ID and Learning Theory Blogs

This is my very first experience with blogs.  I have felt a little overwhelmed by all of this. Some of the ID blogs are way over my head at this point in time.  I have perused a large number of blogs over the past week. Until I enrolled at Walden, I had not widely used web based research. Looking over blogs has reminded me how important it is to analyze information we are receiving and whether or not it is valid. I looked for blogs that had frequent and recent posts.  I have discovered some interesting blogs through the RSS feeder but when I visited the actual blog, there was little content and sometimes it was years old. 
These are three that I found useful.

http://christytucker.wordpress.com/2007/05/26/what-does-an-instructional-designer-do/
Christy Tucker is a wealth of information on being an Instructional Designer.  Reading her blog reassured me that I have chosen the correct field of study.  My bachelor’s degree and teaching certification are in special education.  I would like to go in another direction, particularly at the college level; but not as a traditional professor.  I chose the path of instructional design and technology because I thought it would be less dull than a lot of other areas.  Now I know not only will it be more exciting than other areas but I know what I would ultimately like to do. I would like to be an ID at a college.  A friend of mine is going to embark on her first online teaching experience.  I hope I can be of some help to her! There are interactive tutorials and Tucker responds to questions and gives advice on how to look for an ID job, which schools to take classes at, whether a degree or a certificate would be the most appropriate route, etc.   Tucker’s weekly bookmarks cover everything from questioning learning theories to gender differences in software training.  The blog is easy to access and to maneuver around.

http://usablelearning.wordpress.com/

Julie Dirksen is an independent consultant in instructional design and e-learning.  This blog appeals to me because it is my goal to retire from public education and become a consultant.  I think Dirksen has some really informative presentations but at my present level of learning, they are a bit over my head.  Dirksen discusses some gaming issues which have no interest to me at all but everything she discusses is well researched.  Her entry on learner motivation was intriguing to me.  Once again, if I am going to teach adults, motivation and control will be a great deal different than working with teenagers.  Dirksen discusses the TAM model and as I was reading it, I was picturing myself at various trainings I have been through.  I will keep the TAM model in mind when conducting trainings from now on.

http://www.learning-theories.com/

I almost did not include this site. It is not a blog but a knowledge abse and webliography. But it is an interactive site and a comprehensive data base for learning theories, models, and perspectives.  It will be a handy “pocket guide” on my computer! I like the idea of a clearinghouse if fairly recent research.  All of the research is documented.