Reflect on: your previous learning experiences. Think about one particularly successful and one unsuccessful learning experience. Consider what were the conditions that made this experience successful or unsuccessful for you and what this tells you about your own preferred ways to learn.
A particularly successful learning experience was buying and running a business when I was 21. Nothing makes me learn faster than having to figure things out while 'in the fire'. Although of course, the consequences of wrong decisions or not learning fast enough are also a lot greater. I like to figure things out - utilize resources but doing most of it on my own - not having someone telling me what to do.
A particularly unsuccessful learning experience has been learning new languages. I'm always saying that I'm going to learn Spanish or Chinese, but I have not yet made much progress on this learning endeavor. I sometimes get started with some flashcards or an online program, but I don't stick with it. This brings up the aspect of all-encompassing learning - if I was living in a foreign country where I had to speak the language to get things done, I'm sure I would learn pretty quickly.
Other reflections...
* Need a strong motivation
* Need alone, quiet, and the ability to focus (get distracted by other people or sounds)
* Need deadlines
Based on your experience as a learner, what do you think you will be able to get out of this course? And what ideas do you already have about the future of education?
I already have a fair bit of experience learning in different contexts, as well as teaching in different contexts. But as I just wrote about in the forum, learning is a never ending journey - we're always learning. I think that I will get some more theories of education from this course - possibly seeing more of how things are internationally, as the course is from the University of London with a wide range of international students. I'm also looking forward to getting some new frameworks around effective learning and what makes for a good teacher, school, educational system, etc. And I'm interested to see how other people view education - I'm currently working on seeing the world through other people's lenses, figuring out what their expectations and needs are, rather than assuming it's the same as mine. Going from the golden rule of treat others the way you want to be treated, to the platinum rule of treat others as they want to be treated.
When I think now about the future of education, I see that technology can be used to personalize education - both in terms of allowing students to learn more about what they want to learn about (personal motivation) and in terms of meeting students exactly where they are in their learning (scaffolding/flow). But even with all of this technology, education is still about connection. Education in the future will allow students to connect with other learners and facilitators who can go with them on their learning journey. We don't need all the students to be studying exactly the same thing - students can learn at their own pace, in their own way. I also see the future of education expanding out from schools into communities - students can learn at work places, at home, at community centers, etc. As we remember that we're all learners, schools will become less of a focal point for education.
No comments:
Post a Comment