learning theory studies to create effective educational technology. Recently, educational technology has advanced to not only being a supplement but also serving as the main source of education, distance education programs. Distance education programs provide a great deal of challenges to the instructors because they still have to meet the needs of their learners but without being in the room with them. Learning theory is a very critical study when it comes to distance education because instructors need to be able to meet their students needs virtually.