Fitting the Pieces Together

Having broadened my understanding of learning theories and styles throughout this class, I maintain strong connections with the Behaviorist theory. For me there must be repetition involved and I require the freedom to experiment/test my knowledge and I expect feedback to guide me into additional possibilities.

Making symbolic mental connections as outlined in the Cognitive theory is a struggle when I do not possess a context from which to connect newly learned information. I find that I rely on others to help me make the connection which should lend well in an online learning setting. However, there must be some willingness on the part of those whose knowledge surpasses mine, to respond to my comments and suggestions or I have no opportunity to learn from them.

In my opinion, Constructivist, Social, Connectivism and Adult learning theories all connect in some way. There must be meaningful associations with what has previously been learned the new knowledge presented as well as a connection with others and the ability to socially interact to learn from one another. Specifically for adults, and which relates to Constructivist and Social learning theories, it is important for learning settings to include components of (Conlan, Grablowski & Smith, 2003):

• Action learning – participants work in small groups on a real project/problem and learn how to learn from that activity.

• Experiential learning – holistic learning approach in which the learner utilized his/her experiences and learning strengths in the process of constructing knowledge - “learning by doing.”

• Project-based learning – participants work in small groups to solve a challenging, interdisciplinary problem using group-chosen strategies and activities.

• Self-directed learning – an informal learning process in which an individual takes on the responsibility for his/her learning process by identifying their learning needs, setting goals, finding resources, implementing strategies, and evaluating their results. 

In any learning setting, true satisfaction or fulfillment for me is in helping others learn, or at least helping to contribute to an environment (classroom, online or instruction) that helps people feel safe to learn because this promotes learning possibilities for everyone. There can be criteria and expectations set around discussion boards, but it's those participating that create the culture of inclusiveness (or not).

With regards to learning theories and styles, while I initially thought a combination of instructional methods that met the needs of many different learning styles (auditory, visual, kinesthetic) would be the best way to design instruction, I have learned that designing instruction to match content may be more effective. Even though there's no proof that matching instruction to Multiple Intelligences is any more effective than matching it to content, perhaps using a combination of instructional methods for different learning-styles and content may be worth consideration.
 
Technology plays a large part in my learning process and I frequently use the Internet to search for articles related to content I'm developing, authoring software web sites and blogs to learn new development techniques and trouble-shoot issues experienced in developing. In addition, there are useful tutorials, videos, and discussion boards in which to participate and learn.

A good reminder to myself of is to not become overwhelmed with the ever-changing and ever-increasing amount of information there is to learn about everything.

References

Conlan, J., Grabowski, S., & Smith, K. (2003). Adult learning. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Adult_Learning