Sunday, January 9, 2011

My personal learning environment~

            As a human being, we are automatically engaged in an ongoing learning process since the day we were born into this world. However, despite the fact that learning is a human nature, each and every individual have their own different distinguishable learning preference. These learning preference may be predetermined biologically even when they are still an infant, but at the same time can be developed and adapted to be more effective in order to cope with the current need and surrounding environment of that particular individual. In other word, some people may prefer a type of learning process which is effective to them, while some other may prefer a different one but can change depending on the situation.
            As an individual, my learning process involves cramming and focusing on a subject at the very last minute. This method may be considered as a bad habit by some, but so far for me it is not as bad as it was claimed by those people. I have learnt and know lots of ‘effective’ learning process in many seminars and academic camps that I have attended since primary school, but I just cannot adapt to those styles. As mentioned above, each individual have their own effective learning preference and this is my learning preference. Cramming means trying to absorb a huge amount of information in a short amount of time, which is one of the best method to be used during the study week before an exam takes place. This technique is relevant to me, as I find myself unable to stay focus for a long period of time.
            However, I have to admit that this style has its own flaws. The huge amount of information that were forced to be remembered in such a  short time tends to last for a short time too, if not practised or revised in the near future. This would be a problem if that information needs to be used again for future studies. Another downside of this technique is that not everyone can handle the pressure in order to actually use this technique. Cramming on the eleventh hour will surely put an enormous pressure on oneself, and some people cannot withstand it and end up not being able to absorb anything. Though there is a saying that people work best under pressure, it only works on a certain people. Lastly, this technique limits you to work alone, or at most in a small group, due to the reason above; not many people can survive this technique.
            Learning process can be improved in many ways, and one of them is by using technology. Technology does not mean only computer and other digital gadgets, it is not limited only to those. In fact, almost everything that we use today is a technology, in fact even a simple tool like a pen is a technology. The history has proven that technology is a very powerful force. Learning process has been improved countless time in all these years by using technology. Books were improved from being hand written to the more organized and uniform printing method. This allows the knowledge to expand faster and indirectly improved not only the learning process but also affected the course of human living style.
            The internet is considered as one of the most powerful tool of technology ever created by human. In the learning context, the internet can helps us achieve many things that were considered impossible in the 60’s and the 70’s. Information can be send across the world in mere seconds, video chat, virtual reality, these things were never even thought at that time. But now, with the arrival of the internet, the world is now truly is without boundary.
I myself have used the internet as one of my main source to get information and knowledge. I can interact with the lecturers online and get instant feedback, rather than having to make an appointment and wait for a specific date where both the lecturer and I are free, which is not always possible. The online is undeniably far more convenient, faster, and efficient. The SPIN and the IELLS, used by The National University of Malaysia are a few examples of websites that allows the direct interaction between lecturers and their students.
Personally, I find reading a long printed text to be hard. It is easy to lose track of the text due to physical condition of the reading material as well as the limited human ability to focus to small written text. This is where the digital media comes to play. Digital media allows me to read easily and more organize. No more losing track to the text, as the digital media can be viewed in various modes and sizes of font.
             The digital media, be it an e-book or just a rewritten form of a book in a digital form is extremely effective to me compared to the traditional books. They are indeed an upgraded version of the traditional books and are meant to be a better medium for us.
            Technology will never stop improving. As long as human have imagination, there will be new ideas, and these new ideas will be the very foundation of the next generation technology. This means that the technology is almost limitless, as long as we can think of it, there is a possibility for it to be achieved. Even the current technology can evolve into something new to fulfil the current need.
            I wish that I can utilise the technology available to me to help me understand and absorb even more information in a particular time period than I already can. This would improve my learning process a lot, as the objective of cramming is to absorb as many information as you can in the least time.
It is stated in , the more sense that we use in the process, the better the information will be absorbed. Therefore, I will try to make use of the technology to involve as many of senses as possible in the information absorbing process. Visual aid is one way to increase the effectiveness of the absorption of information by the human brain that has been used by today educators in Malaysia. Lessons can be improved by being accompanied by visual and audio stimulation, and maybe even physical stimulation for certain subject for maximum learning effectiveness. If used, this would be a huge improvement for me, as my learning style involves focussing in the class, and cramming in the last minute. The extra effectiveness in the absorption would helps to reduce the time needed to absorb the information when cramming.
            The text books for schools and universities should be made available in        e-books and audio books form. This would make the learning process more interesting and allows me to experience a more interactive approach, rather than just merely read. By being more interactive, the contents of the books will be able to actually engage my mind more than it would when it is in the traditional text book form.
            The internet, as stated earlier being one of the most powerful tools for human kind are also one of the most useful. It usefulness are almost infinite, you can access any information that you can think of from it. I can easily access any previous lecture notes from the portals that every university has nowadays, in order to revise them when the exam draws near. Furthermore, extra information for a particular subject or topic can be found on the internet in millions of the websites across the world that can provide me a better understanding on that particular subject or topic.
            In conclusion, each and every one of us has our own learning preference that may be effective for us but not other. I prefer cramming on a subject at the eleventh hour, which may not be favoured by others. We should use whatever style that suits us for our current condition and surrounding that can provide the best result in term of effectiveness of learning. 

yesss! siap pon akhirnya!!!! skrg pukul 5.30 pagi, boleh tido sejam! oh yeah!!!