PSYCHOLOGY OF LEARNING
LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Navigating the Internet
INTRODUCTION:
In writing this paper I faced two dilemmas I had to solve before starting to work on the analysis of the learning experience. The first one was related to the learning process itself, the second to the contents of learning.
The first dilemma was related then to the selection of the particular construct or perspective we were going to use in order to analyze our learning experience.
The days were we thought that learning was a simple association between stimuli and responses are more than over. Today we know and realize that learning is a complex process that neither can be explained in terms of behavioral terms, nor with any individual particular construct by itself. Learning is a holistic process involving several factors, each composed of many individual constructs that interact and compensate for each other.
That is why it is next to impossible to fully analyze any real life learning situation in terms of only one perspective. However, what we can do is analyze a more comprehensive framework and exemplify its parts and processes using a real learning situation.
The goal of this paper is, therefore, to analyze the "Framework for exploring the learning process" by Bransford using a "case history", an individual learning experience related to a new world greatly unexplored by psychology: The information superhighway; the Internet.
The second dilemma was to decide between two dimensions present on the particular learning experience: Either to explore the learning of the tools and instruments necessary to access and explore the Internet, or go directly to the learning of the contents and new dimensions opened by the Internet itself.
For the purpose of this paper, I decided to analyze the learning of the actual tools, instead of the contents, not only because the experience is a more structured and objective one, but because it relates more closely to the framework we want to use.
GLOSSARY OF INTERNET TERMS*
* This previous knowledge is necessary to understand the nature of the learning experience.
Archie: On line searching tool that lets you find files or directories on the Internet by entering a name or description.
E-Mail: Electronic Mail. Text, graphics, sound and photographs transmitted from one computer system to a specific user or group of users at a remote system or systems.
Eudora: Internet-compatible mailer for Macintoshes. Is used to write, send and receive E-Mail messages.
FT: File Transfer Protocol. A set of communication rules for transferring files across a computer to computer link.
Gopher: Internet browsing tool. Lets you browse through the Internet resources using a menu system.
Internet: A network connecting smaller networks, individual users and services around the world.
Mosaic: Mosaic for Macintosh is a network information browser (more technically, a World Wide Web client) that allows you to retrieve documents from the World Wide Web system. Recent versions also allow you to directly connect to other computer systems (Telnet) to browse (gopher) or search (Archie) information through the Internet, and to transfer (FT) files to your computer without the need to jump from one application to another.
World Wide Web: A "hypermedia" (interactive text, sound and graphics tool) system. Initially envisioned as a means of sharing papers and data between physicists, the Web has evolved far beyond its original intent and now includes such diverse information as Gaelic texts, art exhibits, movie clips, and electronic magazines.
RECORD OF THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Previous Knowledge:
Computers, Using E-Mail, Internet exists.
Early Sept.:
• First Exploration attempts Using Eudora, gopher, Archie, FT. Successful E-Mailing, Limited success on FT. Lack of comprehension the rest.
Mid Sept.:
• First Break through strategies: Called UT Computer help. No success since unable to formulate specific questions.
• Read about Mosaic in NewsWeek. Look for Mosaic in UT FT, find and download.
Late Sept.:
• Try to use mosaic, exploration. Very limited success. Gain "some" insight in its use and structure.
Early Oct. :
• Development of new strategies: Borrow book from library "The Internet Navigator". Old edition, does not include anything about Mosaic, but explains basics about the I-Net. Pieces start to fall into place.
• Read about the world wide web (WWW). Previous knowledge gained by exploring mosaic helpful in connecting Mosaic and the web.
• Start using Mosaic again with new knowledge. Success at the beginning, start discovering new things very fast at the beginning, but then limitations in the knowledge of how to use Mosaic limit my exploration to few resources. Feel that I'm leaving a lot unexplored.
Mid Oct.:
• Start looking for new sources of information. Connected to U. Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Download Mosaic Manual. Referencing.
• Get Booklet about computation services at UT. Discover that there is a Web server at UT Austin. Modify Mosaic- change Home Page to the UT Austin Server. Increase speed and centralize resources.
Late Oct.:
• Finish Mosaic manual. Theoretical knowledge about all the available tools.
• Start exploring again with new knowledge. Now everything makes sense. Any place I connect I know what to do and What to look for.
• The learning Curve accelerates again, and since the WWW grows very rapidly every day, I don't think I'll every catch up, but I've become rather proficient in using Mosaic.
ANALYSIS OF BRANSFORD'S FACTORS
1.- Nature of the materials to be learned: The nature of the materials varied very much. Tools like Mosaic, for instance, although much more complex, is very interactive and self-explanatory, with a lot of graphic support. On the other hand, tools like gopher and FT are not graphical at all, require a much higher degree of pervious knowledge to be used, and are mainly text based. The difference in the learning process is clear: While advancement in the learning of mosaic was at times slow, it became the best mastered and most helpful tool of them all. The tools that were not that interactive or "friendly" were either mastered to a lesser extent or not at all.
2.- Characteristics of the learner: By characteristics of the learner we mean constructs like motivation and previous knowledge. These, too, played a very important role in the learning experience. Mastery motivation allowed the learner to keep trying when progress was not being made. Previous knowledge in particular was a very important element, not only at the beginning when the previous knowledge of computers allowed the learner to begin his exploration, but as the knowledge and mastery increased, the speed and ease of acquiring new knowledge increased too.
3.- Learning activities: The basic learning activity performed here was explorative. Exploration, though, is a big etiquette for a series of more particular self directed learning activities. They certainly involved attention, analysis, elaboration, and rehearsal. The individual items were perceived (an attentional task), then analyzed (to identify possible uses), then used. depending on the results, they were elaborated and rehearsed or analyzed again to explore alternative possible uses.
4.- Criterial tasks: The most important criterial task was problem solving. The learner was presented with a new situation and had to develop strategies to learn and understand it. Although memory tasks were certainly involved, they were peripheral to the central discovery task.
CONCLUSION
Learning to navigate the Internet, as any other learning experience, has proven to be a complex task in which the characteristics of the learner, the nature of the materials, the learning activities and the criterial tasks interact with each other to produce a successful learning. It is not possible to understand a learning process without taking in account the interactions of all this constructs with the learning process and within themselves. Moreover, this construct compliment each other and can compensate for each other if necessary, assuring a positive outcome in almost any case. This is an important lesson to learn, especially in this times when theories about intelligence and "bell curves" are so much in fashion.