What does it mean to learn? Learning is the ability to pick up new information. This can happen in a number of ways. It might involve analyzing or synthesizing information to discover new meanings that were previously unrecognized. Learning is achieved through a wide variety of ways-- be it audio, visual, and kinesthetic. Different people have varying success at learning through various modalities.
Learning is not an ability that only humans are able to achieve. Throughout the animal kingdom creatures acquire new understandings of the world around them. While some knowledge is inherent-- such as the ability of a young baby to suckle it's mother's breast. Other aspects of the same phenomenon are learned-- such as learning which nipple will provide access to the most milk. In a large litter, learning this information could be a matter of life or death.
Learning happens both formally and informally, directly and indirectly. Author, Tom Bodett explained that “the difference between school and life? In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson.” This illustrates the fact that much of what we learn comes from direct experience. It is through new and different experiences that we acquire understandings of the world. These are ever-changing depending on the situations we experience. It is only because we learn to incorporate new knowledge into our perspective that we can understand how these fit together.
At school learning is thought to happen in a number of ways. Students might learn by memorizing information, such as multiplication facts, learn by practicing something, such as playing a musical piece, learn from observation, such as might take place by watching the behavior of a classroom pet, or learn by listening to a lecture. Now, as students are using more and more technology in the schools, the audio, visual, and kinesthetic learning are often taking place all at the same time—be it in front of a computer screen. The more modalities information is presented in, the more likely people are to learn it.
The old methods of learning are being replaced by new understandings of the manners through which people learn and the best ways to accomplish this. "If we learned to read by repeated drill and memorization only, and by thinking of reading as only decoding, making sense of a new book can be a monumental challenge" (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005, p.41). To understand a book, a reader has learned, not only how to decode, but also how to synthesize the words into ideas that can be reflected upon. As the reader considers an idea more and more, they are learning new ways to interpret the information they have gathered.
To learn is to acquire a new understanding based on input that is provided through any of the means previously discussed. Through these understandings, an individual will react to situations differently as they learn to navigate the outcomes until they discover how to achieve a desired outcome. This process many happen consciously or unconsciously. As an individual discovers the proper method to attain a desired outcome, they can use this information throughout situations. This process is sometimes referred to as transfer. "Transfer involves figuring out which knowledge and skill matters here and often adapting what we know to address the challenge at hand." (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005, p.41). When transfer occurs, then an individual has not only learned a cause and effect relationship, but also synthesized that information and applied it to another situation. This is a different type of learning.
Bodett, T. Retrieved September 19, 2010 from: http://www.bodett.com/storyarchive/quoteme.htm
I love the Bodett quote.....because it's so true! It amplifies the importance of "mistake-based learning" so eloquently. So often, our apprehension occurs as a result of direct experience, *our own experience.* We learn from textbooks that purportedly contain objective material and understandings of the world, but this is never the case. All information we are taught is perspectival and biased. This is not to say it's not *true* or authentic information, but it is important to remember that all authors, teachers, peers, all people, write and communicate from their own perspective of the world, both inherited through family, class, etc. and as acquired by experience. When we empower students to place value in their own experiences and to situate those experiences alongside what they learn in the classroom (integrated instruction) and the experiences of others, then we will be cultivating a culture of empathy and true understanding (at least in my opinion.....)
ReplyDelete"This illustrates the fact that much of what we learn comes from direct experience. It is through new and difference experiences that we acquire understandings of the world"
ReplyDeleteThis quote resonated with me, especially in the context of learning in an online environment. When I started the SLIS program, I struggled at the onset because I mistakenly believed that I had to get course content "right" on the first pass. If anything, learning in an online environment has reinforced within me the importance of risk-taking and learning by trial and error. The blogging assignment and the Wiki collaboration for 250 are demonstrative of this. Until 250, I never experienced blogging or using Wiki as a collaborative learning tool. I have learned as a result of experiencing both of these techniques.
I agree with both of you. Rachel's comments remind me of my attempts to teach students about Christopher Columbus. I would have the kids sit on the rug while I pretended to be him and talked about how it might have been--sailing around the world, searching for hidden lands. Then, I would walk out the door, turn around and walk in saying something like, "Oh, wow! A new land that nobody else has ever known of!", and point out the fact that they (the Native Americans) had been sitting there the whole time... that the very notion of "discovering" a place that people had been living for thousands of years was absurd...that what was "new" to one person, could be something somebody else has known their entire lives. (Of course this is in San Francisco, where Christopher Columbus Day is officially called Indigenous Peoples Day!) We are definitely shaped by our experiences--learning of that kind is instinctual. It is important for educators to acknowledge that students naturally learn from experiences, and to provide them opportunities to do so.
ReplyDeleteand Mike...
I agree with you about the quality of online learning. Initially, I was so afraid to post anything to a blog or wiki until I felt that I had "gotten it right". Now, I am becoming more comfortable with allowing my process to become more transparent to others. Working like this is so different from my education until this point, where almost nobody would be able to see what I was working on until it was finished. Somehow this idea feels important to me. I believe it is illuminating an aspect to the new style of learning that our students will be experiencing and I (though daunted by both blogs and wikis before Prof. Harlan dropped them into my life!) feel that it is really important for us to be experiencing this aspect of 21st century learning. As we've been saying, direct experience is the best teacher... and many of us teacher librarians need to gain some more experience in these tools. How could we possibly educate our students in things we have never tried?
"When transfer occurs, then an individual has not only learned a cause and effect relationship, but also synthesized that information and applied it to another situation."
ReplyDeleteI think that we may have talked about the idea of transferring knowledge (and thus what has been learned) before, but I think it is one of the most important components that take learning to a level of understanding. Some great ideas here that Mike and Rachel already commented on :-)
I particularly enjoyed your rebuttal post with the story about Christopher Columbus. It's all in the perspective and what we (and our students) take from lessons, be they in school or in life, directly relates to our personal experiences.