Personal Learning Experiences
Examples from my own learning to use to understand theories covered in edX course IDT100x Instructional Design and Technology: Learning Theories
In grade school we learned to type using a computer program called Type to Learn. I used this program for two years (first and second grade) before changing schools. The program was the teacher, not our actual teachers so much. I loved Type to Learn because it’s fun to learn things by doing them. I went to a really small school (less than 100 students) and we had a progress chart on the door in the computer room where we got a sticker for every level we completed. I was so proud to be in only second grade and have the most stickers of anyone in the school! I’m sure the competition aspect also made the learning enjoyable for me.
I took Spanish classes all through high school and college, but what really helped me learn to speak Spanish was moving to Argentina for four months for a study abroad program. We had class for a few hours in the morning, but the expectation was that we would spend time speaking with our host families and with people we’d meet outside the classroom. My host family hardly spoke any English, so it really forced me to learn better than a textbook or dictionary could.
At a previous job, I was part of an implementation team for a new HRIS for the company. I became the expert administrator, because I took the time to really dive in and try to learn the system. During the implementation period, we had an implementation manager assigned to us who would tell us that the configurations we wanted to do weren’t possible and would suggest a less-than-ideal workaround, but after some hacking and speaking with customer support I would be able to figure out how to do it. Trying different settings on the backend and testing it before launch was a fun challenge for me, and the hands-on experience helped me learn better than anyone else on my team.
