Week 1 Reflection

Well where do I start? This week has been quite a busy week for me and I have spent a number of hours sitting behind a computer screen trying to figure everything out. The tutorial in Rockhampton on Tuesday was the very first class I have taken in this program and I have to say it did not disappoint! Coming into this course with no prior experience on Learning Management I am going to be as open minded as I can.

So, with week 1 done and dusted I think it is time reflect on what I have learnt.
We all learn differently and have all come into this course with prior knowledge and experience as well as various attitudes values and beliefs. This not only applies to a University classroom. We, as the next generation of teachers need to understand that what works for one learner may not work for another because of past experiences. In order to achieve this, we have been introduced to VAK and Felder and Solomon's inventory. 





Figure 1: Different Learning Styles



To help gain a better understanding of how I learn, I took the Learning Styles Inventory test as well as a Multiple Intelligence test. The results have been displayed below.

Figure 2: Learning Styles Inventory

Figure 2: Learning Styles Inventory shows that my areas of learning are reflective, sensing, visual and sequential. The first three results show that I rely heavily on those areas of learning which means that when I am teacher I am unlikely to teach in a way that is reflective, intuitive and verbal. This will definitely be a negative aspect to the way I teach, however, I am more likely to teach in a way that is both sequential as well as global instead of being one-dimensional. I can work on being not as single sided in the way I learn, that way I can adapt various techniques to the way I teach.

Figure 3:Multiple Intelligence Test

Figure 3: Multiple Intelligence Test shows that I am an intrapersonal learner. This is followed by kinaesthetic, naturalistic, linguistic, visual, logical, musical and finally interpersonal. The way in which I teach will be affected by this.

 

By far the most valuable thing I have learnt this week was about creativity and 21st Century learners. The YouTube clip that was provided was very good to listen to and it opened my eyes about the importance of making the most out of this course. Growing up in a classroom that had very limited interactive technology, (especially in my earlier education years), made me have the attitude that 'if I learnt without fancy tools, they can as well'. Since listening to this video and reading the article 'Engage me or Enrage me', I have learnt why applying e-learning to a classroom setting is so valuable. I have learnt that we can no longer rely on the pen and paper style of learning and if we are educating teenagers we must engage them through interactive technologies because they have grown up surrounded by that world and that style of learning.



Learning theories was the final piece of information that was covered this week. Although it is believed that there are 3 learning theories, a fourth was added. These theories have been provided in the table below.



Figure 4: Learning Theories

 


Thanks for reading my week 1 reflection! Feel free to comment and help me along!
Have a great week 2.
Hannah

References: Presenter Media [animation]. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.presentermedia.com/index.php?id=120&target=category&start=20&maincat=animsp#listing_of_items

Fasso, W. (2013). Know your learner and A Brief Overview of Learning Theory. Retrieved from CQUniversity FAHE11001 Moodle page, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/page/view.php?id=145972