So, my learning experiences (as explained in my introduction) have probably been different to most people. I have not really approached the problem of my personal learning process as it might have been expressed through learning specific things because I do not remember it in this way. My early experiences in elementary school were characterized by authority and the theory of behaviorism and I can understand it very well in this way. I was a blank slate and knowledge and skills were pored into me because those in authority deemed it was appropriate, and that is how I interpreted it. So I did the work, was rewarded both intrinsically and extrinsically, and was generally content.
High school was more of the same, but in the context I was in, the subject matter began to look more and more irrelevant to my future. So intrinsic motivation eroded and extrinsic motivation became irrelevant. I can see now that personalized input from teachers in those days was difficult to administer because there were too many students in the class. I can see in hindsight however that this is where zone of proximal development began to overtake the role of behaviorism. I can remember doing some things where I felt I had it but for one small problem on which I would become stuck, that was when I needed input from the MKO, and when I got it, a pathway to rapid advancement would open up. However, of course my personal issues also influenced my social standing so that I eventually started to become self guided in what I learned. I can remember spending many hours in the library during recess and lunch breaks reading material that I found interesting or entertaining, much of it was related to the context I was living in. Usually it was what I saw as being more relevant to my personal situation. But gradually in the formal side of my education my performance declined. so I basically dropped out.
University was where I became aware of the cognitive load issues and learned how to learn. and now I can see very clearly the importance of the way information is presented to learners. However the most important things that are relevant to my learning process as expressed in theory have been intrinsic motivation and andragogy, but all theories are important and represent evolution in learning. Connectivism is of growing importance in my experience of learning, and microlearning is increasingly important. In fact I would say that the most I have ever learned has been through doing education and courses on the internet. This has driven the point home to me that Connectivism and Microlearning through the internet is increasingly important especially for people who might find issues of anxiety and shyness detract from their personal learning experience. By learning online we can remove some massive barriers, especially if the student is a “suffering minority”. I am now especially interested in how to present life skills in smaller online nuggets of information.
References: Behaviorism, Constructivism, Cognitivism and Andragogy pages.
Connectivism (Seimens, Downes): https://www.learning-theories.com/connectivism-siemens-downes.html (06/28/2020)
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