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A Personal View On Learning Because I believe so deeply and honestly that I have developed one of the most cutting edge forms of Multimedia content delivery, I would mostly like to share with you the underlying reasons for WHY it is a better plan, with a higher commitment. I have been immersed in these technologies and theories
for eight years of university training. My Master’s Thesis was
the development of a Prospectus for an Online Learning Environment.
My current Doctoral studies are still on the path of delivering
today’s technologies to the underserved and non-digitally-aware
components of our society – inner city children of poor means
and even poorer vision. I have proven that these young learners
CAN be reached, taught, and helped to find their own, fresh ideas
toward success in life. The Internet is reaching every facet of human life. The leaders in this industry are the ones scrabbling to keep up. Those of us, who work with this challenge daily, are steps ahead of those who don’t, and more inclined to understand why these things work, and how much effort it will take to make them work for us. The general learning public, however, is floundering. Education, as we know it, is struggling to deliver these new technologies effectively. Our mission is to approach each person with methods and modes that will help, and not alarm them with the feeling that they cannot “do” these technologies. Ironically, the Internet has also brought us to a point in the history of humanity, where new modes of teaching are closer to echoing the manner in which the human brain thinks … and LEARNS. |
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Learning content, delivered at adjustable speed, and giving the learner doses that he or she controls. Sight, sound, motion, and even a sense of tactile sensations (in 3D mode) is training delivered in the same form that our brains are constructed to receive. This is the excitement, and the beauty, of the learning environment of the digital world. My years of advanced degree learning since mid-1997, online, is proof of how effective this is. I have learned what is effective … and what isn’t. My deep studies and personal experience with modes of delivery, and the various “handshakes” I’ve researched — from academics to global commerce — are the foundation of my goals for all work that I take on. There is an indelible tie between commerce and learning. We have a responsibility, in mentorship, to pass prior and current skills and knowledge to the next generation. First, my Doctoral dissertation will be, in large part, the discussion of this irreducible, new-millennium partnership between commerce and education. Never, ever, will this retract or reverse, short of from global chaos. As we take learners into the future, it will be for purposes of meeting the demand of a global commerce. The technologies studied MUST be timely, and driven by almost instantaneous, daily changes. As educators, we must find ways to deliver that! Never before has such dedication been demanded out of educators. We are no longer studying and implementing “historical things” as we are busy in the making of new history. We are also creating the environments at the very time they are needed. The students we have will then be taking the knowledge and skills into an immediate professional arena. It is a time of SEVERE collaboration in learning, for the next thing you learn may very well be from a student who first learned his skill, in your course room. Secondly, a portion of what we teach must go beyond simply keeping a curriculum “current.” Most of my graduate research has been in “bleeding edge” areas. In the professional world, most of what I’ve implemented has been at the hand of research done in this moment of time, not even going back one year, let alone five or ten. Most has been done with the knowledge base online, as the printed word has no hope of keeping up! The standard in today’s online universities, at least among my peers in digital technology, is that a reference older than two years, is useless. This has given new light to scholarly research and writing! Learning environments that I’ve created, as well as worked on, within a team – and those of my studies – all show common successes for common reasons. They help students to gain higher success ratios in areas such as information retention and assimilation, for all of the reasons found in years of research – much of which is based around the basics of human communication. We simply retain things better from seeing, hearing, and manipulating, than we do things of the written word. I will go one step further, to say that my environments also inculcate the importance of reaching a learner on a one-to-one basis, of exciting that person to reach beyond a fear or a level of discomfort of “the computer” and to reach inside his/her emotional content for being in a particular learning situation. I think it is vastly more important to teach a learner that these technologies are FLUID, and his or her thoughts and actions could very well add to the base of information – than it is, simply handing out methods and data, expecting a “drill and kill” response back. To reach the learner with the excitement of technologies going forward in time, is much more important to me as an educator, than if that student can pass any given exam. The learning environments and programs of coursework that I am currently developing are absolutely, at this time, innovative and one of a kind. There are pockets of this kind of learning, in many places, universities and professional entities alike. Most of it is experimental. My recent learning web site for the standards and development team at Sprint was one such artifact. Whether it continues to be a viable tool will reside only in their commitment to hiring an educator with the same values (not to mention the technical/Web skills), who will keep the information base FLUID and timely. I appreciate you taking the time to ponder my inner-based feelings on LEARNING. I believe that my objectives for instilling a goal of lifelong learning in all students, is quickly becoming the underlying standard in education. The multimedia stratagems that I have been recently implementing have much to do with the personalization of knowledge acquisition. The use of the Internet and CD-ROM are today’s standard, and fit well with traditional in-classroom teaching. The added benefit for the student, in being able to “take the classroom home” on a small disc, is invaluable both in respect of advanced learning for the student, and less time needed for repetitive description, by the teacher/facilitator. This is a time of heightened independence in the learning scene! As modes of delivery advance more and more into wireless technologies, we must begin to build that kind of fluidity into our learning designs. Moreover, we must present that level to our students … and awareness of the importance of staying aware and current of trends in the technologies that make up all aspects of our lives. It is my goal to help my clients achieve a seriously high level of information delivery in this proposed program of study. Truly unique in presentation, I expect this will launch not just the effectiveness of MY theory, but the abilities and successful delivery of content by the clients with which I work. I expect that this will make a huge impact on every client, individualized to the needs of their learners. My design is directed at not just the Science/technology part of the human brain, but the Art/creative-reactive side, as well. If there is one thing that Internet deployment is proving, it is that the “left-” and “right-sides” of the brain do, indeed, work in tandem. Current research shows that the highest level of learning happens when all the senses are involved. I’ve approached this knowledge and skill level with much excitement, for it’s apparent that it will be a problem-solving edge for education delivery. One of my glaring concerns is that a student, today, will be my peer in the work world, tomorrow. Personally, I prepare everything I do, keeping in mind that the next person I meet and/or teach … will be a genius with the capacity to change the world. We must reach that person in the best possible way! Thank you for allowing me to share my vision with you, for solutions in our mutual outreach for excellence in digital learning places. Warm Regards, Leanne Boyd Multimedia and Learning Environments
 Time ...
one of our greatest gifts. Don't ever waste it, or throw it away. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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