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)>.
