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Learning is more than just asking questions and getting answers (whether through social media or a search engine), there\u2019s an active component to learning that is too often forgotten. When I look at the tools in the Top 100 tools for learning, I see some reflective tools, e.g. writing, but I may be one of the few who\u2019s talking about diagramming tools, and I think that\u2019s important. Not diagramming, per se, but representation tools that allow us to express our understanding.<\/p>\n
So in my mind learning is action and reflection, with two nuances. The first notion is that the action\/reflection cycle is the process, not the outcome. The outcome, technically, is a new response to the same stimuli. In short, we act and reflect to develop our ability to do something different and presumably better. The second is that this is separate from instruction, which is designed<\/em> action and guided<\/em> reflection.\u00a0 Self<\/em>-learning, however, requires self<\/em>-designed action and self<\/em>-guided reflection.<\/p>\n So, in Harold Jarche\u2019s Seek-Sense-Share model of Personal Knowledge Management, I see two main threads under the Sense rubric: experimentation and representation.\u00a0 And both are part of an ongoing learning process.<\/p>\n First, when we blog, diagram, sketch, model, present, or otherwise express our thinking, we\u2019re representing. And that\u2019s important for a couple of reasons. One is that in the process of getting concrete about our thinking, we often (even frequently) find we need to think a little bit harder, and that\u2019s good. The second benefit, of course, is when we go beyond \u2018sense\u2019 to \u2018share\u2019, we can get feedback that can help refine our thinking.\u00a0\u00a0 So even a spreadsheet is a way to express our thinking.<\/p>\n The second element is experimentation, and that\u2019s important too.\u00a0 In learning (read: problem-solving, trouble-shooting, research, design, innovation, etc), we don\u2019t know the answer when we start. So we need to try things.\u00a0 We need to take what we\u2019ve learned and apply it, and review the results. Either it matches our expectations, and we understand it, or it doesn\u2019t and we\u2019re still learning.<\/p>\n Now, we implicitly experiment when we have a problem and get an approach to try, try it, and then we finish when we\u2019ve solved the problem.\u00a0 For longer term learning goals, however, we typically set ourselves a goal we are trying to achieve, and then continue to pursue it. Whether to speak fluently in a new language, perform fluently on a new instrument or in a new sport, or use a new tool productively. And we work toward that goal. Some tools make it easy: DuoLingo as a learning tool gamifies your progress. Your ability to play a new song is obvious.\u00a0 You may be able to run faster or further.\u00a0 Or you may close more deals.<\/p>\n The flip side, however, is tracking your own progress. You can do it with fitness tools, or accomplishing set goals. And you may break it down more (e.g. to play this riff today, and tomorrow I\u2019ll add that bit).\u00a0 You don\u2019t have to make it explicit, though it can help.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not sure that there are many tools that are expressly for tracking individual informal learning progress (though I\u2019m using a new task\/project management tool to create my todos and then mark them when done). Still, thinking consciously about learning goals and tracking progress could be a valuable adjunct to intentional learning.<\/p>\n Our learning tools, then, include how we find and view information, but also how we represent our thinking and track our development. And we should at least be explicit about the process, even if we don\u2019t explicitly use tools for all parts of it, but to be mindful of not only how well we\u2019re learning, but how well we\u2019re learning to learn!<\/p>\nShare this:<\/h3>