In Retrospect
What is learning? -Learning is a process of gaining new knowledge, skills, ideas, etc. How and when and where and why is very much subjective. After being introduced to some learning theories over the span of this semester, I can see just how subjective or varied the answers to the previous questions can be. I think that the essence of my original response has remained the same… that learning is based primarily on the motivation of the student and often involves some form of application for it to be effective… though I now see how much more effective learning can be when accompanied by the sincere application of tools and instructions offered within some of the various learning theories we discussed.
How can learning best be effectuated by a teacher/trainer? -At the moment I’m most excited about Situated Cognition. Something about Cognitive Apprenticeship really resonated with me. As I stated in previous posts, some of my most valuable learning experiences occurred when I had the opporunity to be involved in real-world applications of what I was trying to learn. Most of these experiences occurred during or after my undergrad and were tied to my current profession involving film, audio, music, and various forms of creativity and media production. It’s for this reason that I was so excited about the ideas of John Abbott and others who promote Cognitive Apprenticeship from such a young age, in a real and practical way. Much of what I remember from my Secondary Education and even younger were the experiences I had with History classes where we would learn and then go and experience or apply the ideas to issues in our own community with people actively involved in those histories and the application of the applicable principles. My experiences in music were similar as well… when I had a chance to practice, perform, travel, make mistakes, have successes, collaborate and work with professionals… the learning became much more rich and consequently more effective and long-lasting.
