Reflection

As I look back to the beginning of the course, I can remember thinking that the information was going to be a review of the learning theories that I was taught in my undergraduate program.  What I find interesting is how much more I discovered about learning theories this time around during my adult life versus my college career. Dr. Ormrod spoke to this issue when she said, “Adult learners have an advantage over the more traditional college student in the sense that, in my experience, they have a really strong need to know. Your typical college student has a lot of distractions,” [n.d.].

Since I have graduated from college, and began my teaching career, I can say that my desire to understand learning has grown, and grown even larger after taking this course. Some of the most striking theories that I was able to explore were Connectivism and the adult learning theories of Andragogy, Transformational learning, and Experiential learning, (Conlan, Grabowski, & Smith, 2003), (Foley, 2004).  I believe that these were the most striking because I was not aware of their existence prior to this course, and I am able to relate to their core foundations. Connectivism allowed me to see learning in terms of the rapidly-evolving technological world that we live in. As an adult learner, I found the adult learning theories remarkably valid and crucial for understanding the type of learners I hope to someday teach.

In regards to my own learning, I have been able to see the bigger picture. I now see myself as a diverse individual who is able to learn successfully in more than one way. I understand where I fit into the theories of Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism, Connectivism, Adult Learning, and the Multiple Intelligences. I may be drawn to Behaviorist principles when I need to memorize information, or I may be drawn to Cognitive or Constructivist principles when I am working to solve a problem. I know that I am more successful with learning activities that speak to the intelligences that my environment or genetic disposition has activated, (Armstrong, 2000). Connectivism and Adult Learning principles describe my ability and desire to be a life-long learner in today’s world, (Davis, Edmunds, & Kelly-Bateman, 2008).  Thanks to the Information Processing Model, I better understand how connections are formed between concepts within my mind, (Ormrod, Schunk, & Gredler, 2009) .

 As a teacher, this course has helped to reinforce the idea that learning theories provide the foundation for our understanding of this complex topic.  From the learning theories we can design instruction that helps our students reach the learning goal.  To ensure that students reach the learning goal we must present material in a variety of ways to meet each student where they are. This can be done by using visual, auditory, and kinesthetic activities, and incorporating each of the Multiple Intelligences when appropriate, (Gilbert & Swanier, 2008). Educational technology is an essential tool that is also used to help each student meet their learning goal while preparing them for tomorrow’s world (Siemens, n.d.).  

 As I work towards becoming an instructional coach, I will use my knowledge of the learning theories to help other teachers tailor their instruction to their instructional goals. If I know a teacher’s learning objective, I will be able to show them how to help their students reach mastery using principles from the learning theories. The experience that I have had with technology in this course will provide me with even more tools that I can share with the teachers that I may one day coach.