🤔📜Critical Analysis of on any Learning Experience

Critical Analysis on Different Learning Styles and Preferences

On 24^th February, 2023, we had a session on “Different styles and preferences” which was subsequently interlinked with “How ICT can enhance VAK?”. In educational contexts, style and preference among learners may be categorized into six distinct types: Auditory, Visual, Kinesthetics, Guided, Informal, and Independent.  Learning style is how a person naturally learns. It was first proposed in the 1970s and has had a significant impact on the field of education.

Visual learners require diverse presentations of information, such as spatial awareness and photographic memory. Auditory learners prefer listening over reading or hands-on learning. For example, a visual learner needs to see the project, while auditory learners prefer to hear about it. Kinesthetic learners prefer learning through physical activity rather than passive listening or watching. For instance, when learning about wind energy, a visual learner may watch a video, but a kinesthetic learner would rather build a pinwheel to understand wind turbines.

The modality of tactile learning has consistently proven advantageous for me as I acquire knowledge through the sensory experience of physical manipulation and tactile engagement with objects. Based on personal observations, tactile learning is highly favored by most students and should be widely employed in education.

Independent learners correlate with personalized, student-centered, and ownership-based learning. Also, the independent learners can make informed choices, set goals, and make decisions about how to fulfil his learning needs. Informal learner will prefer an education beyond limitations and goes outside of the traditional and formal learning environment. Informal learning is involuntary and an inescapable part of daily life; for that reason, it is sometimes called experiential learning.

I believe that culture and learning styles are correlated. Culture shapes perceptions, which affects information processing. The storage, processing, and assimilation methods for information contribute to how new knowledge is learned. Information handling affects learning, and cultural differences impact teaching effectiveness. Teachers should be aware of the influence of this phenomenon on learning styles in classrooms, particularly with many international students.

Large classes and globalization affect learning styles. Students alter their learning style to fit classroom instruction, which favors teacher's strengths over student preferences. However, this approach has been criticized for placing undue responsibility on the students. Mismatched teaching and learning styles can challenge students to grow intellectually, but predicting which students can adapt is difficult, especially with knowledge gaps or novices. 

This session reminded me to pay closer attention to each child's unique learning abilities and needs. Understanding that every student learns differently, it's vital to cater to diverse learning styles when planning daily lessons for our class. Biases should not be entertained; each student should be treated fairly no matter what their learning style may be.

Technology has become an integral part of teaching and instructing students. It enables educators to accommodate the three main learning styles: visual, auditory and kinesthetic.

Teachers can use technology, such as PowerPoint with visuals, to aid visual learners in grasping the lesson. Visual learners benefit from this practice and find YouTube tutorials on difficult subjects helpful. The Green brothers' "vlogbrothers" channel features popular educational videos with graphics and pictures on diverse topics. Teachers can use these short but informative videos to help visual learners conclude a class unit.

Auditory learners understand via listening and speaking. Presentations fit their style. Technology can improve student education with Skype connecting them to classrooms worldwide. They can listen to specialized guest speakers and connect with native speakers for language classes. This assists students in enhancing conversational skills. For younger students, teachers can engage visual learners with Me Books app on an iPad. The app offers children's books with characters such as Peppa Pig and Peter Rabbit, with an option for the voice reading aloud. Option to record own voice while practicing reading; audiobooks may incur cost, but ideal for auditory learners.

Kinesthetic learners excel with hands-on activities to comprehend new concepts. Technology provides various ways to cater to this learning style. Websites provide free interactive programs for diverse subjects. For instance, the University of Colorado Boulder has a site called PHeT Interactive Simulations offering math and science games. Kinesthetic learners can benefit from games and apps that teach chemistry, such as building atoms or doing online experiments. Some apps teach children how to code while playing games, such as Hakitzu: Code of the Warrior.

By integrating technology, teachers can use tools that engage all types of learners through a combination of visuals, sounds, and interactive objectives. LearnSafe helps administrators identify at-risk behavior and cyberbullying when students use technology in the classroom.

Yet planning for learning progression in ICT capability is one of the many issues faced by early childhood and primary education teachers today. Teachers today have a wide variety of needs to meet in their classrooms. Students may speak different languages, have different educational levels from special education to gifted, or they may have a variety of social and emotional challenges to overcome. Technology, used correctly, can help mitigate these circumstances through differentiation and provide the opportunity for every student to access a quality education.

Students who are learning English can benefit from using technology to present information. For example, English Learners can create slide shows and videos to demonstrate mastery of a concept.

Technology benefits students with special needs present information by overcoming disability barriers. Speech-to-text helps dysgraphia students by converting their spoken words into text. Students who are visually handicapped can use text-to-speech feature for books. Several Assistive Communication applications aid students who can't or struggle to speak, allowing them to communicate with ease by tapping symbols and generating audio. Accelerated students benefit from using technology to create presentations, take advanced courses, and access worldwide information. They connect with mentors and specialists in their preferred fields.

To conclude, we may under look the abilities of any types of learners, but the session made me think differently as a student teacher and also as a teacher. I am now much more inform and educated to take a closer look at each student to better understand their learning style and teach them, accordingly, bringing out their truest potential. By integrating technology into classrooms and taking advantage of all of the different modalities that it offers, the educational needs of all students can be addressed, and quality education can be achieved. 

Thank You