Week 7 Blog Assignment – Putting 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 first week’s analysis of my learning style was a little confusing, I was under the impression that I had a  combination of Behaviorism and Cognitivism. With specific requirements such as needing the environmental conditions that produce enough stimuli to catch my attention and the provision of hands on experienced helped me to retain information. I definitely need a  “stimuli” to jolt my attention and provide me the opportunity to reprocess the information, to place it in a short term memory until it is transferred to my long term memory when applied to previous experience.   Also important to my ability to learn is the organization of information. My learning ability is almost like a progressive (step by step) instructional process. I have found that this helps me to mentally process the information and how I would apply the information learned. I have also found from past experiences, that I retain information that is applicable to my life, work, etc.

What I have realized now, after reading about the different learning theories, is the fact that my learning style favors constructivism, which although seems to be a combination of behaviorsm and cognitivism, really applies to the adult learner's needs.  I use tend to use previous knowledge to create an understanding of information, I am a self-directed learner, and am motivated by being able to apply my new learned knowledge to benefit my life or career.  Constructivism allows us to develop our own understanding and meaning of information that makes it more useable. 

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?

First, I learned that the term “learning styles’’ refers to the notion that “individuals differ in regard to what mode of instruction or study is most effective for them” (Pashler, McDaniel, Rohrer, & Bjork, 2008, p. 105); and, a learning theory explains the underlying psychological processes that influence learning. As such, it usually includes a set of assumptions about key aspects of the learning process that can be used to generate hypotheses, which can then be tested empirically (i.e., through experimentation). (A. Artino, 2010 – Week 1 Discussion).

Second, I found out that there is a place for each learning theory depending upon the situation, curriculum and environment. A key learning process for me is the use of objectives at the beginning of a lesson, it provides me with the basis of the knowledge that I should be retain. 

What role does technology play in your learning (i.e., as a way to search for information, to record information, to create, etc.)?

As I mentioned in week 1’s discussion, I have struggled with f2f learning environments, online and e-learning have been the tools that have allowed me to succeed in education.  I seem to get “cognitive overload” when I sit in a classroom and just absorb information and try to process it.  I need time to process and analyze information; to be able to match it to something I already have knowledge of in order to retain the information.  Online learning and e-learning has provided me with the time and ability to learn.  In this class I have also been exposed to Wikis and Blogs.  This will also been an excellent tool that I plan to utilize more as I feel more comfortable able the content of my postings.  E-books and electronic articles has facilitate research for my papers, as well as for my job.  I have been able to access my Walden webpage and complete assignments using my iphone.  Based on these and many other benefits, I believe that technology plays, and will continue to play an important  role in my ability to learn, and in my development of instructional design.  

 As a matter of fact, that is what I have based my career on.  As the administrator of a learning management system for over 600 learners, I can confirm that the majority of learners welcome new technology that affords them the ability to have distance learning.