Fitting the Pieces Together

Now that you have a deeper understanding of the different learning theories and learning styles, how has your view on how you learn changed? My learning view has changed tremendously; I am now able to pull resources of skills from all of the theories and apply each to my learning needs. Before taken this course, ‘Learning Theories and Instruction’, I was not aware of my learning strategies or how the different learning strategies could help me to develop skills in ways that would not only be beneficial to my career, but also to the facilitation of learning skills germane to the student’s needs as well.

What have you learned about the various learning theories and learning styles over the past weeks that can further explain your own personal learning preferences? AS an adult learner and educator in the digital age, my learning preference is the “Connectivism Learning Theory”. This learning theory is diverse in its network, its strength are tied to the context of occurrence and its various communities. Its delivery is balance among experiential learning with guided mentoring and collective reflection for all learners. According to Siemens and Downes 2005, this theory expression through nonlinear association webs of representations. Co-design of learning experiences personalized to individual needs and preferences.” This theory too, I believe, is the way to learning for the next generation because of its technical sureness and constant evolving for better understanding and users friendly.

I have acquired wealth of knowledge from all other theories such as these:

The Cognitive/Learning Styles—refers to the ways in which individual process information. According to Gardner, Guilford, Sternberg individual learning differences in abilities are described as peak performance. Styles describe a person’s typical mode of thinking, remembering or problem solving.” Styles are also categorized into two dimensions--bipolar (a person’s styles) and unipolar (a person’s abilities).Another fact about the cognitive learning theory that I do like is its emphasis is on the building blocks of knowledge (e.g. identifying prerequisite relationships of content), and emphasis on structuring, organizing and sequencing information to facilitate optimal processing. (Piaget, Bruner, Gagne’, Lewin, Kohler, Koffka, Ausubel, Ertmer/Newby).

The Behaviorism Learning Styles – This theory because of the S-R framework of behavioral. That learning is the results between stimuli and responses. That our learning strengthened or weakened by nature is via the S-R parings. There are three primary laws proposed by Thorndike’s theory, which of (1) Law of Effect, (2) Law of readiness and (3). Law of exercise, these laws plays an intricate part to the learned behavior.

Constructivist Theory/Learning Styles – is learning that is actively processing learning in ways in which learners construct new ideas or learning patterns based upon their current or past knowledge. According to J. Burner, The learner selects and transforms information, constructs hypotheses, and makes decisions, relying on a cognitive structure to do so. Cognitive structure is, for example, schema and mental models, which provides meaning and organization to experiences and allows the individual to go beyond the information given.”

Adult Learning/Styles—another word for adult learning is Andragogy. It is an attempt to develop specific learning theory for the adult learners. According to Knowles, adults are self-directed and expect to take responsibility for their decisions. That adults need to know why they need to learn something (2) adults need to learn experiential, (3) adults approach learning as problem-solving and (4) adults learn best when the topic is of immediate value.


Social Learning theory/Learning Styles-- Individuals are more likely to adopt a modeled behavior if it results in outcomes they value. Observational learning is also known as imitation or modeling. Observation Learning: learn by observing others. The base for this theory is that the individual’s environment depicts how they learn.

What role does technology play in your learning (i.e., as a way to search for information, to record information, to create, etc.)? Technology plays a very important role in how I search for information via the web, different search engine. I particularly prefer to search for information through these sites: www.trueknowledge.com, www.hakia.com and www.semantifind.com. These are very thorough in locating specific information. I also found a site that is good to use if you are creating professional slide presentations and videos, these are: www.jaycut.com for videos and www.slideshare.net or www.sliderocket.com for slide presentations. (Johnson, Levine & Smith 2009)

References:

Ausubel, D. (1963). The Psychology of Meaningful Verbal Learning. New York: Grune and Stratton.
Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. New York: General Learning Press.
Bandura, A. (1986). Social Foundations of through and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, p. 23 (#1).
Bednar, A. K. (1991). Theory into Practice: How do we Link? In G. J. Anglin (ed.), Instructional Technology: Past, Present, and Future. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited. .
Bransford, J. D. (1971). The Abstraction of Linguistic Ideas. Cognitive Psychology, 2, 331-350.
Bransford, J. S. (1988). The Video Revolution and its Effects on Cognitive Development: Some Initial thoughts. In G. Foreman & P. Pufall (Eds.), Constructivism in the Computer Age. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Brown, J. S. (1989). Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning. . Educational Researcher, 18(1), pp. 32-42.
Dede, C. (2005). Planning for Neomillennial Learning Styles: Implications for Investments in Technology and Faculty. In D. G. Oblinger & J. L. Oblinger (Eds.), Educating the Net Generation, Retrieved from http://www.educause.edu/content.asp?page_id=6069&bhcp=1.
Downes, S. (2005). An Introduction to Connective Knowledge. In T. Hug (Ed) (2007). Media, Knowledge and Education. Exploring New Spaces, Relations and dynamics in Digital Media Ecologies.
Ertmer, P. A. (n.d.). Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism: Comparing Critical Features from an Instructional Design Perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 6(4), pp. 50-72.
Gagne, R. M. (1985, (4th Ed)). The Conditions of Learning. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Garvin, D. A. (1993). Building a Learning Organization. Harvard Business Review, 71 (4), 78-91.
Johnson, L. (2009 (Ed.).). The Horizon Report. Austin, TX. The New Media Consortium.
Knowles, M. (1968). Andragogy, not Pedagogy. Adult Leadership. 16(10), 350-352, 386.
Knowles, M. (1984). Andragogy in Action. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Koffka, K. (1924). The Growth of the Mind. (R. M. Ogden, Trans). London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner.
Kohler, W. (1947). Gestalt psychology: An Introduction to New Concepts in Modern Psychology. New York: Liver Right. (Reprinted 1959, New American Library, New York. . .
Lewin, K. (1935). A Dynamic Theory of Personality. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Moslaw, A. H. (1959). New Knowledge in Human Values. . New York: Harper and Row.
Ormond, J. E. (1999, (3rd. Ed.)). Human Learning. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Piaget, J. (1985 (original work published 1996)). Equilibration of Cognitive Structure. University of Chicago Press.
Rogers, C. R. (Ordinal printed 1969, 1994, (3rd ed)). Freedom to Learn. New York: MacMillan.
Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A Learning theory for the Digital Age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2(1).
Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and Human Behavior. New York: Free Press.
Thorndike, E. (1927). The Measurement of Intelligent. New York: Teachers College Press

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My Reflection on Connectivism Learning

How has your network changed the way you learn? The ways that I have learned in the past has greatly been impacted by the ways that I am learning now. It is important for me to know how and where to locate learning resources and gather information that is readily available without going to my local library. At this point in my life, I appreciate the convenience of technology. Thanks to the digital age of the Internet and personal computers, I am able to learn from various sources such as  Wikipedia, forum, chat group, eLearning/distance, online communities, and the latest learning tool for me—blogging all from the comfort of my home.

In my current class, "Learning Theories and Instruction” I am engaging in a new learning path and knowledge-based skills not only applicable to me in the classroom, but also in learning out-of-the classroom. As a former corporate trainer for adults learning, I was only interested in how best to create learning that was conducive to their needs but the wealth of knowledge that I have acquired during this course I have access to various learning theories applicable for me to use with all genre of learners including, but not limited to, my own learning needs.

 Which digital tools best facilitate learning for you? I think the digital tools that work best for me is the Internet—wikis, blogs, web feed, eLearning, webinars, distance learning as well as forums. I have found, since taking online classes that engaging all of these tools have really helped in my ability to require and understand different learning theories and learning needs

How do you gain new knowledge when you have questions? Now that I have been introduced to different ways in which to communicate, my favorite way to gain knowledge is via the Wikis, forums and blogs.

In what ways does your personal learning network support or refute the central tenets of connectivism? My personal learning networks have been very instrumental in providing the kind of learning experience for me to complete my education in the comfort of my home thanks to the digital age of online learning. The fact that I am able to find information on any subject germane to my learning experience is also great.