There has been lots of chatter over the last week or so about whether learning styles are a real phenomenon, or just a posit that was let loose and has become a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts.
I can't help but wonder, even if they do exist, do they matter? Is it my learning style, or my learning patterns that matter? As a teacher, am I wasting my time trying to adapt teaching to fit their learning styles while force fitting them into a pre-defined learning pattern that is cold and unnatural to many of them?
I have increasingly over the last 6 months found myself wanting to spend more time talking to student about this question - which I see as a key to unlocking what might be wrong with education today...
"How do you learn when you WANT to learn?"
So, I'll pose the question first to any of you reading this. How do you learn when you want to learn? Do you follow the patterns you had imprinted on you in your days as a student? Have you patterns changed? How has technology changed them?
I've got to figure out a way to try and get some honest answers to this question from students, as I am sure there is a lot we can uncover that might help us reach more of them...
Keywords: learning, learning styles