Learning Theories

Learning Theory Matrix
Definitive Questions for Learning Theories
Behaviorist Theory, Cognitive Theory, Constructivist Theory, Social Learning Theory, Connectivism,  Adult Learning

1). How does learning occur?   
2). What factors influence learning?   
3). What is the role of memory?   
4). How does transfer occur?   
5). What types of learning are best explained by this theory?     
6). How is technology used for learning in your industry?   

   
Behaviorism

1. Learning comes from rewarding desired behavior and punishing non-desired behavior. Operant conditioning can mold someone into the "final" outcome in their behavior. We can be trained to obtain certain predictable outcomes.

2. Consistent application of discipline. Guidance or presenting the desired out comes. Persistence of discipline over an extended period of time. Reward or Punishment can create operant conditioning.

3. I think memory is a big deal in Behavioral conditioning. You do have to be able to remember the discipline, pain and punishment or reward for it to stick. Otherwise if You have short term memory loss You will never be able to be re-conditioned.

4. Be consistent in applying discipline. Modify the environment so that the behavior does (or does not) reoccur. Teach and reinforce more appropriate behaviors.

5. Applied Behavioral Analysis is not limited to the typical, mainstream, educational class room. The principals of Behavioralism can be applied and used almost anywhere or indeed, everywhere.

6. We have better shock and torture equipment nowadays. Less invasive but it can still deliver the desirable amount of current. We almost have some pop-stars who songs were used to punish some Al Qaida bad boys. Evidently this was considered to be cruel and unusual punishment


Cognitive Theory

1. How does learning occur?

Cognitive learning theories explain learning in terms of changes in cognitive processes. In the simple tasks elements of information processing apply to the basic forms of learning but this becomes more significant in our complex learning and in our content-area learning.

2. What factors influence learning?

Age, lack of previous cognitive experience, lack of motivation, a child's frustration level, too much expectation of a child and their lack of self-confidence if they fail to achieve a task and do not receive any positive  feedback and reassurance, guidance.

3. What is the role of memory?

Conditional knowledge is mostly stored in LTM as propositions linked with other declarative and procedural knowledge. Relating new material to information already stored in memory helps enhance the meaningfulness of material and creating and maintaining a positive learning experience for the child.

4. How does transfer occur?

From a cognitive perspective transfer involves the activation of memory structures and occurs when information is linked.  Some forms of transfer may occur automatically but we do a lot of conscious thinking even if it is on the abstract level.  Transfer involves spreading activation in memory, where information is linked in memory networks such that recall of some  information can trigger recall of other information.

5. What types of learning are best explained by this theory?

The area where cognitive learning skills show up and show off the best are in academic learning and where  we use the strategies to learn academic learning skills is where cognitive learning theories work out the best. Thinking about how we Think.

6. How is technology used for learning in your industry?

My industry is going to be Instructional Design, which is the creation of online curriculum development and delivery. So technology will play a major role in  how the information can be assembled, distributed and processed, if interactive or by other means. Technology allows possibilities that were not even possible or thinkable even 10 or 20 years back. Cognitive Thinking will play a major role in the further development of Instructional Design curriculum design and development.


Constructivist

1. How does learning occur?

 Social Constructivism emphasizes how meanings and understandings grow out of the interactions within the realm of social encounters. The tranferring of knowledge between the Individuals while interacting creates the extended possiblity of each Individual acquiring additional knowledge.

2. What factors influence learning?

Social  Constructivism is based upon assumptions about reality. According to Social Constructivism reality, which is knowledge, is constructed through human activity and is non-existent prior to human engagement, participation, and social intercourse within society.

3. What is the role of memory?

 Prior knowledge remixed to current context. Existing memory can be added to built up, modified, refined or redefined. Short term memory is occurring while events are happening in real time. Processing real time information in short term memory can be done and then at the same time the information can be transferred to longer term memory.

4. How does transfer occur?

 Transfer occurs within Socialization of the activities of a group. When there is interaction there is time for creating new knowledge with the synthesis and play between the individual members within a group as events develop. We create our own truths. We share them with the people we know and we acquire knowledge by interaction with the people we know or are surrounded by, at work, at home, at play or in other situations and locations.

5. What types of learning are best explained by this theory?

 Socially relevant topics which may be vague or "ill defined",  can be processed quite well with this theory. Humanistic learning, not so much facts, figures and hard information, but more concerning people skills, feelings and ability to support each other.

6. How is technology used for learning in your industry?

 Social Media can play a large role in Social Constructivism. The interchange between socially active Individuals can occur quite rapidly and along diverging lines of thought. not so much as academic objects but more concerning the human situation and the fluctuating human emotional states of mind. Rapid exchange of Information can occur and deviate substantially in a short amount of time.


Social Learning

1. How does learning occur?

 Knowledge is a human product, and is socially and culturally constructed (Ernest, 1999; Gredler, 1997; Prat & Floden, 1994)  Individuals create meaning through their interactions with each other and with the environment they live in. Learning is a social process. It does not take place only within an individual, nor is it a passive development of behaviors that are shaped by external forces (McMaho, 1997). Meaningful learning occurs when individuals are engaged in social activities. (Social Constructivism, From Emerging Perspectives on Learning, Teaching and Technology. Beaumie Kim, UG)

2. What factors influence learning?

 Who is in your social network will determine greatly what the information and social discourse that you are exposed to. Lack of interaction will hinder your social development. A conflict of information may lead to either deeper discussions or simply an unresolvable, irreconcilable differences.

3. What is the role of memory?

 Memory can be also "shared" memory. Memory within the group can reinforce what is being learned, what has been learned. Each individual will absorb the individual symbols and systems of their "micro" culture such as language, and the normal norms that are acceptable within their group.

4. How does transfer occur?

 Transfer occurs on a social basis between consenting members of the social unit. Information is shared even if subliminally through the normal course of social interaction.
5. What types of learning are best explained by this theory?

 Highly interactive, real-time learning processes are invaluable for learning intricate, detailed required skills. A person may take an apprenticeship under a mentor and learn by following or learn by doing or simply learn by observation, aka osmosis.

6. How is technology used for learning in your industry?

 Social media is highly interactive, immediate and allows quick, intermittent or persistent conversations between the consenting members of the social unit. This highly interactive, immediate response can generate an immediate impact upon the persons access to knowledge, information and will affect their performance from what they have learned socially.


Connectivism

1. How does learning occur?

 Distributed within a network, social, technologically enhanced, recognizing and interpreting patterns.

2. What factors influence learning?

 The quality of the diversity of people in your network. Who do you know and what and who do they know? Not all social networks are created equal. Access to social media. As things happen rather quickly nowadays.

3. What is the role of memory?

 Memory stores info while it is being processed into an adaptive pattern, representative of current state, & the  existing conditions within your personal networks.

4. How does transfer occur?

 Transfer occurs primarily by exchanging additional information to the connections of existing nodes. It requires at least two people who can exchange, understand and properly internally format the information that they are receiving to process it correctly.

5. What types of learning are best explained by this theory?

 Complex learning which has a rapidly changing core within a diverse knowledge from different sources who have different resources. ZPD might qualify if it is strictly a one to one mentorship. Social Constructivism learn by doing and interacting. This also might fall with the realm of Connectivism, which is the most likely candidate for where this belongs.

6. How is technology used for learning in your industry?

 Technology greatly benefits complicated, complex learning of complicated and complex structures and processing these experiences. Multimedia can demonstrate with its various resources available what can not be simply taught throught just oral and/or written transmission of information.


Adult Learning

1. How does learning occur?

Adult learning occurs by active participation of the adult Learner in the activity they are doing. "Experience (including mistakes) provides the basis for learning activities."

2. What factors influence learning?

3. What is the role of memory?

 If you don’t use it you lose it. Information needs to be fed, input, into the Short Term Memory so that it can be sufficiently processed so that it can be combined with any additional Information that may become available at any later time, that would add to this synthesis of opposing or just differentiated chunks of knowledge. An adequate memory allows for more synthetic processing to occur.

4. How does transfer occur?'

 Transfer occurs by the absorption of the knowledge by the Individual of the Information that is available to that Individual. Technology is an assistive device to Adult Learning, but Adults who seriously motivated will learn under any conditions that they encounter.

5. What types of learning are best explained by this theory?

 Self paced, self taught, self directed, problem centered, oriented learning Independent Learning. Adult Learning.

6. How is technology used for learning in your industry?

 Technology for Adult Learning is awesome. The technology for this industry is literally exploding as we presently speak. Online Education is becoming not only main stream but the primary method for Adult Learning delivery. I have been online since 1989 (BBS) [1 hour a week 1 person at a time on the bulletin board. PHXAUG.]  There seems to be an unlimited new methods of technology that are being developed at the moment. With the advent of mobile devices, now eLearning can occur on a hand-held cell phone or on a hand-held tablet (I much prefer a tablet for my challenged visibility, can enlarge the print).

 This new advance in technology distribution allows an anytime, anywhere access to increasingly complicated and richly developed Lessons for remote access Instructional Design course conception and production, and distribution.

WU 6115 -- wk 05 -- Connectivism

This is a mind map of where my mind goes when I am supposed to be Thinking. I started off "old-school" paper based, 8-1/2" x 11" clipboard sized hardcopy. To this day I still have about 8x clipboards in my house for the OCD moments when I have to write something down, music and/or text. I have slowly migrated from hardcopy book format (still my favorite) to more of an electronic digital maintenance filing system. I have previously learned Languages the old-fashioned way which is to learn Grammar 1st and then to compose sentences manually on paper, and lastly the real intention is to learn to Speak the Language.


click to enlarge

That was Then. This is now. nowadays I am more interested in learning a Language by absorption, applying the grammar rules that I am already familiar with and try to make coherent sentences in Russian, Albanian, Spanish and Portuguese. Skype did not "exist" when I was younger, b.c., (before college, before cell phones, before computers, before calculators) Electronic formats online now allow a much richer variety of online Interaction with Speakers of Other Languages, and even other English speakers, one of whom is on active duty in Afghanistan (12 hour Time difference). The Internet has allowed me to collect more than 150,000 Language files. OCD sorted and sifted into an etc. filing system sorted by continent and by Language Family.

The Internet was not originally available when I first started using a computer. 1987. or it did exist but we did not know about it. Google is my home page on all of my 3 browsers. mandatory go to search engine.

There are some particular websites that I enjoy (I have more than 10,000 links saved by now) mainly scribd.com where you can find a lot of information previously in hardcopy format now in digital format. BBC has a Languages Resource page with tons of links to other Languages. and there are so many Internet streaming radio stations that allows me to access all kinds of Languages (that I still don't know how to speak) Tocharian A or B anyone? actually it is an extinct Language.

I was reading an article about a "certain" device (after the 3rd Time I decided to go back to school after a 34 year hiatus) that allowed me to "see" what was written on the whiteboard at school. I have such severe eye strain difficulty that if I do not "hear" what is being written as it is being written then I could not "see" what the info on the whiteboards was in my Russian Language classes. Indeed, after the 3rd time I saw an article about the "Note-Taker" an assistive device for people with severe eye difficulties, I went back to ASU. to finish my degree. Electronic devices has made a huge difference in my ability to participate in the "modern" work place. I ran an professional architectural drafting program for 18 years. This program allowed me to "zoom in" or to "zoom out" as needed.

actually I completely forgot about "online forums" or community of practice as some people like to call them, nowadays. I have learned complete software packages online by participating in world-wide globally accessed forums for specific softwares. AutoCAD, Architectural Desktop, Autodesk VIZ, 3d Studio Max (these are complicated p.o.s.) and Photoshop (FotoChop). back in the day it was $12 a hour to participate online on CompuServe. that was expensive. The Internet has opened a Pandora's box for me. I love getting completely lost (does not take that much) and finding websites that I would otherwise never have found. This can lead to some interesting situations. like looking around a Pakistani website and not understanding a single word.

Skype has allowed me to interact with people and my Friends, in Russia, Ukraine, Byelorussia, Kaliningrad, Albania, Afghanistan, Portugal, England, Spain, Brazil and Columbia that I know of so far. Krasnoyarskii krai is way out in far east and north Siberia, Russia.

when I have questions I usually go to "Google" or if not then I use "duckduckgo" which is a real search engine but it does not track your online activity. Forums are a great place to ask questions. I don't participate in the 3d architectural rendering websites to the extent that I used to. I had a viz2000.com website where I had manually input more than 8,700 external links to other websites that had specific architectural rendering information.

I sometimes learn something when I am not looking for something to learn. when I get so lost that everything looks new (o where o where are my little "breadcrumbs" when I need them the most?)

ok, I am at least bi-polar if not more than that. Old-fashioned, old-school hardcopy format is my background, but now with an expanded field of view the entire world is at our finger tips. a friend of mine suggested that I take a "StrengthFinders" test to find out what my strengths were instead of focusing on how to fix my weakness (too many to mention) I found the book. my Five Strengths according to this test are:

1) strategic thinking (I had to laugh at this) 2) maximizing (mostly creating the best value for someone other than myself) 3) connectedness (this has always been a part of my Life, getting other people connected) 4) life-long learner (hopefully true) 5) input (I just need a certain amount of random input in my Life on a daily basis. I have a need for chaos). buy the book Take the Test. it is very Informative. The test is offered online after you buy the book.

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ok this last part I still got to do some more reading before I can answer this part of the assignment. "In what ways does my personal learning network support or refute the central tenets of connectivism?" TBC brb.