Learning is such an interesting and loaded topic because it means so many different things to so many different people–especially since people have so many different types of intelligence/areas that they excel in. As we read about, there are many different learning styles and each is suited to different people based on how they think, act, and remember things. Personally, I think my best learning comes from experience. I find that experiential or hands on learning is the best way for me to grasp information. This applies for me in all aspects of life. For example, at work, I learn things best when someone walks me through how to do it while watching me and then I am able to repeat it–whereas if I just watch someone else do it or have them explain it to me, it is likely that I won’t remember the exact steps or processes. The best learning experience that I have had was actually travelling. I know that this seems a bit stretched, but since the term learning is so broad, I think that this experience is more than appropriate to talk about. After first year of University, I could not decide what I wanted to do for the life of me when it came to choosing a career path or even courses for that matter. My best friend Lauren and I decided to take a year off to work and travel while deciding exactly what we wanted to do come the following September. So, as naive 19 year olds, we set off to Asia with just a backpack and hope for some enlightenment–and boy, was enlightenment what I got. I learned more about culture, geography, politics and living conditions than I possibly could have imagined, not to mention the things that I learned about myself. I was forced to use maps that were actually on paper and not on my phone; I learned bits of new languages so I could try to interact with the local people; I learned about the dangers of large gangs controlling the government and I learned how to manage money and even how to drive a vespa. I had teachers who were street food vendors, who were tour guides, who were samaritans who just wanted to help out, who were hostel owners or even fellow travellers. All of the things I learnt, I could have learnt by reading in a book or by hearing about these things from other people, but the experiences that I had will shape how I do things for the rest of my life and that is something I could never learn from a book.
October 1, 2020
Learning, Motivation and Theory
sineadswan
Administrator