Adult Learning
Over the years, I've taught hours and hours and hours of classes to adults (how to write (legal briefs and fiction), how to research, how to do presentations, etc.) I've had adult learning theory drilled into me in various Train the Trainer courses.
Still, I'm surprised to see how differently people learn.
Me, I'm a learn-by-doing person. Two evenings ago, at work, I realized that our online catalog was riddled with references to our now-defunct law firm name. We're mounting an all-out effort to greet our new merger-partners on Monday morning - having an online catalog that excluded them Would Not Do. And so, it was time to learn how to reformat the online catalog, including re-doing the graphics, the basic menu design, etc.
I *loved* fiddling with it. No, I wasn't always happy - there were too many things that I thought would work that didn't, and too many things about the 7-year-old software that are just stupid. But I tried things, used existing menus as guides, taught myself how the program works.
And when I left work today, we had a new and improved online catalog - with only the new firm name displayed.
Some people learn by reading about things. Some learn by asking questions and hearing answers. Some learn by manipulating objects.
How about you? What type of learner are you?
Mindy, who was reminded of the joys of getting a computer program to type "Hello World" back in 1982, when she thought she'd be a computer science major)
Still, I'm surprised to see how differently people learn.
Me, I'm a learn-by-doing person. Two evenings ago, at work, I realized that our online catalog was riddled with references to our now-defunct law firm name. We're mounting an all-out effort to greet our new merger-partners on Monday morning - having an online catalog that excluded them Would Not Do. And so, it was time to learn how to reformat the online catalog, including re-doing the graphics, the basic menu design, etc.
I *loved* fiddling with it. No, I wasn't always happy - there were too many things that I thought would work that didn't, and too many things about the 7-year-old software that are just stupid. But I tried things, used existing menus as guides, taught myself how the program works.
And when I left work today, we had a new and improved online catalog - with only the new firm name displayed.
Some people learn by reading about things. Some learn by asking questions and hearing answers. Some learn by manipulating objects.
How about you? What type of learner are you?
Mindy, who was reminded of the joys of getting a computer program to type "Hello World" back in 1982, when she thought she'd be a computer science major)
Mostly I think I'm hands-on.