A
month ago, my understanding of learning was “ensuring that the student has a full understanding of the
material and is able to carry over those experiences into real life situations
instead of just being able to recite the information without it having any
substance in that student’s day to day activities.” While I still
believe this to be true, with the completion of this course, I now know that learning
is much more than that. Learning is all about how we process, retain and use
information that surrounds us every day. In my original view of learning, I
stated that I best learn in an online environment but as I complete this course,
I have to say that has changed. The online environment is only a segment of
learning as I was not aware of the many theories and elements that go along with
it. Learning is more than the environment in which it occurs and as Dr. Ormrod
discussed in one of the video files, we cannot only focus teaching the individual
how to learn but we need to focus on teaching strategies for effective
learning. With this new found knowledge that I have gained, I can say that my
view on how I personally learn has changed.
I now believe that my learning styles is a combination
of comprehension monitoring and mnemonics. As I looked back on my academic
career, I have seen that in order for me to be successful in any course, I would
have to have complete understanding of a module before I am able to move one to
another. My mode of learning would be to research and read material in addition
to having self-checks to test my knowledge before moving further into the
subject matter. Without proper comprehension of what was learned, I would often
struggle to move on to other areas. Through constant checks on material that I
have to review, instead of just learning course work I am able to have a
thorough understanding of the subject matter.
In addition to comprehension monitoring, I have
noticed that I have also employed the method of mnemonics as a strategy of
learning. When I first started working for Blue Cross and Blue Shield, I was
never exposed to medical terminology. But due to a compressed training period,
I was suddenly faced with force feeding my mind a new concepts in a short
period of time. When I first started training, no matter the effort I made in
memorizing CEO’s and important dates, it wouldn't resonate with me. Under the
pressure of weekly tests (in which we were made to believe we had to make more
than a 90%), I found the easiest method was abbreviating the main idea into
something more memorable.
One of the most interesting things that stood out
to me during this course’s research and reading was the blog by Bill Kerr in
which he states that all these “isms” are to be used as a guideline rather than
a rule for understanding how an individual learns. Through this course, I was
not able to find a specific theory that explains how I learned but instead a
combination of theories shed light on how I process information and my reason
for doing so.
I
have been fortunate to experience how technology has made significant strides
in the education system and learning. As a junior in high school, I remember
computers were just being introduced in the school setting. While technology
did not play a major role in how students learned, it was an optional outlet
for those students who chose to. Today, I can sit here and say that I do not
have to be tied down to a specific location to learn. Technology has afforded
me the opportunity to be mobile as well as accessible to learning. With work
and family obligations, I am now able to logged into my “day job”, while
searching the web on my mobile phone for resources that aid in my understanding
of any given subject matter. Being able to be mobile has a great influence on
my learning as most of my time is spent moving from one location to another.
Rather than going to a library to look up information, the resources found in
the Walden library makes research accessible and convenient. Not only are the
resources found online limitless, I am also able to be influenced by other
participants in the online forum with their viewpoints they share. As
technology advances, I am confident that there will be a greater source of
innovative ways to access learning and how we correspond with each other in the
future.
Resources
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