Learning Theory and Educational Technology

What are your beliefs about how people learn best? What is the purpose of learning theory in educational technology?

I certainly believe that people learn best when the content is meaningful to their lives, is enjoyable, and they are engaged in the learning process. It is apparent that no two children learn the same way. Therefore, we as educators must determine the best practices for all of our students, planning for the array of learning styles we see in our classrooms. It is not enough to gauge our teaching by one learning style or even one learning theory. We must embrace the variety of our students and adapt our teaching to suit their needs. So much research exists that could benefit educators and how we teach. Society places a lot of pressure on the education system, and rightly so. The students in our country are not prepared to compete with others globally. Siemens (2008) believes that before education can meet the needs of society, it must first rethink and reconsider its view of learning and knowledge, and its approach to teaching.

Learning theories are important in any educational setting, whether it be the conventional classroom or the online classroom. Embracing the different learning theories will help an educator determine how to teach his/her students and what to teach them with. A variety of technolgy should be used in the online classroom, once again in, support of reaching all of the students.

Reference:

Siemens, G. (2008, January 27). Learning and knowing in networks: Changing roles for educators and designers. Paper presented to ITFORUM. Retrieved from http://it.coe.uga.edu/itforum/Paper105/Siemens.pdf

Responded to:
Jane Dewitt - http://janedewitt.blogspot.com/
Carol Lee - http://carollee387.blogspot.com/