TWeaverMod-1: How People Learn Best in a Digital World

Psychologists opened the eyes of educators some decades back about learning theory (LT) as the catalyst that can help explain how humans learn from their societies.  According to Driscoll (2005), “The basic assumption…is that effective instruction is informed by theories of learning” (para. 1, p. 24).  Therefore, a proper learning theory aids in the development of an instructional design (ID) which inevitably influences the success or failure of the learning event.  I do not see any significant differences when exploring learning theory in a digital world as compared to the past.  If we could have broken down the walls of the classroom before the Internet, I am sure we as a people would have done so in the name of higher learning.  The Internet, and specifically Web 2.0, has accomplished this.  Students can now move on to constructive ways with much ease and efficiency like never before.  Students can get to the peak of the Bloom Taxonomy in a much quicker fashion since trivial knowledge is available at lightning speed.  Participative technologies for communication and collaboration are now quite common (Siemens, 2008).  In turn, LT had to evolve to make room for the boom in content, communications, and collaborations.  Are all of the primary learning theories of behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism, and now connectivism still most relevant in our digitally enhanced learning strategies?  You bet they are. 

Now that we know we need to be conscious about learning theory, how do people learn best especially now in a digital world.  The fact is this very question of how do people learn still spurs-up arguments amongst professionals to this day.  Personally, I feel this question is too obscure to accurately answer.  Immediately, I thought what people.  Tell me about them.  Who are they?  Where are they from? And so on and so on.  Then I asked myself if I was getting away from the ambiguity of the question and if this unknown was its’ purpose for a general response.  That is, was the purpose of the question for me to cover humans in general?  Because of this lack of confidence, this blog post will speak of human learners in general and then more specifically of what influences adults as compared to youngsters.

In general, humans learn in one of two ways. What influences learning most is formal, instructional settings that are deemed as intentional and incidental, real-world experiences (Driscoll, 2005).  In other words, people learn from their surroundings or environment if you will.  Whether it is purposeful or just plain coincidence, people learn continuously.  Everyone has heard someone say, “I learn something new every day” or “live and learn”.  These statements hold more truth than fallacy.  I would dare to say learning is as natural as waking-up and going to sleep once a day.  Whether it just happens or if it is intentionally put on a person, learning seems unavoidable during the waking hours of most anyone.

To be less general, I would have to believe adults learn much differently from kids.  To me, it is reasonable to believe grown adults usually know how they learn best.  Visual images, auditory sounds, and kinesthetic feelings or actions all primarily improve behavior and cognition in adults (Regents of the University of Minnesota, 2009).  On the other hand, K-12 students seem to need more than generic facilitation of these three information processing modes.  They need something that interests them and engages them in some sort of fun.  Their attention spans are not as developed as adults.  Their motivations to succeed can be considered polar opposites.  Adults motivate themselves while kids are motivated by outside influences.  Why couldn’t those influences include technology stimulation?

Millennial students that are indeed digital natives are fatigued and flat out bored with traditional learning strategies.  They do not know a life without technology, so why must we keep the industrialized status quo of learning when it is plainly obvious that it is ultimately restrictive.  We, as a people here in America, could certainly learn a thing or two from our millennial, digital natives.

I posted to two peer blogs and they are:

Jill Lewis @ http://technibug.wordpress.com/2012/03/15/module-1-blog-1-what-are-your-beliefs-about-how-people-learn-best-what-is-the-purpose-of-learning-theory-in-educational-technology-3/?replytocom=5#respond

Carol Deuling-Ravell @ http://decdr.blogspot.com/

References

Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction. (3^rd ed.). Boston, Mass: Pearson Education, Inc.

Regents of the University of Minnesota. (2009). How people learn. Retrieved from http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/businessmanagement/components/08503p13-14.pdf

Siemens, G. (2008). Learning and knowing in networks: Changing roles for educators and designers. Retrieved from http://it.coe.uga.edu/itforum/Paper105/Siemens.pdf

 You Tube. (2007). A vision of k-12 students today. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8