In the developed world we have tended to look at learning as something you do in a formal situation. That situation may be out in the field where we have a ‘buddy’ or tutor assigned to teach practical skills, or in the classroom or lecture room.
As our society has mechanised practical activities, the training in the field has turned more into formal teaching, theory and testing. The more teaching and testing involved the higher are the barriers for people who just do not learn in that way.
In the process we have developed something akin to a ‘caste system’ in education. Bright, practical people are failing, especially boys whose physiological make-up is not geared to sitting still for long periods or absorbing information in a passive way.
Part of the problem is, in fact, the trend towards using the Internet and distance learning as the means for transferring information. Learning institutions have been pressured towards increasing their options for students in order to keep up in a competitive market. That means they have to reach out further – beyond their immediate location – to attract fee-paying students. Originally practical courses are having large chunks of their content turned into passive theory-based information.
Even if students are required to research material, they are likely to do it passively in front of the computer. Interactive learning games are still prohibitively expensive to produce for single courses, and still require the user to sit at a desk.
The books I read about adapting distance learning to suit kinaesthetic learners tinker with the options, e.g. using cell phones, Twitter accounts and Facebook to engage learners. Those activities don’t, however, use the body’s larger muscles, lung capacity and brute force.
Maybe the only option is to adapt to meet the needs of the greatest number, but how do we do that without creating an educational caste system?
I’d love to hear if there is a practical answer.
- Heather
Director
Edutech KM Ltd
(Nelson Office)
Ph: 64-3-525-7073
Mob: .021-251-2141
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