Associate Director of Instructional Design & Media at Columbia University School of Professional Studies
Learning isn’t just about acquiring information; it’s about filtering, selecting, and organizing it to make meaningful changes in our memory and behavior. As such, instruction serves as a map, simplifying complex realities, but we must remember—the map is never the terrain, and a plan rarely survives the battle. As we navigate this process, technology becomes a powerful tool, not because it creates new learners or knowledge, but because it helps us organize and access information more efficiently. However, we need to distinguish between what is necessary to internalize in the mind and what should be stored externally in the cloud. Still, while these digital networks extend our minds and help us manage information, they don’t eliminate the biases and tendencies inherent in human behavior. For instance, sometimes we lie to ourselves to be kind to others, and sometimes we lie to others to be kind to ourselves. This fundamental attribution error—our tendency to overestimate our own grit in success while downplaying the role of circumstances—can be something data helps us course correct. But even as data informs our understanding, it’s important to remember that no success is linear and no mechanism is perfect. In the end, the goal isn’t just to "think for ourselves," but to gain the skills, knowledge, and attitudes we seek more efficiently and effectively so we can make sure our thinking is useful or at very least accurate. #instructionaldesign #learning #bias #technology
We do tend to overestimate ourselves, in a variety of areas. That should be factored into good instructional design. Helping the learner accept their weaknesses may not be a necessity to learning, but it sure helps.
Alex Storey
2mo
Learning's a journey, not destination. Balancing human biases with data-driven insights is key, especially as we seek to improve both learning and decision-making.
I absolutely love the information you share....
Researching Cognitive Load (Theory) - In the process of developing a Grand Theory of Optimal Education
2moWell spoken my friend. This resonates with a conundrum I have been thinking about (and still do): When to do research and externalize knowledge into my extended mind, my conversation partner, the Zettelkasten (physical/analog); vs. when to utilize efficient learning techniques... Difference is whether internal retention is crucial and when not, difficult to decide when, however.