Despite my new knowledge about the
different learning theories, my view on how I learn has not changed much. The
item that sticks out the most to me was the information on interference and its
effects on learning. Because interference can play a big role in the learning process
especially for someone like myself who has attention deficit hyper activity
disorder I paid particular attention to information contained in those chapters
& articles, as well as doing additional research.
I have learned a few things that have
helped re-structure how I learn and has helped me to look at learning with a
different perspective. I first would like to revise my statement from week two,
“According to Orey, M., “Rehearsal
can be used to get information in long term memory, but is very inefficient.”
This did not hold true for me. It became crucial for me to implement advance
organization, self-planning, self-monitoring, and self-evaluation into my
everyday learning (Orey, 2001).”
Rehearsal
can be very useful in learning, as I progressed through this course I realized
that Orey was right. I re-assed specific instances when I used rehearsal
strictly when learning versus when I would apply the other learning theories to
my learning. A vivid example that I can remember was anything related to my
anatomy & physiology courses. I would primarily use rehearsal to learn the
items, take the test, but would proceed to lose a plethora of information that
I once retained as time progressed. Orey expressed that rehearsal can be used
to get information in long term memory but is inefficient. I don’t agree fully
that is in inefficient, perhaps for some people, but for math it was the best
way for me to learn. I do agree that it is inefficient in embedding the
information into your long term memory. Once again, for a cognitive learner
rehearsal may be ideal for retaining information into your long term memory but
for me, constructivism & connectivism is the most efficient practice.
In week
three we learned about behaviorism. Once I began to understand the concepts of
behaviorism I started to purposely look for one of Standridge’s definitions of
behaviorism, “Changes in behavior result from stimulus-response associations
made by the learner.” Over several weeks I interacted quite a bit with
my younger nieces and nephews and noticed how quickly they would learn and how
much a stimulus-response played a part in their learning. They way my aunt’s
and uncle’s would teach or discipline the kids was as if they were trying to
program a behavior with very simple instructions (behaviorism=lower level
learning). As Kapp stated, “If you are working simply on stimulus-response,
then you are working on programmable behavior." In addition, we all still use
behaviorism to learn, an example of such would be, in the past watching my teammates
during practice or professional athletes and simply listening to what they had
to say and watching them perform the actions.
From week four, I stand firm in my belief that it
is only partially possible to create a true social environment in an online
classroom because of the lack of physical interaction. Physical interaction is
a foundation of learning from the beginning of time before any technology was
present. Because of our advanced cognitive abilities, humans will always
require physical interaction to fully comprehend any type of learning. When
people say they are better hands on learners they are referring to the physical
or tactile aspect of learning. While physical or tactile learning is essential
in the learning process, it is not required and learners can still benefit from
other avenues of learning. Davis et al. stated that, “Theories
including connectivism do not become obsolete by any means, but they do need to
be used in a very different way to be able to incorporate the attributes of a
21st century learning environment.” Similar to what Davis et al. mentioned, over the past weeks I have realized that I no longer
require traditional or hands on learning due to the technological advancements
in learning environments in the 21st century, but rather use it as a tool to aide my
learning through constructivism and connectivism.
Technology plays a very large part in my
learning. It is vital to utilize the different technological resources that are
present and continue to learn about new and developing technologies. With the constant
flow of information and new technology, information is more abundant than ever.
“The span of time between learning something new, being able to apply it, and
finding that it is outdated and no longer useful continues to decrease”
(Gonzalez). Gonzalez refers to this as the “half-life” of knowledge. I agree with our Vygotsky in saying
that, “It is entirely possible to learn about discoveries, inventions, and
ideas in an online environment.” With modern technology such as satellites,
internet, and mobile phones & applications it is possible for us to learn
about these important societal discoveries. With the advancement of technology
I can obtain complex instructions to modify or create items while reviewing
past experiences and choose to replicate the results or create new information
all in real time. In almost all cases the
advancement of technology benefits us. However, one thing we all have to
consider is the authenticity of the information we are obtaining from these
mediums, i.e. Wikipedia.
My goal is to create the most robust, accurate,
engaging, fulfilling, and user friendly experience for my learners. I am very
excited to continue my course work so that I can create my own learning
environment and combine it with technological advancements from educational
providers such as Google (http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/edu/university.html)
and Apple (http://www.apple.com/education/?aid=Edu-IntSearch-C).
Resources:
Kapp, K. (2007, January 2). Out and About: Discussion on
educational schools of thought [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://karlkapp.blogspot.com/2007/01/out-and-about-discussion-on-educational.html
Orey, M. (2001). Information
processing. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and
technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Information_processing
Vygotsky, L. (1962) Thought
and Language. Cambridge, MA. MIT Press.
