Emerging technology and my learning has it changed?

Now that you have a deeper understanding of the different learning theories and learning styles, how has your view on how you learn changed?

At the beginning of this class, I felt like I learned more through the cognitivism theory. I most related to and agreed more with Lev Vygotsky that full cognition learning doesn’t take place without social learning (Etner & Newby, 2013). The more I have learned through the last seven weeks I have changed my thinking that Albert Bandura Social Learning Theory in more my style. He states, “people learn from one another, via observation, imitation, and modeling.” (Bandura, 1977) I completely agree with that statement. I come across Christopher Pappas’s blog article 7 top benefits of collaborative e-learning. I recommend this read especially for Instructional Designers creating a curriculum for an organization with multiple sites like mine.

What have you learned about the various learning theories and learning styles over the past weeks that can further explain your own personal learning preferences?

My personal learning preferences are to watch and do as well as observe and recreate in my style or way. Social learning theory is just that, observing others, one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions, this coded information serves as a guide for action.” (Bandura, 1977) In Bandura book, he said,  “Learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous if people had to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to inform them what to do. (p22) this statement couldn’t be truer. Being a lifelong learner, the social learning theory fits my schooling, my career, and my home life learning to garden. Social learning incorporates your attention, memory, and motivation so in general, it’s a combination of cognitive and behavioral theories.

What role does technology play in your learning (i.e., to search for information, to record information, to create, etc.)?

Technology for me plays a huge role in my learning. However, it’s not only active in my learning but in my career and home life. I didn’t grow up with technology and it wasn’t a part of my life until I became an adult. I remember my first computer before the internet it was the Commodore 64 (now dated myself). Now, I can’t imagine how we ever did anything without technology it’s such an integrated part of humans. I use technology every day. It’s in the car I drive, I computer/laptop I work one for school, the phone I use, and the tools I cook with technology is all around us. I know if I am going to be working late I can use my phone to activate a program at my house to give my dogs a treat, turn on my outside lights, and start my dinner. With the advancement of technology, I have been able to get my bachelor’s degree online and I am currently working on my master’s degree all while working a fulltime job. If I sit down and try and think about something I do that doesn’t encompass technology I can’t come up with anything. I don’t know how some people can go “off the grid” and still function. But with that being said, how did I live before all this technology? How did you do it? What is the most important piece of technology you own and how does it play a role in your learning? I would love to hear your thoughts. Drop me a comment below

Gerri M

References

Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. New York: General Learning Press.

Etner, O., & Newby, T. (2013). Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism: Comparing Critical Features from an Instructional Design Perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 26, 43-71.

Kim, B. (2001). Social Constructivism. In M. Orey, Emerging Perspectives on Learning, Teaching, and Technology (pp. 55-61). Zurich, Switzerland.: Jacobs Foundation.

Producer. (n.d.). Theory of social cognitive development [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Laureate Education.