Wading into Learning Styles
One thing always leads to another with this blog, and lately I’m finding myself delving more and more into the educational side of educational technology. This is perhaps why there hasn’t been much activity here lately, because I’m still very much in the neophyte student as information sponge stage of my learning process.
Yet as I’ve said before, blogs are useful in many ways - not the least of bit being for collection, synthesis, research and reflection on your personal learning journey. And my present learning journey has taken me towards learning styles.
According to Wikipedia (Learning Styles):
“A learning style is the method of learning particular to an individual that is presumed to allow that individual to learn best. It is commonly believed that most people favor some particular method of interacting with, taking in, and processing stimuli or information.“
The literature on Learning Styles is vast and comprehensive and I’ve only just begun to scratch the surface. So there is much still to digest in this and I suspect I’ll end up seeking a more formalised qualification to help guide me through this path.
With that said, according to the basics of learning styles there are three primary models:
- Auditory Learning
- Kinesthetic learning
- Visual Learning
The synopses of each of these learning styles according to Wikipedia are included below.
“Auditory Learning is a style of learning in which a person learns most effectively by listening to information delivered orally, in lectures, speeches, and oral sessions. Auditory learners make up about 25% of the population”
“Kinesthetic learning is a teaching and learning style in which learning takes place by the student actually carrying out a physical activity, rather than listening to a lecture or merely watching a demonstration. Students with this predominant learning style are natural discovery learners; they have realizations through doing, as opposed to having thought first before initiating action”
I’ve seen kinesthetic learning referred to as tactile learning in certain references, while others treat tactile learning as a completely separate model. I’ll be looking into why this is the case and will post my findings here. In the meantime if anyone reading this blog has any useful resources please leave me a comment.
“Visual learning is a proven teaching method in which ideas, concepts, data and other information are associated with images and represented graphically. Graphic organizers, such as webs, concept maps and idea maps, and plots, such as stack plots and Venn plots, are some of the techniques used in visual learning to enhance thinking and learning skills.”
References:
- Auditory Learning - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditory_learning
- Kinesthetic Learning - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinesthetic_learning
- Visual Learning - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_learning
- Learning Styles - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_styles
February 13th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
You’re right there is a lot written around learning styles. Recently, they’ve begun to add more styles including digital learners. I’ve posted on this frequently at http://www.learningatlightspeed.wordpress.com.
There are two professional organizations that have really good material as well. Check out http://www.astd.org (American Society of Performance Improvement) and http://www.ispi.org (International Society of Performance Improvement.
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February 13th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Hi Steve,
Thanks for the links - I’ll be sure to take a look
I’ll be particularly interested in the digital learning styles.
Cheers,
Mike
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