Neelam - Learning Journal 1

The readings so far helped me to develop a "Big Picture" in my mind in regards to the field of Instructional Design. As a future Instructional Designer, I think it was good for me to learn up front about the various definitions, perspectives and models of the instructional design. Personally, I resonated highly with the definition of instructional design as a process and a science, probably because of my background that field. Knowing the roots of instructional design helped me to understand where the field is coming from, the governing characteristics and where it is heading. I have always learned by picking the best from the resources that were available and for this reason, I thought that the eclecticism and the postmodern approaches to instruction design would be interesting to work with. Previously, when I learned various subject matters or skills, I never really paid attention to the process that was taking place inside my mind. Reading about the various ways (Behaviorism, Congitivism, Constructivism, Postmodernism) forced me to reflect upon some of the ways in which I have previously used for "thinking", "learning" and "teaching". I felt that at one point or another, I have encountered most of these approaches. I studied in the India up to 8th grade and I remember that behaviorism was highly used; whereas, in the USA, I found the mixture of all of the approaches. Personally, I couldn't align myself with any single approach; rather I felt that eclectic approach would be more ideal as one needs to select an approach best for a particular situation and to fulfill stated learning objectives. I can't wait to explore the various tools, theories and approaches while working on the class project to get the first hand experience.