Week 9: My reflections

The topic for discussion this week was differences in learners' learning styles and finding appropriate fit in technology to cater to these differences.

It is true that one size does not fit all and learners have individual differences. Education research is replete with studies which highlight the importance of variations in learners' learning styles and learning strategies and suggested readings this week mention some of these research studies. In his 1983 book called Frames of Mind, Howard Gardner of Harvard University identified seven intelligences we all possess. Later many more types were added to this. The reading at http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic68.htm suggests that learners have shown the following types of learning orientations:

Verbal-Linguistic

Logical/Mathematical

Visual/Spatial

Bodily/Kinesthetic

Musical/Rhythmic

Intrapersonal

Interpersonal

Naturalist

Existentialist

Similarly, Richard M. Felder at http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm has also distinguished between different types of learners according to their predominant learning styles.

Active and reflective learners

Sensing and intuitive learners

Visual and verbal learners

Sequential and global learners

Obviously these categories cannot be "mutually exclusive" as it is difficult to say that a verbal-linguistic learner cannot be a visual-spatial learner. As teachers we know that there is a fair degree of overlapping among the above categories and the wise thing is just to pick up the "dominant" learning styles strand(s) in a class and modify teaching to accommodate these differences. For example we can diagnose a predominant learning style by administering a learning style quiz to our learners as suggested in the link http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-learning-styles-quiz , find out about dominant strands and teach accordingly.

I think apart from these "cognitive" differences learners' learning styles are also grounded in their socio-academic setting. In a way I agree with Sam when he says he is not convinced by the concept of multiple intelligences because effective learning depends on a lot of factors other than learning styles. As practicing teachers we are sensitive to such factors and we keep adjusting our teaching accordingly. So the best option seems to be to create conditions which are conducive to language learning. In my context this would mean blending my traditional "talk and chalk" teaching with multimedia-assisted teaching both online and offline. I think the web tools we have learnt in this course can help us design a variety of learning tasks and select appropriate channels to provide "different strokes for different folks" and lead learners towards their preferred way to autonomous learning.

Safaa highlighted the importance of understanding learners' style when she said: "When you understand your students' learning styles, you can choose the most appropriate activities, teaching aids and materials and vary your techniques to address these ways of learning. The cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains of Bloom's Taxonomy help us link the objectives to the learning styles activities. Here comes your use of technology to facilitate learning, increase students' motivation and raise their performance level."