Learning Styles and applications in e-learning
So, I was going through my RSS feeds and I noticed that Suemin had updated! So I read, and then I thought! (shock horror!!! ^_^) I read Suemin’s last two posts, one describing learning styles and the other concerning the impact of learning styles on learning strategies, and had a few thoughts on what implications this has for e-learning.
My first thought while reading the entries was that the main problem for an educator is that when teaching a class there are so many variations of preferences that it is difficult to cater to them all, meaning that learning techniques used will not be effective for everyone in the class. While this thought was based on traditional face-to-face education, I think it still has implications for e-learning.
While an activist needs to do something to learn it and e-learning can be experiential, e-learning is restricted to an image on a computer screen. If the learner is an activist according to Honey and Mumford’s tests, but also a kinaesthetic learner according to VARK tests, a computer screen may not be active enough a medium – you can’t touch or feel or really be in a situation if it is presentedin a 2-D frame.
And while the activity of blogging involves observing, reflecting and thinking – and is therefore suited to reflectors and theorists – it is not suited to activists, and is only suited to pragmatists if they can link the reflection to a real life situation.
So, then, the same problem appears. If activities in e-learning are only appropriate for certain learners, and a class of learners is compromised of a variety of different learners, then the amount of activities that will need to be conducted to appease each learner group is enormous. However, a balance must be achieved between addressing the learners’ needs and time and workload constraints. A teacher cannot have too many activities teaching the same lesson, just in a different way. The educator would spend too much time creating the experiences and the learners would spend too much time going through each activity. This is not a viable option.
The question with learning styles (in e-learning and traditional learning) is how to address the needs of a variety of learners while maintaining the integrity of the structure of the learniong and learning techniques.
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on November 5th, 2007 at 12:55 am
I agree with the points that Jess has raised. However it is evident that all program designers and facilitators need to know the limitations of their program in terms of catering to different learning styles. Once limitations are known, possible solutions to engage learners via other means can occur. Activists can be restricted by a computer screen, but it is how they interact with the content on the computer screen which is important to providing an engaging learning experience. The key for facilitators is to discover new and innovative ways to engage all learners, in spite of their preferred learning styles.
on November 5th, 2007 at 1:50 am
Yes I agree with you. Educators can’t hope to change their pool of learners, therefore they will need to find a way to address their needs. This is their challenge.