How Do You Learn?

Online. Offline. Behaviorism. Cognitivism. Just a few trigger words when discussing how individuals learn. The purpose of this essay is to take a reflective and introspective look at how I have learned, currently learn, and hopefully, will learn taking into account my Personal Learning Network (PLN) and different learning theories.

One of the first activities I took part in beginning my graduate studies was to create a Personal Learning Network; a web connecting me to all the different mediums of learning. Upon reflection of my PLN, I found, as did all of my classmates, that there was a divide in our networks which we classified as online and offline learning. Quoting Richardson and Mancabelli online, the University of Southampton states:

In our PLNs, we learn what we want to learn using the vast resources and people online (or off) that can help us learn it. Each of our networks is unique, created and developed to our personalised learning goals that evolve and grow throughout our lives. (2017)

Classified as a ‘millennial’, it came as no surprise that my own PLN was made up of a majority of online resources; Google, Siri, TedTalks, BBC News, Netflix, YouTube, Facebook, to name just a few. In fact, I didn’t realize just how internet-dependent I had become and I had to question whether that was a “lesser way” of learning. Did it count as learning if I wasn’t memorizing or remembering facts I was exposing myself to? Even skills that I learned offline have become relevant online, such as reading articles online for classes rather than out of a physical book. However, in a world where access to information is so available, I’ve decided that learning to find information is just as valuable as knowing the information from memory.

            In terms of offline resources my PLN contained three main types: physical print (books, newspapers, magazines, etc.), people, and experiences. I started creating my PLN by asking myself who I turn to for help—professors, friends, parents, siblings, coaches, all came to mind. Additionally, I have always enjoyed reading and even now prefer holding a book in my hand to reading on my phone or computer. When reviewing my PLN for class I wrote:

…life experiences shape our learning and should be, in my opinion, heavily included in our PLNs. My life wouldn't be the same if I hadn't lived and taught in Mexico, where I experienced a huge learning curve in terms of language and culture. Work experience shapes our knowledge as well…” (Tolbert 2019a).

While so much of my PLN is an online resource, I think I still find my offline resources more valuable to my life and learning.

Reviewing past learning theories has helped me in identifying how I learned as a child. On my blog Ed Thoughts, I shared an image that put the four main learning theories (behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism, and connectivism) on a timeline (Tolbert 2019b). Although Behaviorism was taken over by Cognitivism in the early 20^th century and both peaked in popularity before I was born, aspects of my education carry qualities of both learning theories. For example in a presentation on these learning theories given by Professor James Stanfield a table showed the type of learning to best describe Behaviorism was task-based learning (2019, slide 19) which was very apparent in my elementary school years. However, at the age of ten I was selected to take part in a “Gifted and Talented” program in my school district which was meant to provide challenge and “new style” learning to high achieving students. This “new style” was very cognitivist in its approach, focusing on reasoning and problem solving (Stanfield 2019, slide 19). “According to Piaget (1958), …problem-solving skills cannot be taught, they must be discovered” which is why Piaget suggested learning required an active participant. He argued that children learn in developmental stages and that they “should not be taught certain concepts until they have reached the appropriate stage of cognitive development” (McLeod 2018). I often wonder if the characteristics of these early learning theories being evident in my education originated from the age of my teachers, the fact I was living in a small, rural town, or my own development at the time. Regardless, in many ways this gave me an advantage to learning in middle- and high-school where more responsibility of learning fell to the students to think critically and problem solve. This shift in learning styles continued as I went through high school and entered university for the first time.

It was while pursuing my teaching degree that I really experienced learning as a social construct, a main quality of the Constructivist learning theory; however, by this point I was also learning largely using online resources, relying less and less on teachers and professors imparting their knowledge, a quality of Connectivism. Looking back at my PLN I’ve decided that I don’t want to lose the importance of reading printed books and that I do want to try to expand my PLN by learning new skills/hobbies, reading blogs related to my interests written by people with experience in their specific field/craft, and stay open to experiences. The notion of digital literacy, social networking, and learning from experience really shaped how I learn now as an adult, and how I my own role as a teacher was informed and influenced. I anticipate my learning in the future will follow this pattern as I am in deep agreement with the idea that “people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences” (Stanfield 2019b), but I cannot deny the importance of connecting oneself to networks both on and offline.

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References

Inhelder, B. and Piaget, J., 1958. The growth of logical thinking from childhood to adolescence: An essay on the construction of formal operational structures (Vol. 22). Psychology Press.

McLeod, S. (2018). Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development [online]. SimplyPsychology. [Viewed 27 October 2019]. Available from: https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html

           
Richardson, W. and Mancabelli, R., 2011. Personal learning networks: Using the power of connections to transform education. Solution Tree Press.

Stanfield, J. (2019a). Lecture 2: Theories of learning part 1 [PowerPoint presentation]. EDU8213, Future of Learning. 8 October. [Accessed 27 October 2019]. Available from: https://blackboard.ncl.ac.uk/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_91245_1&content_id=_3993101_1

Stanfield, J. (2019b). Lecture:Theories of Learning Part II [PowerPoint presentation]. EDU8213, Future of Learning. 15 October. [Accessed 27 October 2019]. Available from: https://blackboard.ncl.ac.uk/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_91245_1&content_id=_3993102_1

Tolbert, C. (2019a). My personal learning network. Ed Thoughts [online]. 3 October 2019. [Viewed 27 October 2019]. Available from: https://futureoflearning2019.blogspot.com/2019/10/my-personal-learning-network.html

Tolbert, C. (2019b). Is connectivism as a learning theory bogus? Ed thoughts [online]. 16 October 2019. [Viewed 27 October 2019]. Available from: https://futureoflearning2019.blogspot.com/