Learning Theory Holy War

OK--that title should definitely draw some traffic and interest! I just finished viewing Bill Kerr and Karl Kapp's respective blogs, and I have a few observations and ideas that emerged as a result of this "new data":

Kerr mentioned that there was a need for some theory to support new ideas and concepts in learning. If it weren't for theory providing a foundation, there would be nothing to keep schools and other learning organizations from joining the "Flavor of the Month Club" of educational/training philosophy. Having worked in a government organization that did that very thing some years back (anyone remember TQM?), I know firsthand the angst that gets produced in the workforce when the official view of "what should be" gets whipsawed around as senior managers with short attention spans read the latest literature (but only the abstracts).

As I see it, any good new idea about learning should still be grounded in some kind of theory or a combination thereof--I am a pragmatist! Ideas that spring half-baked and ill-conceived from the minds of consultants and defense contractors should be avoided at all costs.

Kapp brought up an interesting thought as well: what exactly DO we mean when we refer to learning? You can learn to walk, learn to dance, learn to play a musical instrument, learn good manners and social skills (although my husband skipped this particular area in its entirety), learn a language, learn calculus, learn to paint, learn to use the APA style in writing, and even learn to write a dissertation. These degrees of learning have different outcomes, and upon analysis, it's interesting to note that these learned skills span the broad spectrum of human knowledge. If you are familiar with Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences (of course you are if you are reading this!), each of these areas of intelligence has aspects that can be learned (and therefore, taught).

As usual, I have far more questions than answers...however, I know that there is no single right answer to all of them (except "42"). There is a time and place for all different types of learning, so let's use the best practices and applications across the spectrum of -isms to teach what best fits the task at hand.

Resources

Bill Kerr's blog:http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/01/isms-as-filter-not-blinker.html

Karl Kapp'a blog:
http://karlkapp.blogspot.com/2007/01/out-and-about-discussion-on-educational.html

A good background and overview of Gardner's Multiple Intelligences work:
http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm

EDUC 8845--A new Beginning

Another Walden course and another quarter along the way to the elusive PhD at the distant end of the Yellow Brick Road! This is Summer Quarter 2009, and the course in question is "Learning Theory and Educational Technology."

In a way (so far) this course has been like a homecoming...I have the first edition of Marcy Driscoll's book Psychology of Learning for Instruction, which was the textbook used when I took a Learning Theory course for my Master's degree so very many years ago. Additionally, the supplemental readings for this current class include one from Ertmer and Newby--Peg and Greg co-taught one of the courses that I took back when in my Master's program. As I said, it's Old Home Week this week.

For this first entry, I chose to address Siemen's characterizations of instructors: I definitely see myself as the Curatorial Instructor type--according to Siemens, this personification provides general guidance for learners, and then provides them with additional directions and ideas that they can follow up (or not). Because of where I work and what I do there (Department of Defense, Senior Instructor/Instructional Designer/Human Performance Technologist) I often teach from the standpoint of the Subject Matter Expert (SME). This can be a very dangerous position, because some SMEs will simply stand before a class and innundate the students with data on PowerPoint slides that are incredibly information-intensive. The value of this activity, in my opinion, is horribly over-rated and it is a practice that I am doing my very best to stop wherever I can.

I prefer to not lecture, and to ideally not even have a formal class, but to provide the students with a general roadmap of where we will be going, and for each significant item along the way, just like the AAA trip books, suggest a scenic (read informative) sidetrip that they can take. If there are any questions or issues, I am available to provide additional guidance and information. I find learning in this manner to be more rewarding from a learner's point of view because I have identified information that is relevant to me and my interests, and have followed up on topics that are of use to me now or in the future. As an instructor, I also find it rewarding, because the students come to me with their own ideas and interpretations of the subject at hand, which challenges me to find links and relationships that I might not have ever considered.

Resources

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

Siemens, G. (2008, January 27). Learning and knowing in networks: Changing roles for educators and designers. Paper presented to ITFORUM. Retrieved from http://it.coe.uga.edu/itforum/Paper105/Siemens.pdf