A learner is like an athlete.
An athlete begins with a passion for a sport. He learns the rules, watches it on TV, goes to competitions, comes to idolize top performers in that area and then pursues the same path for himself. He trains, he conditions his body, he practices and he perfects his game. The final step is to compete against other athletes. Here is when he shows his skills, sees how he measures up to his competitors, shares his talent, and most importantly, he sees how he can improve.
A learner has an innate desire to gain knowledge-the passion. He goes to school, he is taught new information from his teachers and he uses it everyday in the classroom. He does his homework to practice, he studies to retain the information, and he is challenged with various assessments like tests, quizzes, essays, debates, and experiments. The final step is to DO something with that knowledge. Here is when he shares it with others who are also interested. They can debate theories; they can apply it to real-world, out-of-the-classroom, practical situations; they can use it in real life; and most importantly, they are constantly adapting what they have learned to the changing world.
Just like an athlete cannot simply train and be done, a learner cannot simply learn and do nothing with this knowledge. The athlete must compete and DO something with his skills. He must share them with others so that he can improve and adapt as needed. A learner must utilize current forms of communication to share his knowledge with others and make it work in today's world. For an athlete and a learner to not ultimately reach that final step would be a waste of talent and of knowledge.
In George Siemen's article Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age, he says "Our ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know today." It is not simply a learner's knowledge that is enough. He must synthesize that knowledge, expand on it, and use today's technologies to increase that knowledge or find the answers when they are lacking.
We must teach our students that they are not simply receptacles to be filled but rather that we expect them to apply their knowledge. In today's world, that requires the learner to go outside of himself to the social networking world, blogging, creating things in web 2.0, etc. Siemen's echoes this thought in his video The Conflict of Learning Theories with Human Nature when he says we should "focus less on trying to bring knowledge into the mind...more on developing skills...to function in a distributive manner." A learner is not meant to work and think alone!
An athlete begins with a passion for a sport. He learns the rules, watches it on TV, goes to competitions, comes to idolize top performers in that area and then pursues the same path for himself. He trains, he conditions his body, he practices and he perfects his game. The final step is to compete against other athletes. Here is when he shows his skills, sees how he measures up to his competitors, shares his talent, and most importantly, he sees how he can improve.
A learner has an innate desire to gain knowledge-the passion. He goes to school, he is taught new information from his teachers and he uses it everyday in the classroom. He does his homework to practice, he studies to retain the information, and he is challenged with various assessments like tests, quizzes, essays, debates, and experiments. The final step is to DO something with that knowledge. Here is when he shares it with others who are also interested. They can debate theories; they can apply it to real-world, out-of-the-classroom, practical situations; they can use it in real life; and most importantly, they are constantly adapting what they have learned to the changing world.
Just like an athlete cannot simply train and be done, a learner cannot simply learn and do nothing with this knowledge. The athlete must compete and DO something with his skills. He must share them with others so that he can improve and adapt as needed. A learner must utilize current forms of communication to share his knowledge with others and make it work in today's world. For an athlete and a learner to not ultimately reach that final step would be a waste of talent and of knowledge.
In George Siemen's article Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age, he says "Our ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know today." It is not simply a learner's knowledge that is enough. He must synthesize that knowledge, expand on it, and use today's technologies to increase that knowledge or find the answers when they are lacking.
We must teach our students that they are not simply receptacles to be filled but rather that we expect them to apply their knowledge. In today's world, that requires the learner to go outside of himself to the social networking world, blogging, creating things in web 2.0, etc. Siemen's echoes this thought in his video The Conflict of Learning Theories with Human Nature when he says we should "focus less on trying to bring knowledge into the mind...more on developing skills...to function in a distributive manner." A learner is not meant to work and think alone!
Jackie,
ReplyDeleteYour analogy of the athlete as someone who does something with the expertise acquired works well.
Dr. Burgos
This analoygy is very interesting. I think it works perfectly with what George was trying to state.
ReplyDelete