The Brain and Learning

What a fun (?) totally confusing week it has been for me as I continue my adventures of becoming an Instructional Designer.  For this post I have been asked to find at least two articles/post that I can continue my studies on the brain and learning, information processing theory, and problem-solving methods during the learning process. (Wow, I sound smart) However, as mentioned above, I am frustrated.  It seems as if there is too much information and not enough time. 

As I started to look for some articles I struggled to find ones that made sense to me at the level I was at.  I spent 3- 4 hours of heavy searching and finally settled on these. 

Take a look at this.http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/index.php
This is my kind of website/blog.  An interactive website about the Human Brain and Behavior. 

I believe this site is short of amazing.  Unfortunately, I can not find an author, however, I can tell you that it is funded by stitute of Neurosciences, Mental Health, and Addiction (INMHA), one of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).  I enjoyed the way it was layed out that it was easy for a beginner and there was more then enough information for advanced users.  
When you click on the site manual, you will see the site map.  If we are not careful,  we will get distracted with all of the goodies found there like, pleasure seeking behavior or pleasure and drugs.  However, what is most interesting is the Memory and the Brain section.  This section is broken down into two sections, How Memory Works, and Forgetting and Amnesia.  This site would be a valuable site for students of any level who wish to go a bit deeper into the study of the brain and learning.  

I also found an article titled Learn something new-your brain will thank you by Gary Marcus
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/10/learn-something-new-your-brain-will-thank-you/

As an online learner in Instructional Design we should directly related to Gary Marcus’ post on why learning something new is good for my brain! He explains that “…hearing something new is a signal that the brain is learning something…” (Marcus, 2012, para. 4). G. Marcus goes on to discuss myths related to learning or if you will non-learning in that generally people do not enjoy learning new tasks. I found this article interesting and relevant because we generally might not “having” to learn new things, but if we are able to seek out and learn topics of interest, learning becomes more enjoyable!

Isn't that the key to becoming a good  great Instructional Designer?  My goal is that they will absolutely forget they are "learning" something new.  I want them to enjoy the experience so much that they immerse themselves so deeply that they want to keep going deeper without directions from me.

Dubuc, B. (n.d.). The brain from top to bottom. Retrieved from http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/index.phpMarcus, G. (May, 2012 10). Learn something new your brain will thank you. Retrieved from http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/10/learn-something-new-your-brain-will-thank-you/