Briefly discuss the following issues:

1. what did you find

1.1. interesting about the article?

The most interesting and fun part of the paper to read for me were the examples such as the Fish is Fish and Throwing Darts Under Water examples. While the concepts weren't necessarily hard to grasp, these examples were very helpful in demonstrating them and giving a visual representation of what the article's point was to the reader.

1.2. not interesting about the article?

Learning has never been a very big topic of interest to me and so therefore I know little about it. In turn this article was very interesting to me and I enjoyed the entire thing.

2. what do you consider the main message of the article?

I believe the main message of the article to be that people learn in different ways and so it is not sufficient to believe that all people should be taught in the same way. The research that cognitive scientists have done should be used in determining how classrooms and teachers should accommodate for their students.

3. analyze and describe how you have learnt a complex systems (e.g.,“Microsoft Word” or a similar system incase you have never learnt MS-Word, Photoshop, Java, using the Web effectively, …)?

When I use complex systems such as the web or MS-Word, I usually take on a trial and error approach. At first I don’t want to take the time to browse documentation because it seems too complicated (I’d rather have info on demand and info that is relevant to what I am doing at the time.) It’s only after I get a good feel for the system on my own that I start using it more effectively and browsing documentation to get the most use out of it that I can. As for MS-Word, I’ve been using it for years now and I still don’t know a lot about it, (such as macros), but I feel that I know enough to use it effectively for what I use it for. I will continue to use it in the future and will probably continue to learn more about it as I do.

4. describe the most interesting / exciting learning episode of your life!

When I was a sophomore in high school I really enjoyed biology and I excelled in it and so therefore was offered to join an honors biology course as well as take a 2-week trip over the summer to Hawaii to do research with some of my fellow classmates. The trip was amazing and while it was definitely no walk in the park, I learned a lot of interesting things about marine life and plant life. The work was hands-on and made me want to learn instead of being forced to learn. (The only problem was I was in Hawaii! It’s kind of hard to get motivated to work when you’re in Hawaii.)

5. write in one short paragraph (a) what the following concepts mean and (b) which role they have played in your personal learning (e.g., where you have encountered them)

5.1. learning by being told

This is what a teacher is trying to do when lecturing. They state the information and the students are required to memorize it / learn it. I have experienced this through every teacher that I’ve had throughout my life.

5.2. self-directed learning

This is when someone takes it upon themselves to learn something. Motivation and interest is not usually a problem because if they take it upon themselves to learn it, then it is usually because they want to. I’m an active learner when it comes to playing guitar and basketball.

5.3. learning on demand

This is learning when you need it. It’s getting information when a situation calls for it and so the information obtained from learning on demand is always relevant. My senior project required that we program in j2me, and so I spent many weeks learning the functionality of j2me (this was also self-directed learning I suppose.)

5.4. discovery learning

This is learning through experiment and “accidental” discovery. In subjects such as chemistry and physics, a lot of new information is obtained by experimenting.

5.5. experiential learning

This is learning through experience. The more I use computers and the more I program, the more I learn about them and understand them. (“I do…….I understand”)

5.6. informal learning

Informal learning is where an individual learns new information without necessarily knowing they are. This type of learning occurs not in classrooms but in every-day situations and so therefore I could say that I am constantly learning informally.

5.7. collaborative learning

This is learning from working in collaborative situations with others whom of all might have come from different backgrounds. Everyone in the collaboration learns together and so they can help each other learn more efficiently. (This also gives the participants more motivation to learn / solve the problem as well.) I experience this from working in my senior projects group.

6. which media support have you used and are you using for your learning?

I use the internet constantly throughout the day for learning purposes. I learn through my email everything from upcoming events that I might want to attend on campus to group meetings that I have to attend. The swiki from this class tells me what I need to do in order to prepare for upcoming lectures. Often I need to learn on demand and so I use google. The web is definitely a very good media support that I use for my learning.