Kim - Self as Learner 

Kimberly Tobin posted Jul 6, 2018 12:08 AM

  

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My learning style has changed since I was in high school. Although I have typically been a visual learner (making lots of lists, taking notes, drawing pictures to help me remember information), I find that I can now adapt to any of the given learning styles.

Technology was initially a challenge for me at the beginning of this Masters degree, as was studying online. I am good at organising my materials and managing my time, but I sometimes take on too much due to lack of confidence in my abilities. Without traditional lectures to make sure I am getting the key points, or in person discussions with other students, I spend a lot of time reading, writing and researching before I produce any outcomes. For any given assignment, I will do the required and suggested readings. I will then pull up anywhere from 6 - 12 articles or essays on the same topic, watch a few YouTube videos and wait until a few students have posted their work to make sure I am on track. I end up with pages and pages of notes and ideas that I then edit to the 300 - 500 words required. Yes, it is very time consuming and I have been criticised for wasting my time, but I feel like my learning is more in depth through this method. 

I am more of a kinesthetic learner when it comes to technology. Though I watch tutorials to learn a new program, I can usually figure things out quickly if I sit down and get to work on it. If I’m shown, I forget. If I do, I learn. I also purposely make a lot of mistakes in the spirit of “let’s see what happens if I do this...”.  

I am a very independent and self-directed learner. I do not always enjoy collaborating online, but I have been lucky in past courses to work with some pretty great people. By sharing our work and participating in discussion boards, I have had access to some amazing work produced by other students that has encouraged me to step up my own game.          

I chose the photo of a person rock climbing to describe my learning style. In my head, I had initially imagined a novice or a hero at the beginning of their journey overlooking an expansive universe of knowledge, eagerly anticipating all the wonderful things they had access to discover. I could not find this picture, haha. So instead I settled on this one as it still illustrates a journey.  I do not think learning is a linear road, and rock climbing allows for some individual discretion as to how I reach my goals.

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