Experiences So Far

What impact do you believe technology has on the way you learn?

Technology has certainly changed and improved the way I learn. Advances in technology have improved the accessibility of information and created easier ways to manipulate that information to create meaningful knowledge.  Online data bases allow students like myself access to quality research literature. Through internet access these resources can be used from the comfort and convenience of my own home.

Technology has also changed the way assignments are completed and turned in. When I worked on my Master’s degree I was required to submit actual paper based notebooks and projects for the majority of my classes. Now all assignments are completed, turned in, evaluated, and returned while remaining in a digital format. This has increased the amount of feedback I now expect from my instructors. Instead of having a handful of major assignments toward the end of the term I am now expected to complete numerous smaller assignments throughout the entire term. With constructive feedback from the instructors improvements can be made throughout the course.

In what ways do you learn differently in an online environment from the way you learned in a face-to-face learning environment? 

My undergraduate degree was completed in a traditional brick and mortar college setting. The strategies I employed during this time were quite different than those needed to be successful in the online based program I am currently enrolled in. In a face-to-face learning environment my strategies included consistent class attendance, diligence in completing assigned tasks, and note taking during class lectures. I rarely read any textbooks or did any type of research that was not directly tied to a specific assignment. Although I attended classes with other students I did not interact with those students in any learning activities. It seemed as though the goal of the classes I attended during this time was simply to transfer knowledge contained in the instructors mind to my own.

My current enrollment in an online Ph.D. program is quite different from my earlier college experiences. There are no lectures to sit and listen to. The learning process no longer consists of simply remembering what was said for a test or other assessment. Now I must read the required materials to construct my own framework of knowledge. There is little to no interaction with instructors prior to the submission of an assignment. One interesting and unexpected element of this type of program has been the increased interaction with other students. Regular discussion posts and collaborative assignments create an environment where individuals like me are now required to interact with other students.

After reflecting on the various learning environments I have experienced I can begin to have a greater understanding of the way I learn and assimilate new information. I believe that the most meaningful learning experiences I have had were situations where I was given a task that required gathering data and manipulating that data in creative ways that would demonstrate relevance and practical application. This observation is supports the constructivist learning mindset in which, “knowledge is constructed by learners as they attempt to make sense of their experiences” (Driscoll, 2005 p. 387). Through the manipulation of this data connections are created between the new data and previously learned information. In my life I have experienced times when these experiences were created through collaborative efforts as well as individual efforts. The actual learning seems to occur when the new data connections are created and not through the expansion of my network of colleagues.

Reference

Driscoll, Marcy P.(2005). Psychology of Learning for Instruction XML Vitalsource ebook for Laureate Education, 3rd Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions. <vbk:9781256352952#outline(14.1.1)>.