Now that you have a deeper understanding of the different learning theories and learning styles, how has your view on how you learn changed? What have you learned about the various learning theories and learning styles over the past weeks that can further explain your own personal learning preferences?

The idea of how people learn in different ways has been explored over the last few weeks and it is understood that individuals learn with their preferred style. Learning styles are simply different approaches or ways of learning. Visual Learners: learn through seeing These learners want to see the teacher and facial expression to understand the content of a lesson & tend to prefer sitting at the front of the classroom to avoid visual obstructions. They may think in pictures and learn best from visual aids. During a lecture visual learners often prefer to take detailed notes to absorb the information.

As eyes are for visual learners ears are for auditory learners & they learn through listening verbal lectures, Written information have little meaning until it is heard & benefit from reading text aloud and using a tape recorder. & they learn through listening verbal lectures,

Tactile/Kinesthetic Learners learn through, moving, doing and touching. In other words, they learn best through a hands-on approach. They may find it hard to sit still for long periods and may become distracted by their need for activity and exploration.

When I think of my learning style I felt my dominant style of learning was more towards visual learner. I really believed it. I still remember how I wanted to be seated in the first raw centre seat. I wrote everything the teacher told even the anecdotes relevant to the lesson. When my friends got absent they used to borrow my notes because they can get a clear idea of what really happened. One day one of my friends borrowed my notes and had drawn something looked like drops of water when I inquired she told me that I have forgotten to put saliva that sprays when the particular lecturer talked. Even though, they laughed at me I could remember when I write like that I could go back to the lesson and live in it when I revised my lessons. Yet before the exams me and friends in my clique used to get together and study. We used to read our notes loud and make notes, make acronyms to remember list of names etc.. I felt studying that way helped me to retain everything we discussed rather than in self studying.

This made me understand that the dominant style may not always be the same. It may vary or be combined with others, according to the nature of the activity.

I f I reflect upon what a learning theory is? According to Wikipedia a learning theory is an attempt to describe how people and animals learn. Learning theories are discussed under three categories behaviorism,cognitivism,& constructivism. When Behaviorism focused on observable aspects of learning, Cognitive theories explained brain-based learning and constructivism believed learning as a process where learner constructs or builds new ideas or concepts. Other than these theories there are andragogy how adults learn, Connectivism which focuses on learning as making connections.

At the beginning I believed that the first two intelligences (Spatial &Linguistic) of Howard Gardner’s only played a big role in my learning which I believe that has been the tradition concerned. Now when I analyze my leaning to find out which theory played a dominant role I feel little bit of each in its own way has played a vital role and all seven intelligences are needed to live life well.

To sum up, I feel that teachers, therefore, need to attend to all intelligences. This proves that there is no theory which is 100% good or 100% bad. Therefore, it is better to take the positive area from each theory to suit each situation or to adopt an “Eclectic Approach” to theory especially when it comes to Instructional Design

(2) What role does technology play in your learning (i.e.as a way to search for information, to record information, to create, etc.)?

When I was a student I could learn a small, but fixed body of knowledge predetermined by somebody. However, now the enormous amount of available information at the tip of the fingers increasingly doubling at an alarming rate.

I feel Education is being partially transformed by new technologies. I could remember a time that I was scared of technology. Even though we were able to own a desk top computer in the latter part of 90’s only my son and husband could work on it. But when I got the scholarship to UK communication was done via emails. I felt as if I was put to deep end. That struggle to survive made me learn it and treat technology as a mere tool or vehicle for delivering instruction. Technology, however, helped me to become efficient in many ways, such as becoming independent, interactive & confident. For an instance, now I am confident enough to deal any topic because I know that within few hours I can make use of search engines to find information and do a power point presentation for my lectures. I won’t depend on anybody to learn. My own reflections tell me that I have naturally taken charge of my own learning. My important documents are stored in documents in Gmail (virtual space) which is easy to retrieve from anywhere in the world.

In conclusion, I would like to say that modern technology is significantly impacting society and our daily lives and I feel that there is a strong link between effective use of modern technology and the theory of constructivism.