WHAT IS LEARNING?

THEORIES OF LEARNING

There is many ways to learn thing and by using different methods and theories can new knowledge be created. By construction knowledge as a framework as a dynamic internal process, which is created on the including environment/the context, which you’re in, visual language can be used by all senses, whatever method is used.

Definitions of learning:

“The relatively permanent change in a person’s knowledge or behavior due to experience”  (Mayer, 1982, p. 1040).

“An enduring changes in behavior, or in the capacity to behave in a given fashion, which results from practice or other forms of experience” (Shuell, 1986, p. 412).

Some learning methods are summarized presented below:

Behaviorism is a process of associating the stimulus with response, which produces a new behavior. This learning method is therefore defined as a change in the behavior of the learner. It focuses on the skills and behavioral outcomes of the learning process.

---

Cognitivism learning method is based on how information must be presented in a organized mannar to achieve the most effective way to learn.  Active participants and use of information as an input for a mind process, which you can use later for learning, are an example to achieve this method of learning. It focuses on the cognitive processes involved in learning as well as how the brain works.

---

Constructivism is a learning theory that argues that humans construct meaning from current knowledge structures “Constructivism is the study of a learner’s own construction of knowledge”

---

Connectivismis a learning theory, in which knowledge exists outside of the learner; how we put information between different contexts and find connections, which can build new knowledge.

Electric and Blended learning

Electronic learning

Electronic learning or E-learning is a type of distance learning, a flexible way to join classes and different minors without demands of your location. E-learning is often referred to some use of computer and use of different networks and multimedia technologies.

Communication technologies used in E-learning

Communication technologies can be divided in two categorizes, asynchronous and synchronous. Blogs, open forums, emails and digital papers are examples when the participants work by their own, without dependency of other participants involvement at the same time. Synchronous are the opposite to asynchronous, here is the idea to involve more participants in the same “work” during the same period of time. Face to face is one general action within synchronous communication but program as “Google docs” has made it possible to work online at the same document during the same period of time, which include many new opportunities and effectiveness of work. This can be compared with a virtual classroom, their participants joining the same task and can also have a spontaneous communication with each other.

This virtual classrooms and meetings can often use a mix of communication technologies and can also be called blended learning.

Blended learning

A simple definition of blended learning is when e-learning and traditional face-to-face learning in a normal classroom is mixed to perform a learning technology, which can be used for “normal” students and distance students. A good example is when teachers use online forums for their course material and also as a meeting point for students to discuss.

I have many different experiences about E-learning and blended learning and I won’t say it’s something is better then the other or some off them is not good to use, because it depending on how developed the connection tools are. I like to go to normal classes and have a teacher into the front of the classroom, that force me to school to have my classes, which can be hard to motivate if I will be home and try to focus on a recorded lecture for example. There is often many other “more important” things to do then. However, I think by encouraging the students to use computers, tablets and mobiles in the right purpose to lectures, I think a more effective learning can be created.

Digital storytelling

 The LEGO® Story

This movie is about the toy manufacturer LEGO. The movie was created as an animation movie and it tells the history how the company was created, how the name was found and how the development of the company performs during the years.

The movie creations are well executed and have a personal impression because the storyteller is one of the owners. LEGO are a famous company and they are well known worldwide but by the movie do I know now how they have struggled to get there they are today. This is the thing LEGO shows with their movie, they add a now dimension of knowledge to the consumers, who the owners are and their family story.

The movie succeed to connect the personality in the plastic toys they are selling, which can sees as a mass produced thing for children’s and for adults who have not grown up yet, who the owner was, the roots of carpenters profession, it’s a family company and the story and of the ups and downs.

When creating a story are there some criterias that is good to use to ensure a good result.

• Structure of the story
• The context/aim/subject
• Technic to tell the story (ex. Voice over)
• Duration
• Communication style
• Engagement

The Story of LEGO is a good example of these criterias and how it can be implemented in a storytelling movie.  The structure in this movie is like a “normal” story, it ending with its starting point.  A man,  which are the last owner of the company tells the story about the family company and it’s his voice we hear the whole story (voice over) and he will take us back in the time from the first owner till his own time and tell us what happened there between. The visual communication in the movie is clear and understandable because they use a combination of voice and images/movie illustration. This holds the engagement and attention of the story of the audiences. Its duration is about 17 minutes and  by leaving the payoff of until the end of the movie as it hard to stop watch.

I think many people have some kind of relation to LEGO and that evokes emotions feelings about the story and the audiences can relate thing with them self.  

The project

Here is a introduction movie  for one of the assignment in the minor VKB, there a project group shall conduct a concept to improve lifelong learning i Europe.

By investigation of earlier work within this subject and reachers about different taget groups and clients, have this project taget and aim been selected.

Now! Enjoy this movie, which explain our path to the starting point for the development of a concept for lifelong learning in Europe.

 

The result of this project can you find here and much of the graphic material, which I have done can you also see on mime sketchbook.

Here is a cliffhanger to wake your interested!

SEMIOTIC

To be able to analyze and understand images, graphic forms and another art is Semiotic used. This can be implemented and used everywhere and not only in language or images.

According to Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913), Swiss linguist  “Semiotics is a study of signs in the social life.

Semiotic is well used in visual communication due to their main function to construct and simplify an understanding for something.

You can also use semiotic in construction of products.
For example a handle:

                        

Here is one good and one bad example in use of semiotic.

The first picture acutely communicate to the user at their main function is to be rotated for some reason. You can understand that due to the pattern it have on its side, which also makes the function better to handle.

The other handle has a good function for rotate and fulfill that required function. But their design can be misleading; due to its similarities as something you can life with (a grip). My opinion is that the designer have fault with the semiotic aspects with this product.

This type of visual language can you see everywhere in the surrounding, things as you might even think about. How do you know to do something when you never did it before? Thanks to the visual language  and the semiotic provides it’s this possible.

How you understand semiotic is connected to previous knowledge and experiences. Due to that is it important to chose right method and strategy when you shall implement semiotic as a visual language.

One principle of semiotic give you an instrument to  be enable to talk in a structured way about the process of understanding and the meaning of e.g. an image.

But if you don’t know the target group, when producing visual language you can bet choose the sign that requires the least prior knowledge. So with other words keep it simple and don’t make it to complicated, the target group will be bigger then.