As an educator, it is my responsibility to myself, my students, and my employer to continue my own personal education. I find this to be a sensible expectation, for the best way to learn to teach a person is to place oneself in that person’s role.
Many of the topics of this blog will represent my thoughts, products, and creations that result from the courses in which I am engaged for this very purpose. Here, you will find one such post.
En route to earn greater mastery in the field of technology in education, I am taking a CEP 810 course focused on technology integration. Before technology can be properly integrated, however, one must understand learning.
In an essay devoted to this very purpose, I define learning and understanding as “the construction of knowledge and development of skills on the foundation of prior knowledge and skills and through the application of interests and experiences.” In studying the work of Branson, Brown and Cocking (2000), How People Learn, it becomes clear that learning and understanding are significantly different aspects of education that are inseparably intertwined. (For a complete reference to this work, view the essay linked above.)
The purpose of my essay is to not only define these concepts, but also discuss their dynamics within the contrast between experts and novices and the possible strategies for remedying that contrast. Experts and novices in a field clearly demonstrate differences, and since the more desirous of the two is the expert, educators must tackle the problem of how to move an individual of novice cognition to expert.
View the essay above to learn more, and feel free to share thoughts and comments below.
Did you find the essay insightful or uninteresting? Share below.
Defending Learning 
I found your essay to be insightful. The way you described learning and understanding as fuel for the brain was very interesting. Sometimes we forget that our mind need fuel and nutrition to reach its fullest potential. We may learn, or take in those “nutrients”, but if we do not understand, or “digest”, the information, it is worthless in the end. You completely summed it up!
When you mention that students differ “from every other individual in learning and understanding” because of their environment, I thought about it. In my opinion, there are groups and styles of learning and understanding. I believe everyone is unique, but that peoples’ learning styles can align. I think the same goes for understanding. There are the visual learners, auditory learners, and kinesthetic learners, and I believe everyone falls into at least one of those categories. As for understanding, I believe we are a product of our environment. I understand your point completely; therefore, I figured I would share mine.
In your classroom(s), do you have any students that you would consider experts? I only see my students once per week for computers/technology, so it would be unfair to assume anyone of mine was an “expert” on the subject. I always find it interesting that a student can excel for me, and struggle for the rest of his/her teachers. While elective classes are typically less strenuous, I expect 100% from my students, and very rarely do I see less. I have a handful of students who are very knowledgeable when it comes to technology, but I am not sure they would be experts just yet.
The need to check for understanding and put it to use is so important, and I agree. If we simply teach at our students, they will eventually tune us out. We need to constantly find ways to engage our students and check for understanding before we move onto the next lesson. I always tell me students we can not move on until I am sure everyone understands the basics. My example to them is always math related. I ask them if they can learn to multiply if they still do not know how to add. Their answer is always “no”, and it helps them to comprehend the importance of understanding.
Your essay was thought-provoking, and I look forward to reading more!
Thanks for the observations and feedback!
I think you are right about the categories of learners. I tend to drift toward extremes when it comes to those kinds of discussions and have to always remind myself to consider different perspectives.
You asked about my own students and their levels of expertise. I would say that some students certainly fall in the category of “developing experts” in various fields, but as a high school students, it is very difficult for them to reach expert status so young. Even so, I teach at a specialized academy (Aviation theme), and with the territory, we attract some very gifted young people in that field. Perhaps a few of these might already be considered experts in select ways (we have multiple licensed pilots in our senior class, so one may consider them “experts”).
In any event, the idea that I, as a teacher, may be instrumental in helping any one student develop into an expert is a very fulfilling idea!
Thanks again!