Journal #9

“Online Learning in Harmony,” by Kimberley Ketterer.

This article discusses how the internet has brought together to very different learning styles behaviorist and constructivist. It tell how in the past that these two learning styles were kept separate and how teachers would spend countless hours researching which is the best style to use in teaching their students. Now with the use of the internet one teacher can use both styles to fit the needs of each of their students. If a student learns best through drill and practice there are perfect for students to do activities that will use the method of repetition to reinforce any subject content. If the student learns best through project-based learning, there are website they can use to explore images, sounds, text, stories, and ideas while collecting information. Now the two of these methods go more hand in hand. Students can be taught skills through drill and practice and this will pave the way for more exploratory and collaborative learning through the use of the internet.

Which of these learning styles do I feel describes my teaching style? I feel some students are going to need the repetition to reinforce the material, while others will appreciate a more open ended type discussions that encourage decision making. However, I really like how these to methods go together and one can build the students ability level to reach the other.

What type of learning style do I learn best from? I know that I am a hand’s on person. I have to be able to do something myself to really get a good grasp on it and not just have someone tell me the instructions for me to follow. But it really depends on what it is I am trying to do (the difficulty level). I can see where I would benefit from both of these methods. I also like to question why thing are the way they are, so the open ended discussion is appealing to me as well. I am probably like most students, in some areas I may need the repetition and in some areas I may need to investigate on my own.