HOW PEOPLE LEARNBriefly discuss the following issues:1. what did you find 1.1. interesting about the article? I love the article because it is a beautiful summary and explanation tying what we know about how people learn to classrooms and schools. I appreciate the history of the field of learning/psychology and I really enjoy the key findings, implications for teaching, and designing classroom environments sections. 1.2. not interesting about the article? Nothing 2. what do you consider the main message of the article? To me, the main message of this first chapter is that what we know about how people learn should revolutionize our classrooms and our schools to be places where students, learning, teaching/instruction, and assessment are viewed as interrelated and interdependent. Learning is context-dependent and occurs in community which leads to a new and different philosophy than espoused by many schools and many people in this country. As educators, I need to put these theories into practice in my classroom as a teacher and as a learner. 3. analyze and describe how you have learnt a complex systems (e.g.,“Microsoft Word” or a similar system incase you have never learnt MS-Word, Photoshop, Java, using the Web effectively, …)? I honestly don't remember when I started using Word. I learned mostly by trial and error. I used what I knew how to use from experiences in school and when I wanted to do something new, I asked a question on the Help function. I continued to learn by talking with other students about what they were doing and having them show or model for me different features of the system. 4. describe the most interesting / exciting learning episode of your life! The most powerful learning experience was a summer workshop at Harvard University called Project Zero. I spent a week hearing lectures, attending sessions and meeting with a study group to discuss various educational topics and arenas like the role of arts in education, multiple intelligences, what a thinking classroom looks like, and teaching for understanding. I didn't know anyone personally at the conference and I was able to interact with passionate, dedicated, interesting educators from all over the world, thinking about, reflecting on, and planning how I could make meaningful changes to my teaching practice. It was exciting, engaging, stimulating, and I left with a renewed passion for initiating change in the profession of education. 5. write in one short paragraph (a) what the following concepts mean and (b) which role they have played in your personal learning (e.g., where you have encountered them) 5.1. learning by being told This involves an explanation or direction for action or reflection originating from a person or a video. I have experienced this in lecture classes. 5.2. self-directed learning This kind of learning utilizes internal motivation or natural curiosity to be engaged in a learning experience. I have experienced this in my development as a soccer player. 5.3. learning on demand This occurs in situations, where some outcome is dependent upon a person's learning. It involves an external motivator such as rewards or punishments. I experienced this as a teacher to learn grading systems my school and school district were implementing. 5.4. discovery learning Discovery learning can be either self-directed or facilitated by another person, but it involves an exploration of a topic by beginning with what one knows and advancing one's understanding from there. It is typically hands-on learning and is developmentally-based and is a process of deepening one's understanding. I have experienced this in science labs in high school and college. 5.5. experiential learning The heart of experiential learning is learning by doing. Experiential learning is typically based in real-life problems or issues and often occurs in nature or in the world beyond the walls of academia. I have experienced experiential learning through Outward Bound trips as a teenager. 5.6. informal learning Informal learning can occur in any situation that isn't explicitly considered an arena for learning such as conversations with relatives or colleagues, novel activities such as skydiving, or through travel experiences. I have learned so much in the past two months from being the managing editor of the Journal of Teacher Education and listening in meetings to the three editors discuss the positive and negatives of manuscripts that are submitted to the Journal. 5.7. collaborative learning Collaborative learning involves two or more individuals involved in a process or problem with a common goal who contribute to and take away from the knowledge base of the learning environment. I have experienced collaborative learning as several colleagues and I tried to plan an orientation for incoming doctoral students in Education. 6. which media support have you used and are you using for your learning? I use journals, newspapers, websites, search devices such as Google or Ebscohost, WebCT, our swiki, and videos.
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