Reviewing how I learn...

In my class my professor has asked me to answer the following questions after 7 weeks of studying learning theories and learning styles. 

•    Now that you have a deeper understanding of the different learning theories and learning styles, how has your view on how you learn changed?

      After 7 weeks of looking at different learning theories, and learning styles my view on how I learn has changed. I have realized that in the first week of this class, I was putting theories and styles together when in fact they are not the same thing. The way I learn is a style but the way I believe people learn and a way of teaching is the theory.  When it comes to how I learn, I still believe that I prefer a certain style such as cognitive. I am always searching for the why in things as well as yearning for hands on experiences and don’t like rote memorization. I dig in deeper to gain a better understanding of the topic. I have done this within this class various times. When it comes to theories, I like the adult learning theory for adults and some young adult but I agree with the cognitive learning theory the majority of learners. Adult learning allows students to look at past experiences to learn and to gain knowledge and the cognitive theory always makes learners as why (which is similar to my learning style).

       

•  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?

                  You can group theories and styles together. For example, cognitive learning and hand on experiences go together along with searches and for adult learning one can play off of past experiences but aslo self-directed learning which helps pair it with multiple intelligences.

                   

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

            I use technology in many different ways. I love to search for information to learn know things especially when I have questions about something and need an answer. I also use it to record information. For example, I use a database to keep track of my students’ grades. I also use it to store information and to create presentations and shared documents with my colleagues and students. Technology can be absolutely amazing but at the same time one has to have a back up plan because technology can definitely fail at times.

Networking & Connectivism

When looking at all of my networks, I am amazed. There are so many connections and these aren’t even all of them. There isn’t enough room, or after I posted I continued to think of even more.

            I have three main networks: People, Social Media, and Businesses. With people, I mainly put all those that I come into contact with through my everyday life such as: teachers, coaches, former teachers (the ones I had in school) and one that I did not put on there should be students. I learn quite a lot from my students. Next would be social media. I included FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Blogs. With FaceBook, I am connected to the people that I not only come into contact with on a daily basis but also those who I talk to occasionally. They do the same towards me as well. We ask each other questions when needed and we all are more than happy to answer.  With Twitter and Blogs, I am connected to many experts on education technology and writing. I can “tweet” them and I will receive replies to answer my questions or at least a direction where to go to find my answer.  When I look at the Business side of this mind map of networking, I see those businesses that I have been apart of in my life. However, there are so many more businesses out there that I have network capabilities with that I did not include.

            When I was a child, the world seem so big but now, it seems so small and so easily accessible. If I need to talk to someone across the world, I can get on the Internet into a chatroom and ask my questions. When I was learning Spanish, I would Skype with people from Spain from the college I went to for study abroad.  Also, I am very accessible by others through my social networking. Any one can reach me (well within my security measures) which I never really thought too much about. This allows me to continue learning even when not in a traditional classroom. The 21^st century technology has arrived and is going far beyond my expectations.