Learning style and Effectivness of learning

Learning styles are very imporant in finding out what your students know and how they learn best. Once you have worked this out, then your lesson planning becomes easier. There are many ways in which to find this out not only for you but for you students also.

Dales cone theory and the learning Pyramid are two of them. They are both based on the aspect of what is more important to them and what to put first. When these needs have been met, the person feels a sense of belonging and comfort.

Learning Styles

There is a quiz created by Richard M. Felder and Linda K. Silverman which in detail, uses your collaboration of answers to inform your own personality choice, which in most cases are quite spot on, simply by a multiple choice questionaire. These people created the quiz profile which is used not by everyday people but also by buisnesses for interviews and for company work/staff enhancment.

I believe that these quizzes are an extroardinary way of finding out one's personality and to it's exact measurements !... I have taken this quiz quite a few times before and always seem to get the same one, which is good, although sometimes people change and their type can be different over the years.
My personality temperment is ENFJ Idealist. It states under this personality type, that we are teachers, and have a natural talent for leading students and training towards learning and contribute to the learners potential. We instrinsicly communicate personal concern to others (Empathise), warm, friendly, yet also outgoing.
Here is a link to the Jung site
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jungtype.htm

Just referring to the Mazlow's Hierarchy of Needs article http://www.normemma.com/armaslow.htm. Looking at the pyramid of needs created by Mazlow, it clearly states that each child, regardless of economic status, should be entitled to the same needs as the next child which obviously shows that food, shelter, warmth and water. Not only at home, but also in the education learning setting.

For a student to learn, there has to be the correct classroom climate which feels like a comfortable and caring environment. After these critical needs have been met, then the other needs should be looked at. For instance, you wouldnt, in our current economic status, begin a classroom learning situation with no chairs/desks/roof. It is not possible for students in our time to learn without these necessities, or if in a Snow-filled country, for students to have no windows and be shivering cold.

When all aspects of such have been met, then it is possible to meet other needs such as Safety, Belonging/love, and then deal with issues of self esteem and creative talents...
The Mazlow theory should be taken into account, not only before each lesson, but should become second nature, almost an instantanious intuitive thought process for anyone working with children, to ensure that they are looked after in the best possible way.

Lifelong Learning and the connection between ICT's and the future.

Lifelong learning is the status for education, which in a nutshell, describes the ideals that we are focussed on as learning teachers of today.

Learning is a daily process in which we subconsciously do, not only as children growing up, but as adults also, we learn new things every single day without realising it. Although, the times have changed in the way that we learn.

We have gone from a simple, yet methodically approached learning in the early 1900 to a more informed, less structured and more Technology based future which has completely changed the way our learning is substituted.

For instance, connectivism and Seiman's theory states that this is the 21st century and our students have evolved completely on the basis that technology is the way of the future, regardless of socio economic status and there is nothing we can do about it. Technology will further increase it's capabilities and learning online has taken over libraries and books.

Learning is more about blogging/wikis and collaborative learning through ICT's. Sharing this information with the world, local community and fellow students is the only way we will learn from each other.

A perfect example is this course and the new CQU moodle site which is completely online, and we are all contributing the the forum with our own ideas, yet at the same time, we are all far from each other geographically. We can still learn, and help each other, and what a fantastic tool.

I, myself, am a visual learner and found the You tube uploads quite helpful, as I seemed to skim over the majority of the larger scales of text as my mind seems to get lost. Although, writing however, is a different story !

You need to pay attention, because Learning is lifelong and relative. To teach is one thing, but to engage the learner, is another.