Post blog entry #6 in reaction to ""Design of Learning Environments""

When I reflect on this week's reading, the phrase "everything in moderation" comes to mind. I'd like to think this is a fairly obvious statement, but I find that this often is not the case. The movie we watched last week, 2 Million Minutes, is a good example of this. Bransford (2000) also discussed it a bit with his discussion about televisions' role, or lack thereof, in learning. (p.150-151) Throughout the learning process, there are a lot of things that need to be kept in balance, including student learning environments, learning activities and learning content.

In the movie 2 million minutes, it appeared that in India and China, learning was divided throughout the four categories that were discussed in this weeks chapter (learner, knowledge, assessment and community). There was a whole lot of learning and assessment going on throughout every aspect of their lives. What content was being learned? How is their knowledge being applied across activities and life experiences? These areas did not seem to be quite as diverse. Math and science were primary focuses for the students. Having such a narrow focus limited learning opportunities in other areas including sports, music, arts, etc. All of the children seemed to have taken interest in some of these areas, but were limited in their time to experience them in their learning environments. The reason for this is probably because the motivating factor for investing time in learning is the summative assessment tests that measure each students knowledge in math and science related topics over others.

For American students, it seemed quite the opposite. While they understood the importance of classroom based education, extracurricular activities were also important. Television's ability to teach, for instance, is a hot topic of discussion. Bransford clearly identified research that supports the fact that television can assist learning in small doses, but TV should clearly not be a child's babysitter. While this is true, video can be a strong learning tool in small doses. Youtube has become a breeding ground for short tutorials to teach content. This may be helpful in small doses, but interest tends to wane over time.

Although these are two very diverse ways of learning, in moderation, they have the ability to coexist quite nicely together. Life experience is just as important as classroom experience. As the chapter showed, children spend a lot more time out of the classroom than in the classroom and it is important to use that time to learn something. Skills and learning is applied through a variety of ways including while playing video games, having a job, practicing an instrument, or doing homework. However, balance needs to exist in order for effective learning to take place. I always thought the goal of schools is to develop the abilities of learners so that as they grow, they can use their knowledge and skills to contribute to society. If this is the case, then why do we only test knowledge in topics like math and science? Last time I checked, we need a lot more than multiplication and equations to get through life.

Bransford, J. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.