Wikipedia Page

I created this page.
Wikipedia Link

Wikipedia

Wikipedia, to me, is a way to reference information that doesn't need to be completely accurate. After doing the readings for this week, I was able to see how easy it is for anyone to edit information on the site. I am not going to say that I have never used Wikipedia to search for information but now it occurs to me that it is not the most reliable source.

When you need to search for something on the internet, we mainly rely on Google to find sources for our reference; most of those times, within the first 3 links, we will find Wikipedia as a source. It is up to date within hours of information being released. For example yesterday (September 12, 2012) the iPhone 5 was announced. Within hours the wikipedia page for the iPhone 5 expanded. It went from having speculatory information on the iPhone, which is not reliable, to having the size of the phone to the centimeter.

We can say that Wikipedia is not a reliable source, but in our modern day where information is at a fingertip away, Wikipedia has replaced the book Encyclopedias of old.

Learning Theories

In this weeks readings, the three learning theories were Cognitivism, Behavioralism and Constructivism. This is more of a reminder to myself for when I want to review every week. Im going to cover the 3 theories along with the better suited contributor of that theory to help me remember what they all mean.

Cognitivism: 

Cognitivism is the theory that learning happens through a process such as repetition or a series of events. With a stress on correctness, subjects are able to learn productively. Reinforcement is also required. In the long run, Cognitivism is key to understanding long term memory. 

Behaviorism: 

This theory of behavior is literally the "Black Box" of the mind that is open to stimuli. It tends to focus on the change in behavior over a period of time allowing for the tracking of that change into an automatic behavior. And of course the contributor that comes to mind when I think behaviorism is Pavlov.

Pavlov:

I learned about Pavlov as a child but was never able to make the connection to what the theory or the concept of his work meant until a few years ago. We know that Pavlov's dog was conditioned to salivate to the ring of a bell due to the stimuli of food being presented to him upon ringing that bell. Here we see that the dogs behavior is being changed to automatically respond to the ringing of the bell by the observed salivation. 

Constructivism:

In this theory, the subject is able to relate to other realities in order to conprehend the matter at hand. It can be seen as multiple realities. I like to think of this as Back to the Future syndrome. Every time Marty goes to a different time, he is able to comprehend concepts related to that time by referring back to his time. When he tries to explain it to someone else, they will not understand because it hasnt happened to them.

Now a days we have instructional Design, where we learn through a medium. We are under an abstract  tool that enables us to learn though the instructional design process. In this process, specific tools are used such as powerpoint, pen and paper, or podcasts to create material of instruction. Through this the subject is able to decipher what the content is and interpret it to its liking.