How technology has changed the way we learn:

Technology, like education, is in a constant state of flux and always has, does and will continue to change the way we learn. Equally the way we learn and what we learn will also continue to inform technology.  On a personal level technology has transformed the way I learn and engage with education. For example when I was 25 I made the decision to go to university, at this point I didn’t know I was really dyslexic I just generally avoided writing anything with a pen and thought I was bad at spelling. The letter that I wrote by hand to apply to the university took me around three weeks to complete. This included showing it to people and editing it numerous times to make it sound as less mental as possible. It wasn’t a long letter and a normal person probably could have knocked it out in about an hour. After being assessed and getting statemented the following year, which allowed me to discover the particular flavour of dyslexia I have and how it impacts my ability to write and consequently how I can overcome this (use a keyboard to type not a pen). The result was that a year after writing that letter I was able to write, using a laptop, a 3000 word synopsis of the history of stained glass off the top of my head in two hours as some additional notes for a module. This probably doesn’t seem a lot by other people’s standards but for me it was totally life changing. I discovered I actually enjoyed writing as apposed to the experience it had always previously been using a pen where my prose always broke down to “the cat sat on the mat” it was liberating suddenly being able being able to see my thoughts and ideas written down as they were and not bastardised.  In addition to this I learnt to record lectures, more often than not using my phone. I used MindView (mind mapping software) to organise myself and read and write text reading software.  Another significant way technology has changed the way we/I learn is of course the Internet. Nearly everything I’ve learnt in the past 5 years has been through this medium. I can’t underestimate how much I’ve learnt this way I find it highly successful. I "would rather  learn over the internet and get more individual attention from instructors in online courses" (Pallof and Pratt, 1999). I find them   much more effective for me than traditional classroom learning. it includes among other things; using Photoshop, Illustrator, SketchUp, Rhino, Word, rejigging my mac, taking it apart, servicing it, replacing components, similarly completely taking apart and repairing at least 10 different types of mobile including iPhone 3G/3GS/4/4S. Completely taking apart my MTB's and rebuilding them, Taking apart a motorbike engine and parts of my truck, various vacuum cleaners, cooking, propagating plants, learning guitar and saxophone. It’s endless really and definitely represents the most amazing change to the landscape. All around the world it enables people to learn things they could never have dreamed of only a short time ago.  I do slightly live in fear that this may not always be an option and that a time may come when I look back at this sweet spot where so much was available to so many people but in the end everyone just wanted to watch films and buy stuff and we blew it. It definitely makes me think I need to make an effort to contribute to it and not just rely on the efforts of others. I digress.

Palloff, R. and Pratt, K. (1999). Building learning communities in cyberspace. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.