Putting it all together

When I first started the Learning Theories course at Walden U., I was asked to state how I felt I learned best.  My response was that I am a hands-on learner, and that I fall under the constructivist theory in that I tend to learn from my own experiences.  After completing a learning matrix in which we evaluated several learning theories (behaviorist, cognitive, constructivist, social learning, connectivism and adult learning), I still think that I am a hands-on learner, but not only do I fall under the constructivist theory, but also social learning and connectivism.  As Kim (2001) states, with social learners " the relationship between the people and their environment" is paramount to learning.  Social learning incorporates methods that encourage and facilitate a social environment amongst peers.  I am energized when I am able to learn with and amongst my peers.  I enjoy hearing different points of view and then incorporating what I've learned into my everyday life.  I can honestly say that learning what I have from others has allowed me to make decisions that have affected my path in life.

I think connectivism goes hand-in-hand with social learning.  According to Davis, Edmonds, & Kelly-Bateman (2008), there are several principles of connectivism that state that learning and knowledge rests in the diversity of opinions, learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes of information sources and learning may reside in non-human appliances, to name a few.  One of my largest connections is my social network, though my technology network is also quite large.  The advent of the Internet brought about a change to most people's networks as the Internet holds so many options for networking with others.  Honestly, I simply do not know how we existed without technology many years ago.  It has become a major component in business, education and for personal purposes.  I couldn't imagine living without my Smart phone, iPad or laptop, yet back when I was in school these items weren't on any one's road maps.  Technology has definitely changed the way the entire world operates, which has added a whole new dimension to every facet to how people live. 

To summarize, learning about learning has opened up my eyes firstly as to how I learn, secondly as to how others learn and how to best prepare curriculum that can hopefully meet the needs of as many different learning styles as possible.

References:

Kim, B. (2001). Social constructivism. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology.

Davis, C., Edmunds, E., & Kelly-Bateman, V. (2008). Connectivism. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology.