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CriticalReviewofFoundationsofEducationalTheoryforOnlineLearningCharlesLawson'sePortfolio

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Critical

ReviewofFoundationsofEducationalTheoryforOnlineLearning
Descriptionofcontent
MohamedAlly,inhiswork,FoundationsofEducationalTheoryforOnlineLearning,describesthreeprominentlearningtheories:behaviorist,cognitive,and
constructivist,andaddstothemtheemerginglearningtheoryofconnectivism.Theauthordiscussestheelementsofthesetheoriesandextrapolatesbestpracticesfor
theimplementationofthesetheoriesinthedesignofonlinelearning.Theauthorthenproposesasuccinctdesignmodelforonlinelearningthatintegratesthefour
learningtheories.Thefinalstatementpresentsabriefsummaryandstatesseveralpossibledevelopmentsforthefutureofonlinelearning.
Evaluationofstructureandorganization
Attheendofthethirdparagraph,Ally(2008)clearlystatesathesisforthearticle:discussingtheoriesusefultothedesignofonlinelearningandamodelfordeveloping
onlineinstruction(p.16).Fromthispointtheauthorcarefullytracesapaththroughthedifferentschoolsoflearning,addinginrelevantImplicationsforOnlineLearning
(i.e.p.20).Thetheoriesarepresentedatseveralpointsinthesameorder,allowingthereadertomakeclearconnectionsbysimplyrememberingtheorderthey
typicallyappear.Thiscanbehelpfulinparticularwhenintroducinganewidea,suchasconnectivism,anaudiencemaybeunfamiliarwithuptothispoint.Theauthor
alsousesnumberedandbulletedliststocreateandorganizedpresentationthatwouldbeeasytodiscusswithothers(i.e.whatdoyouthinkofimplicationnumber4on
page28?).
Evaluationofreadability
Allywritesclearlyandconcisely,inaneasytounderstandvernacular.Exceptforagrammarerror(throughtheasequencep.36),thewritingflowssmoothlyina
logicalprogression,buildinguponbasicconceptsinordertoreachtheconclusion.Termswhichmaybeconfusingaredefined,suchasthekeytermonlinelearning
(p.17)andseveralotherterms,suchasmetacognition(p.29).Toincreasereadability,theauthorincludesseveralflowcharttypefigures,whichissensiblesince
flowchartingisaskillwithwhichmanyinstructionaldesignerswouldbefamiliar.
Analysisofcontent
Asthefirstwordofthetitle(Foundations)suggests,theauthorwrotethisarticlefornonexpertsinthefieldofdistanceeducation,mostlikelystudentswhowouldbe
learninghowtoapplyeducationaltheories.Theauthorreferstonumerousstudiesofbothlearningtheoriesandonlinelearning.Manyofthereferencesareseminal
(i.e.AusubelandPavlov),whileothersaremorerecentvettedworks,suchasthosebyStoyanovaandKommers,Murphy&Cifuentes,andHirumi.Bybuildinguponthe
frameworkoftheseotherworks,thearticleallowsastudenttofurtherinvestigatetheirmerits.Allyalsopresentsdifferingviewpointsfromamongsomeofthereferences,
suchasBonkandReynoldsviewpointoftheimportanceofthecomputeritselfinonlinelearningversusKozmasopposingviewpoint(p.16).Alongtheselines,Ally
doesnotpromoteorexcludeaparticulartheorytheauthorinfactadvocatesusingthemincombination(p.18,20).
Thearticleincludesmanyexamplesandmodels(i.eKolbLSI,p.26,ARCS,p.28,andHirumisthreelevels,p.33)whichwouldproveusefulforareaderlookingfora
practicalwaytoimplementtheauthorsideas.Bestpracticesforeachlearningtheoryarepresentedinastraightforwardmanner,almostinachecklistformat.Andwhile
theguidelinesincludedbytheauthorareinnowayexhaustive,theyaremorethansufficientforthetargetaudiencemuchmorewouldbeoverwhelming.
Descriptionofthetraditionallearningtheoriesandhowtoapplythemtoonlinelearningmakesupthemajorityoftheessay.Allysanalysisofthecognitivistschoolof
learningismorethoroughthantheothers.Thiscouldimplythattheauthorhasagreaterinterestincognitivetheories,butmorelikelyitisduetothepopularityofthis
schooloflearningamongcontemporaryscholars.Theauthorsanalysisoftheconnectivisttheoryiscomparitivelyshort,butthiscanbeattributedtothelimitedresearch
onthisnewertheory.Somescholars,suchasVerhagen(2006),arguethatconnectivismisnotalearningtheory,butthatitisapedagogicalviewoneducation,which
wouldmakeitoutofplaceamongtheothertheories(p.1).AllylikelydisagreeswithVerhagensassessmentofconnectivismassimplyapedagogicalview,since
VerhagensarticlepredatesAllysanditisreasonabletosuspectthatAllyreaditwhileresearchingthispiece.ButAllycertainlydisagreeswithSiemens,theperson
whoproposedconnectivism,sinceSiemens(2005)proposesthatitisnolongersensibletofurthermodifythethreetraditionallearningtheories,whileAllyproposes
utilizingallfourtheoriesinthedesignofonlineinstruction(p.4).Allysinclusionofconnectivism,theoryornot,isneverthelessworthwhileincreatingadiscussionofbest
practicesfordesigningonlineinstruction,aswellasprovidingadditionalbasisforAllysproposedmodel.
Theconclusionoftheessayservesasthefulfillmentofthesecondpartofthethesis,tosuggestamodelfordevelopingonlineinstructionbasedonappropriate
educationtheory(p.18).Theauthorsmodelclearlydistinguishesbetweenoptional(selfassessmentshouldbeprovided)andrequired(Learnersmustbetold)
elements(p.36).Allyincludesavisualversionofthemodel,possiblytoaccommodatethedifferentlearningstylesofthosewhowouldreadthearticle(p.36).While
thisvisualclearlyshowstheflowofthesuggestedmodel,itdoesnotquitealignwiththecontentofthemodelitmayhavebeenbettertopresenttheLearnerTransfer
componentonitsown,asopposedtowithintheLearnerActivitiescomponent(p.38).

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3/3/2016

CriticalReviewofFoundationsofEducationalTheoryforOnlineLearningCharlesLawson'sePortfolio

componentonitsown,asopposedtowithintheLearnerActivitiescomponent(p.38).

Followingtheconclusionisabriefsummaryandseveralpredictionsforthefutureofonlinelearningdesign.WhilemostoftheseLookingForwardstatementsaremore
existingtrendsthanactualpredictions,onestandsout,that3Dinteractivegraphicswouldbeutilizedinfutureonlinelearningprograms.ThegrowingWeb3D
consortiumaswellastheemergenceofseveralcompaniesspecializingintheproductionofWeb3Dmakesthisbyfarthemostintriguingpredictionofthissection.

Conclusion
AllysarticleprovidesasetofpracticalbestpracticesbothwithintheSchoolsofLearningsectionandthemodelgivenduringtheConclusion.Theauthorprovides
severalpointsofview,whilewhettingthereadersappetiteforfurtherinvestigationofeachtopic.
References
Ally,M.(2008).Foundationsofeducationaltheoryforonlinelearning.InT.Anderson(Ed.)Theoryandpracticeofonlinelearning,2nded.Athabasca,AB:Athabasca
University.
Siemens,G.(2004).Connectivism:Alearningtheoryforthedigitalage.RetrievedMarch19,2010fromhttp://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/article01.htm.
Verhagen,P.(2006).Connectivism:Anewlearningtheory?RetrievedMarch19,2010fromhttp://elearning.surf.nl/elearning/english/3793.

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