Everyday, every moment we are making choices, forming new connections, and learning. Our brains take in enormous amounts of information about the world around us and process this information by deciding what to keep and what to purge. I love the fact that I don't stop learning until I stop being, cogito ergo sum. I do believe in connectivism as a learning theory; I learn when I interact with people face-to-face and when I negotiate the digital transmissions.
In learning and instruction it is important that everyone is engaged in the task, and that we are aware of when we are learning new things or challenging our old ideas. I used to believe heavily in Gardner's Multiple Intelligences Theory; I still do to an extent but I know that it reaches a limit with experienced learners who regularly embrace other intelligences and preferences. I am still a constructivist and believe that the learning environment helps to shape the learning experience in conjunction with the connections we make between concepts and with other learners. One of the best learning series that I have enjoyed since the first time I saw it is James Burke's Connections. He shows how inventions and ideas are connected in history to each other in even the smallest ways. How marvelous!
Sharmaine Sharusan
PhD in Educational Technology
Pacific time zone, Washington state
Is it then safe to say that there is no one learning theory that formulates learning but more so a combination of the different types of learning theories that already exists?
ReplyDeleteCan I take it as far as saying the connections that we make mentally and physically to ideas, innovation, information, people, and experiences is used for our learning basis?
Hello Maria,
ReplyDeleteMuch like there is no one shoe that is multipurpose to wear everyday for every terrain, there is no one learning theory that explains how we learn in every situation.
And yes, the learning basis is influenced by ideas, innovation, information, people, experiences and of course the subject matter itself. Thanks for connecting those ideas for me!
Cheers - Shar!