How do people really learn?: How do people really learn? Terry Loane 22 June 2006


Slide2: “A quick breakfast can be worth hours of training.” John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid, Harvard Business Review, May-June 2000


Slide3: URL of reference to Julian Orr’s research: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/pubitem.jhtml?id=1733&sid=0&sid=0&t=innovation


How do people really learn?: How do people really learn?


(1) People really learn…: (1) People really learn… … by interacting socially with their peers.


Slide6: Communities of Practice: Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger http://www.infed.org/biblio/communities_of_practice.htm


(2) People really learn…: (2) People really learn… … through sustained engagement with the stuff of learning.


Slide8: Bite-size learning Just-in-time learning Just-for-me learning Progression, progression, progression


Slide9: Alles, was uns begegnet, läßt Spuren zurück. Alles trägt unmerklich zu unserer Bildung bei. Everything we encounter leaves traces behind. Everything contributes imperceptibly to our education. Goethe


(3) People really learn…: (3) People really learn… … in many very different ways. BUT…


Slide11: Many ‘learning style’ approaches are based on oversimplified interpretations of unproven theories.


Slide14: This report critically reviews the literature on learning styles and examines in detail 13 of the most influential models. The report concludes that it matters fundamentally which instrument is chosen. The implications for teaching and learning in post-16 learning are serious and should be of concern to learners, teachers and trainers, managers, researchers and inspectors.


Slide15: Research into learning styles can be characterised as small scale, non-cumulative, uncritical and inward-looking. Learning Styles for Post 16 Learners What Do We Know? LSRC, 2004


Slide16: We encourage teachers to have an understanding that there is evidence for significant differences in the way learners approach their learning, and that they can all benefit from experiencing different approaches to learning. Jacqui Smith, Hansard, 18 Oct 2005


Two positive things that have come out of thinking about ‘Learning Styles’ : Two positive things that have come out of thinking about ‘Learning Styles’ Increased awareness that people can learn in very different ways An appreciation of the importance of making learners (and teachers) reflect on the processes of learning


Implications for how we use technology in learning: Implications for how we use technology in learning Technology can encourage social learning: through online communication as a medium for collaborative activities (both at a distance and in the classroom) through the use of personal web space etc.


Implications for how we use technology in learning: Implications for how we use technology in learning Technology, in particular the Web, is ideal for providing sustained engagement with the stuff of learning. It can provide a far richer link with the ‘real’ world than textbooks or handouts.


Implications for how we use technology in learning: Implications for how we use technology in learning Educators should use technology to provide a rich and varied menu of learning resources and experiences from which individual learners can select things that suit their particular needs and preferences


Two questions:: Two questions: Can we measure what people really learn? Might the process of measuring learning interfere in some ways with how people really learn?