As educators we have to take what we know about learning theories to help us apply it to teaching our students. Our students all learn differently one student may be a verbal learner another more hands on, we can't put them all in one category. The same with learning theories, I don't believe one learning theory is better than the other, when you combine the theories you can see how learning really works. Most people learn from using what they learned in the past and applying it to new knowledge. Knowing how our students learn will help us diversfy our lessons. We have to step out of our comfort zone and teach differently. I am more of a verbal learner, I like to listen to the teacher talk about the subject. I've learned as a special ed teacher that a lot of my students are more hands-on, so I had to learn to make sure that I put a lot of experiments or projects into my lesson plans for my students to fully understand the concepts that I'm trying to teach. Motivation also plays a major role in education, some students are motivated to make good grades because of the awards and praise they recieve. Others are curious and want to as much knowledge as they can obtain. But what about the students who do not do well in the classroom what motivates them? It's our duty as educators to find that motivation to help that student succeed in school.
http://lumpe.wordpress.com/2010/03/04/emerging-technologies-for-learning/
http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2006/01/crash_course_in.html
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Hi Shauna:
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your sentiments. I always tell my students, who are teachers, that it is not what learning style or mode they are comfortable with, but what styles their students possess and plan to meet their needs. Hence, teachers should understand all theories that deal with learning and combine them. I believe that where one is lacking, the other may fulfill that lack.
Soushira
Hi Shauna,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post concerning teachers using the learning theory they know. I don't know if my school is just lacking, but as I walk down they halls a cannot identify their teaching styles as a particular theory. I really think for the educational system to change some training needs to be done on different learning styles and theories. My district has cut out professional development for the use of training teachers. I find that most teachers have been doing it for so long they have developed their own learning theory and teaching style. It is hard to teach an old teacher new tricks. But I think it is needed to meet every students needs. Great post.
Latoya