Learning Theory and Ed. Tech. Module 1

What is my belief about how people learn best? What is the purpose of learning theory in educational technology?

What I believe about learning can be summed up in the following quote:

"We Learn . . .
10% of what we read
20% of what we hear
30% of what we see
50% of what we see and hear
70% of what we discuss
80% of what we experience
95% of what we teach others.”

- Willam Glasser

I don't believe that the traditional brick and mortar classrooms in which students sit in rows of desks facing the teacher in the front work very well to prepare our students for their futures. Students don't need teacher focused instruction, they need to be active participants in the classroom.

Learning theory is important in educational technology because it forms links between observed changes in performance with what triggered the process to occur (Driscoll, 2005, p. 9). Creating a learning theory is sometimes a well thought out process in which can be a very formal process. It can also be "on the fly" in the middle of a lesson when a teacher has that "AH HA" moment when he/she creates those links between students actually learning the lesson and finding out why it has occurred. Click here for an interesting professional blog posting describing this "AH HA" moment. I had one of these moments when I had my students complete a cardboard chair building project. The first year that my students did this project was fantastic - they were motivated, excited, and did a terrific job. The second year was a disaster! My students had no enthusiasm and their designs lacked any sort of creativity. What happened? I then had that "AH HA" moment - during the first year I was learning with the students, and I already knew what to do the second year. I now present brand new projects to my classes every year, and it works! My learning theory has expanded to include teacher learning linked with student learning.

References:

Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.