New
Learning
Over the past 8 weeks, we’ve learned about
the many different ways people learn. We
have developed an understanding about how people learn and discussed strategies
of how to best address these learners in our classrooms. A second thing that I am walking away from
this class is that I believe I now have a better understanding for what type of
learner I am. Why is this important?
Well for me, I’ve spent most of my life as a learner, being frustrated that I
haven’t been able to retain learning, that I lose interest in my learning and
that I have a hard time learning through extrinsic motivation. But by having a better understanding of how I
learn, I now have better understanding of what I need to learn and thus I have
a better understanding of how to teach students no matter what type of learners
they are.
Surprising
New Thinking.
In
week one we defined learning as “an enduring change in behavior…resulting from
practice or other forms of experience. (Schunk) One thing that really surprised
me this quarter was the idea that people form their knowledge through their
unique experience. “Learners actively interpret what they see and hear, and
construct and transform their own unique knowledge” (Foley, 60) This tells that
my no matter what I teach, my students will each transform that knowledge into
their own unique understanding. So I
begin to wonder about the assessment process all together. If students individually transform what I
teach them, than how can I expect them to retrieve their understanding in way
similar to what I expect or I am asking for.
After thinking about this, the only true way to assess students is to
have explain their thinking using evidences to support their understanding,
My
Learning
As I’ve said many times in this
course, I believe I learn in a variety of different ways, you
could
say I’m a behaviorist, you could say I’m a constructivist, either way I believe
motivation is a major issue when it comes to my ability to learn. That’s one reason why I think I’m most
effective when I’m learning through cognitivist strategies. I have found that when I am motivated to
learn I am more willing to develop schemata for me to retain the knowledge of
how I learn. Throughout this class, I
have found myself connecting my learning to how I’ve learned in athletics. The repetitions of different movements have
allowed those movements to become second nature, where I can do them without
thinking.
Connecting
Learning
This
quarter, I’ve really developed a better understanding of how the internet has
is perfect place for the constructivist learner. The “Personal
Web” is “a collection of technologies that confer the ability to reorganize,
configure and manage online content rather than just viewing it.” (Johnson) Users of the “Personal Web” or the internet have
ability to find new ideas, develop thinking and then share it with the rest of
the world really allows the learner to move through all steps of the learning
process.
Instructional
Design
This course has been truly helpful
because it allows me to see my students in a different light. By understanding that my students learn in
different ways, I developed a deeper understanding of who my students are and
why they learn or act the way they do. Students need a learning environment that allows them
an opportunity to succeed. (Ormrod) I
will try to use the ARCS motivational process that we learned this week as well
in order to do my best to reach each and every one of my students and be sure
that motivation is not a hindrance to their learning.
References:
era. McGraw-Hill Education.
Johnson, L., Levine, A., & Smith, R. (2009). The Horizon Report (2009 ed.). Austin, TX: The
New Media
Consortium.
Ormrod, J. Video Program: "Motivation in Learning"
(approximately 10 minutes)
Schunk,
R.D (1991) Learning Theories: An
Educational Perspective. New York:
Macmillan
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