Reflecting on how and what I learn, I see that I am in the driver’s seat. Malcom Knowles’ Theory of Andragogy describes key characteristics of adult learners that the learner is: self-directed, experienced, eager to learn, oriented to learning and motivated. (Wood, n.d) For me, these characteristics are evident both in the learning that I choose to do for leisure activities and in the learning that I do for my career. This learning has been both formal, through organized course work, and informal, through job shadowing and other experiential activities. (Bransford, et al 2006 pg 217) This learning has also been explicit as there were clear objectives and skills that I acquired from some activities and implicit as I have learned things through my experiences that I did not set out to learn and sometimes are learned by making mistakes and recovering from the opportunity. ( Bransford, et all 2006 pg 210) In fact, sometimes it seems like the harder I try to learn something, the harder it is to learn. As Bansford describes, “in some instances, it can be shown that “trying to learn” patterns of covariation through explicit instruction actually impedes learning, underscoring the idea that implicit and explicit forms of learning are different.” (Bransford, et al 2006 pg 211)
For me, this explains how a few things I have tried to learn were best learned after I quit focusing on the procedure and the exact how-to and began experimenting and trying it on my own. One example is my quest to learn how to waterski. When I was 16, a friend’s parents had a boat and they took us out. I listened to everyone’s tips and tricks and failed miserably. I became embarrassed and gave up. Nearly 20 years later, I finally had the opportunity to try again. After watching a variety of YouTube videos and reading step-by-step tutorials—one of which from the USA Water Ski and Wake Sports that I screenshot and took with me on the boat—I felt comfortable with the theory of how it should work.
https://www.usawaterski.org/BasicSkills/LearnToSkiBasics.pdf
It was an inexperienced crew—my fiancée was driving the boat and his daughter was my spotter. It took us a dozen tries and finally, I was out of the water. After I was up, skiing was second nature as I had snow skied in the past. After getting up once, I have never had a problem getting out of the water again. It took all of those failed attempts (and a few bruises) for my body and my mind to piece it all together. This example also explains some of why I was motivated to learn how to ski. For nearly half of my life, I have wanted to be a skier. As Bransford noted, “when one is learning outside of school, it is as much about who one wants to be as what one demonstrably comes to know.” (Bransford, et al 2006 Pg 218) This also relates to how Gee described identities as I wanted to be the “kind of person” who is capable of waterskiing and that my identity was not related to my core, but rather to my “performances in society.” (Gee pg 99)
My journey to learning how to water ski leveraged the use of mobile technologies. Early on, I relied of a small network of people and their advice to guide me. Later, when I was successful, I used a laptop and smart phone to resource videos and tutorials. The device allowed me to take my resources with me and provided me the ability to learn in the proper context. As Sharples describes,
Context is a central construct of mobile learning. It is continually created by people in interaction with other people, with their surroundings and with everyday tools. Traditional classroom learning is founded on an illusion of stability of context, by setting up a fixed location with common resources, a single teacher, and an agreed curriculum which allows a semblance of common ground to be maintained from day to day. But if these are removed, a fundamental challenge is how to form islands of temporarily stable context to enable meaning making from the flow of everyday activity.
While my learning was from pieces of media and content that I discovered online, Sharples provides a list of recommendations from Naismith & Corlett, 2006:
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Create quick and simple interactions;
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Prepare flexible materials that can be accessed across contexts;
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Consider special affordances of mobile devices that might add to the learner experience (e.g. the use of audio or user anonymity);
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Use mobile technology not only to “deliver” learning but to facilitate it, making use of the facilities in current mobile devices for voice communication, note taking, photography and time management.
With all of the positive ways that mobile learning can support our learning journeys, there is potential that it can detract from learning the learning experience. As Turkle mentions in her Colbert Report interview, “technology creates distance between us.” (Turkle 2011) And, that results of a study, “suggest that even media meant to facilitate interaction between children are associated with unhealthy social experiences.” (Pea 2012) It is clear to me that mobile learning is an excellent tool to support learning throughout one’s lifetime; however, it should be balanced with other types of learning experiences to minimize the distance that can be created.
Resources
Bransford, J., Stevens, R., Schwartz, D., Meltzoff, A., Pea, R., Roschelle, J., . . . Sabelli, N. (2006). Learning theories and education: Toward a decay of synergy. In P. Alexander & P. Winne (Eds.), Handbook of educational psychology (2nd ed., pp. 209–244). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. [Course E-reserves]
Gee, J. P. (2000). Identity as an analytic lens for research in education (http://ezaccess.libraries. psu.edu/login?url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1167322) . Review of Research in Education, 25(2000- 2001), 99–125.
Pea, R., Nass, C., Meheula, L., Rance, M., Kumar, A., Bamford, H., . . . Zhou, M. (2012). M edia use, face-to-face communication, media multitasking, and social well-being among 8- to 12-year-old girls (http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1010731 032?accountid=13158) . Developmental Psychology, 48(2), 327–336.
Sharples, M., Arnedillo-Sánchez, I., Milrad, M., & Vavoula, G. (2009). Mobile learning: Sma ll devices, big issues (https://link-springer-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/content/pdf/10.1007/978-1-4020-9 827-7_14.pdf) . In N. Balacheff, S. Ludvigsen, et al. (Eds.), Technology-enhanced learning: Principles and products (pp. 233–249). Springer.
Turkle, S. (2011). The Colbert Report Sherry Turkle [Video File]. http://www.cc.com/video-clips/kd5rmr/the-colbert-report-sherry-turkle
Wood, D. (n.d.) Andragogy: Apreciating the Characteristics of the Adult Learner. https://hawaii.hawaii.edu/node/495
Hi Katie. Kudos to you never giving up on that water skiing! As you have mentioned that you were formally instructed how to water ski at an early age, but failed. However, years later, with the support of loved ones, a high level of motivation, some visual instruction videos, and the tools to complete the task at hand, you were successful. I think of Bansford, et. al., p. 210, in which he discusses his areas of research which are 1. implicit learning and the brain, 2. informal learning, and 3. designs for formal learning and beyond. I can connect your personal experience to the combination of the three. He state further that ” The fundamental reason for pursuing this goal rests on the assumption that successful efforts to understand and propel human learning require a simultaneous emphasis on informal and formal learning environments, and on the implicit ways in which people learn in whatever situations they find themselves.” I remember when I had a student with Behavior Disabilities and I assisted him to his gen ed class for the subject of science daily. The structure of all the lessons consisted of students lead discovery by carefully selected groups assigned by several criteria. The teacher activated prior knowledge, gave the groups their manipulatives and left them to discover the best and most efficient solution. So there was some explicit instruction, but during the majority of the class time was spend trial and error, kids questioning, discussing, sharing, arguing and so forth until they came up with a solution. I watched as learning “unfolded”. I am a visual learner so the diagram on page 210 in which the three theories were integrated and lead to effective learning was like an “aha” moment for me.
Hi Katie,
I really appreciate your take on the readings this week and how they relate directly to your experiences. I have also tried (and failed) to water ski. 🙂
I completely agree with you in the sense that learning via technology should not take precedence over face to face learning, but it should be used in order to enhance learning. The two should really work hand in hand. As a kindergarten teacher, I most often think of the young learners and how this impacts them. Like you said, balance is key. I often wonder what the future will look like in our classrooms. Will there even be a need for teachers? I strongly believe that we will always need people, even as our technology becomes more advanced. Face to face learning provides something that technology cannot, just like technology provides something that human interaction cannot always accomplish. It is interesting to think about how we can best use the two types of learning, and how one might be a better fit over another for certain situations.
Katie,
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. I think you make some great points. When learners are motivated to do something that has relevance and value in their lives the learning is deeper and more impactful. Your experience with water skiing translates really well to other skill sets. I remember as a teenager trying to learn how to play my favorite songs on my guitar by playing along to the radio while using tablature (which is basically a graphical representation of where to put your fingers on a fretboard for chords, etc). Although I am a visual learner that was very hard to do. Nowadays, I can find YouTube videos that combine tablature, the music to play along to, instructional commentary, and the ability to see hand movements during chord changes. There is normally a running commentary below the video about better ways to form chord shapes or corrections to the creator’s technique or performance. And, thanks to mobile technologies, I can take all of that knowledge with me wherever I go. When I think of the challenges that traditional forms of education have in competing with the engagement that many out-of-the-classroom learning experiences provide (like your waterskiing example and my experience learning songs on YouTube), it seems like a daunting task!
You mentioned Sherry Turkle and her warnings about our increasing dependence on ubiquitous technology (which she calls ‘Tethered Technology’), and I agree that there is a very real danger if we’re not careful about how it is used. Not only in terms of affecting the quality of learning experiences but, as she described in ‘Always-On/Always-On-You,’ our ability to connect to others and disconnect from the noise in other areas of our ‘rapid response society.’ It’s fascinating stuff and I think, as you said, the key is moderation. As my mother always used to say ‘just because you can doesn’t mean you SHOULD!’