Information Processing Theory and Approach

Are you familiar with the intricate brain-based procedure that is the basis of the way that students (or almost anyone) develop new ideas and knowledge? That's what Information Processing Theory aims to provide. It will explain the complicated process of registering, observing, and processing information in our brains, and then retrieving it when necessary.

Find out more about the concept and methods to incorporate the concept into your online courses which can benefit students. We'll begin with a quick look at where it all began.

Skip ahead:

•       A short history of Information Processing Theory
•       Concepts that lie at the center of Information Processing Theory
•       How does it happen? occur in the brain?
•       Your students must be aware of the contents of your online classes
•       Basic information processing techniques that will assist students in retaining information better.
•       More limited than the average limitations of Information Processing Theory in online learning
•       Strategies to make more efficient the use of theory concerning information processing to support online education
•       Humanize the theory of information processing for the purpose of creating online courses that have a human touch

     An overview of Information Processing Theory    

In the 1950s, researchers realized that computers could be the most important clue in understanding how our mind works. George Armitage Miller and Edward C. Tolman laid out the basics of how we utilize short-term memory, and how we learn. Basing their work upon this fundamental structure Two popular theories of the theory of information processing came into existence - that from the Atkinson and Shiffrin Model and the Baddeley and Hitch Model of Working Memory.

The Atkinson and Shiffrin Model discusses the three phases of processing information, which includes sensorimotor memories, short term memory (working memory) in addition to long-term memory. It emphasizes the significance of paying close attention to and intricate patterns of rehearsal that contribute to the storage of information within the long term memory. The model is built on the Baddeley and Hitch Model of Working Memory is based upon these theories and defines how we handle the spatial and language patterns.

Do you know a lot of mental terms? Don't worry! We've combined the top of these theories to help you understand exactly the way we human beings sort through information. Let's start by examining how we humans can learn from everyday situations as well as analyzing the various functions in depth.

     Concepts that are at the core in Information Processing Theory    

As a teacher of creators, it's essential to learn the basics of information processing.

Let's try it with one illustration

Imagine walking down an area that is crowded and are exposed to a variety of sounds, sights and odors. Some people may rub your shoulders if you're not cautious enough and find yourself in the middle of unruly crowds. To avoid the rush and chaos, you decide to walk to a place that you're sure will be tranquil and peaceful. You also keep in mind that they have top quality coffee and croissants available in this area of town.

This is information processing theory that's applied in real life. Let's look at how:

1. There are many stimuli that you can feel (people wandering around, someone rubs your shoulder, the sound of a car going at a high speed or a car speeding by, etc. - sensation. The term "stimulus" refers to an external stimulus or the information)
2. You perceive this place to be crowded (perception is how we perceive what is perceived).
3. Based on previous experiences (long long term episodic memories) and are aware of this particular situation to be unpleasant and even dangerous (being being pushed around or having past experiences)
4. You can recall an area that previously offered you comfort (another chain of associations leads to retrieving information regarding the quiet environment of the café and the croissants that are an example of semantic memory).
5. It is your decision to act upon this memory before walking towards the café (judging/analyzing and making a choice. Moving towards the cafe represents process memory).

First, you sense your environment

Human beings acquire information also called "stimulus" by using five senses: sight, smell and touch (hearing) and the sensation of taste. The sixth sense is connected to the our body's posture, movements, and balancing known as vestibular sensing can be found.

senses and the related sense organs:

• Vision Eyes
• Audio - Ears
• Touch Skin
• Taste - Tongue
• Smell - nose
• The ear, the sense of vestibularity and other components that make up the nerve system.

Your sense organs inside your body translate everyday data into electrical signals. The brain process and interpret them as information that you recognize at an unconscious basis. What you see occurs due to the previous connections (similar information stored in the brain that could be stored and recalled to form connections).

For creators, unless you're using virtual or augmented reality for your courses, you'll typically make use of inputs (stimuli) that are connected to visual (reading texts and watching videos) and music (voice or background music).

     The perception process results from sensing.

Every one of the organs that sense responds to various stimuli coming externally and converts these signals into electrical signals that are later recognized by various parts of the brain. Sensory processing takes place within the organs of sensing, while perception occurs in the brain. Individuals with differing senses and disorders of learning, you are likely to have difficulties in absorbing and absorb information efficiently.

A note for the author: If you are planning to make your lesson content accessible to people with disabilities, it is recommended to research accessible design strategies. Some examples of accessible design include to avoid uneven spacing between words and breaking lengthy paragraphs into smaller pieces and making sure that there's sufficient white space.

HTML0The information that is perceived has been processed (encoded) the information is transferred to the memory.

Memory is a broad concept that encompasses a range of distinct aspects of cognitive functioning. It begins with retaining the data for a certain amount of duration (sensory and working memory) prior to transferring it into longer-term storage via consolidation (encoding).

Sensory memory is a period of between 1 and 3 minutes. If you do not pay your attention to the sensation, and don't feel it, you'll never be able to convert it into short-term memory. The research has shown that short-term memory can hold about seven different informational items over a period between 15 and 30 minutes. Through practice your brain will become capable of retaining the information until it's degraded or gets lost.

During rehearsal, the brain performs a process called encode. This allows the data to be transferred to long-term memory. Once it's transferred to long-term memory, you are able to access your data at any time as long as you do not allow it to fade away or expose it to disruption. The term "long-term memory" can refer to things you saw during the last couple of minutes up to events from several years ago. It can go back to your childhood.

The practice typically is used to help facilitate learning by rote in the classroom. But, we know that the vast majority of students do not understand the concept of rote-learning in nature, which is why it's not a good method to master complex concepts and abstract knowledge.

The different types of long-term memory are:

1. The phrase "explicit memory" refers to that which is accessible to you conscious. When you're asked by someone what the capital in Great Britain is, you are likely to declare it's London. Therefore, explicit memories are also described as declarative memories. Declarative memories can also be divided into:

• Memory that is temporary - Memories of certain events that took place in your lifetime. For instance, you might visit a friend's home in your youth
• Memory that's semantic the ability to retain in your memory things you've learned about the world. For instance, the day when the war was declared officially World War 2 (September 1 1939).

1. Implicit memory - It is retained in the memory of your life but relates to performance and movement. Examples of this include swimming ability, being able to remember how to drive for a while after a period of time.

Attention can help memory last longer as well as learn better

Our sense organs are able to absorb many kinds of information, they do not register within our brains until we make note of the data. They are kept inside "sensory memory" after perception, and can only be used for a brief period of time (between 2 and 3 seconds).

Attention here implies focussing your focus on a specific event in the midst of other factors. One example of this is when you enter a cafe you love and choose to get the bread you want in spite of the fact that there are numerous other items that are on the menu.

Invoking the scenario of the busy street your brain could have sensed that there were many people. But, you might not have been paying enough concentration to be able to recognize their faces. In the end, details of their individual faces decayed, and eventually, they are lost forever.

     Where does it all occur within the mind?    

As an educator of creators, you may be thinking about how your learning materials you provide to your students are stored within their brains. Baddeley along with the Hitch Model of Working Memory provides a straightforward solution to this.

Researchers have suggested that the frontal region (a part of the brain in the brain) is the brain's processor that encodes information and then retrieved. Memory of various types are stored in different regions within the brain. As per Hitch:

• Information about the auditory system (information that takes the form of sounds, mostly recognised as music, languages, or any other type of sounds) is recorded within the Phonological Loop.
• Phonological Loop Phonological Loop is a Phonological Database, in which data is kept for a limited time and the articulatory practice procedure is where the brain practice auditory data to store for a longer period of time.
• The visuospatial sketchpad can be described as a component of the brain which stores images and spatial information including shapes, designs and images.
• The episodic buffer could increase the capacity of the brain to record, encode and retrieve data by linking diverse brain areas to aid in the process of processing information.

We'll now take the lessons we've learned from the field of processing information in the learning online environments.

     Make your students focus on the material of your online courses    

If you're designing or making modules, you should think by this way. If you don't create your videos or slides appealing enough, students are likely to overlook them before moving on to the next one. The students look at the slide or video (sensation happens) but do not perceive the information for the length of time to keep it in the temporary memory in their brains. It is left to practice it until they be saved in their long-term memory. the information is erased out of their sensory memory. So, making sure they are attentive is essential.

Consider the fact that your child may be focusing on daydreams, or distracted by your content. These factors can affect the capacity of children to pay attention to the information that needs to be learnt and stored in a long-term memory. Consequently, ensuring you create materials that keep the pupils' attention is extremely important.

Here's what you can accomplish:

• Take a break every 10 to 15 minutes. Research shows that attention spans decrease in the initial fifteen minutes.
• Therefore, you should organize your lessons in small chunks with a minimum of 15 minutes. There is no need to create videos or lecture that last for less than 10 minutes. Better to give your students smaller exercises, games or even chillouts.
• Make online learning more enjoyable environments. We will explain why further down the line.

     Fundamental information processing techniques that will help students to remember better.    

When information is saved in the short-term memory of a person, it can either be moved to memory that is long-term or erased. Repeating and practicing is essential to keep the information in long-term memory. Therefore, it's essential to create plan of instruction so that students are given ample time to practice and repeat the information that is stored in their working memory. The process should take place in a matter of minutes. seconds. Therefore, at the end of each short lesson that lasts a few minutes you should encourage your pupils to practice, repeat the lesson during a rehearsal, or even practice. Rotation assists in ensuring that the knowledge they've absorbed will be stored for long-term storage.

If something is stored within the long-term memory system of your brain, it is able to be recovered in the future when you're prompted. The success of memory retrieval depends on how quickly the student was taught something (were they attentive enough and was the material they were taught relevant and relevant, etc. ).

As you can see from the earlier description that learning occurs due to how we perceive information, and the way we connect it with the previous information, and that we must keep an eye on it.

Is it actually so simple?

     Lesser-than-averages of Information Processing Theory in online learning    

Human beings aren't computer systems. Although drawing parallels to our brains with the computer may be tempting, they're not the same. Information Processing Theory doesn't discuss the role of motivation, or emotion in our understanding of the world or our ability to remember the information we've learned. Both are crucial to understanding and retaining what's acquired.

The idea is that brains process the information it receives in a linear fashion the information is detected as perceived, interpreted, changed (encoded) later stored, and finally, recovered. This is referred to as the sequential processing. Computers are able to do exactly this. are able to do.

The brain however can be a multi-tasker, this means that it is capable of processing multiple kinds of information. Our brain's multitasking abilities does do not correspond to what a computer can accomplish. Therefore, even though the information processing theory accurately defines how we perceive and process and save information, it fails to take into account emotions or the way in which our brain works.

Your students have feelings as well as desires and motivations you may consider or not in the creation of your classroom. It is therefore crucial to realize that you are teaching human students and not computer-generated students. One of the most effective methods to address the problem is to develop an online learning experience that's engaging.

Let's look at how you can bring motivation, emotional engagement and engagement with others to the table. You can also apply information processing theory even more for the perfect online class.

     Strategies to help the theory of information processing work better for online learning    

Inspire your students be alert

What is the reason someone should learn in the first place if they are not willing to? It is essential that they have the drive or a desire in your course, and remain motivated to complete.

Motivation drives them to be attentive to material in the course, which could lead to better processing of information (encoding), and superior ability to find information. Also If your child doesn't have the motivation to learn the material, a great course might not be able to be recognized by their minds.

Motivation plays a vital role when processing information. The ability to pay attention to your surroundings.

• Your responsibility as a teacher creator is to keep that motivation alive.
• Make sure that your motivation does not exist in an empty state. It is important to feel appreciated and get feedback that is positive and socially acceptable for you to remain motivated working on some thing. Have you ever thought about your peers cheering you on when you had a low mood or wanted to improve at particular aspects? The same is true when it comes to studying.

The interpersonal and motivational aspects are a couple of things that have much in common. Let's now examine the way this plays out in the social Information Processing Theory.

Encourage social interaction during learning

Although one-to-one instruction is highly effective however, students benefit by working together. This is why traditional learning is always conducted in classrooms or in groups, as learning with other people is more enjoyable (and much more efficient).

Social Information Processing theorem is one of the reasoning behind the interaction between people and other on computer mediated platforms for example, an online platform for learning.

Humans also learn from the use of models and observations, that is, by imitating how others behave. In this case, you, the creator educator, assume the role of teacher, and students imitate your behavior. Albert Bandura, a famous psychologist, stressed that the majority of learning happens in interpersonal contexts, and we can't remove "social" in the course of learning.

In this regard It is crucial that you

• Create online group activities
• Students should be encouraged to communicate with each through websites and also to discuss their knowledge.
• Consider collaboration as well as involvement with social media as the most important aspect of your curriculum design.
• Utilize social media tools for sharing your ideas. It acts as a form of practice
• Get positive feedback from your peers (other students) in order to reinforce. For this, it is important to have your students assess their performance in a positive way.

 Employ specific mental strategies that are geared towards achieving your objectives.

The strategies that you use to improve your cognitive abilities usually focus to a particular task. It is important to be sure the students you teach are working on this area in a direct manner. One of the many methods of learning that can be used when learning online are note-taking, repetition as well as contextual understanding. Mnemonics. (A Mnemonic is an instrument that helps you recall or recall information stored in your memory)

For example: VIBGYOR is an abbreviation for the seven colors of the rainbow including violet, indigo blue yellow, green and orange. Apart from acronyms, there are other kinds of mnemonics too like flashcards, classifying objects into various categories and the like. Each of these can assist your pupils remember what they've learnt quickly.

Aid with high-level information processing through the use of metacognitive methods

Researchers have suggested the existence of something called "metacognition," which means "thinking about the thought process." In practice, when you practice or attempt to recall what you have lost, or use strategies to help others with learning or recall (such such as teaching using the concept of a goal) You are participating with a metacognitive process.

The year 1987 was when A.L. Brown initiated a discussion on metacognition within the context of learning. Through time, the subject has evolved quite a bit.

In Online classes These are the top metacognitive strategies

• Advance organizers: Help your students to consider the lesson plans you have prepared by handing out course calendars ahead of time. This can help them think about what they should anticipate, and then connect it with knowledge they already have.
• Self-planning: Instruct students to reflect on their work and the ways they will structure them. This gives them the chance to "think about what they're working on" Metacognition.
• Self-monitoring scales: Students self-rating their score is a fantastic way of identifying areas where students need assistance. Create online forms that let students monitor their progress after every lesson or week, according to the schedule you prefer.
• Self-evaluation can be regularly scheduled or even after the end of the class. Because online classes are usually taken up by self-motivated individuals so it's important they get satisfactory results.

In addition to self-evaluation, you can make use of associations to help students to help them remember what they learn. For this to be more effective, it's important to know what your students know. So,

• Before enlisting someone in a course, assess the level of their understanding for a way to determine if they're a good fit.
• If not, and you launch the course to help beginners be sure to design your course to allow them to connect your course to something they are already comfortable with. This means that you must guide them through the process of encode.

There may be a need to use methods like images, chunking and the process of elaboration.

• Break your lessons down into small parts make use of engaging polls along with online debates, quizzes, and support for peers for your students to stay engaged.
• Instruct your students to make connections between the information they have previously learned through presenting the information in a manner that is easy to understand. It will allow students to utilize pictures to help them learn and retain.
• Furthermore, the online course will also require participants to keep their engagement in the subject matter actively. The process of elaboration, commonly known as elaboration is vital to keep your students active and make connections with information that is already in use to develop the latest knowledge.

While these are all methods of metacognitive, or cognitive thinking however, it is impossible to ignore the significance of motivational emotions, and theory of learning in social contexts.

Add social engagement and emotional expression into the mixture

Most of students enroll in the course due to their inability to physically attend your classes due to different motives. Online learning spaces offer an alternative to in-person learning and an increased level of participation in many cases. It is essential to make sure that the learning environment you are in is lively and enjoyable. The most crucial aspects is to employ techniques that are socially-affective, that involve emotional communications as well as interpersonal communications. Be aware that "affect" is a reference to emotions.

Here's how:

• Make yourself relatable to your students to gain knowledge through the example of. Inspire feelings of curiosity, excitement, satisfaction and joy. delight, and so on. It's fairly easy to create these feelings within your students.
• Gaming can make your pupils feel content and happy after they have reached some levels of achievement.
• Offering them certificates, badges or other types of positive reinforcement can help create joy.
• When you give a surprising discount for students who have performed well. You combine excitement with a sense of surprise. This will make students more eager to keep learning.
• The polling feature can be utilized for creating games and tests each 15 minutes to keep students entertained as well as help them engage in discussion forums.
• Because children are increasingly confident in the use of social media, it is logical to incorporate technology into classrooms and beyond.

     Humanize the theory of information processing for the purpose of creating online courses using a human perspective    

Information processing theory can help us to understand how we store and acquire new knowledge through our sense organs as well as our brain. Although this theory holds some truth in terms of how perception and perception operate but it does not provide the complete understanding of social learning and the role of motivation and emotions.

The human mind is incredibly complex, and it cannot be simplified to way a computers function. Since we are creators and teachers and creators, it is crucial to preserve your students' innate thinking and desire inside their minds. In creating a fun online learning experience and taking into consideration human limits, you are in a position to design a course online that's successful and will leave a lasting impression your learners.

offers a range of tools that allow you for creating course content that is engaging and social. It helps you create educational material that is designed around data processing models however, it recognizes that your students are thinking and feeling people who like engaging with other students while they learn. It has powerful social interaction capabilities, which make it easy to develop classes for group discussions and to encourage active discussion with your students.

Through humanizing online learning, allows you to engage your students intellectually through entertaining and enjoyable ways. To learn more about how it can help you design curriculum modules that draw on the field of psychology Please contact us now.

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