Learning Styles Don't Exist

Learning styles: real or imaginary? There have been many tests and studies performed on learning styles. Kinestheic, visual, and auditory are the different learning styles. There is also something called multiple intelligence, which is when you think more a certain way than the other. I definitely think there are different ways for thinking, but I do not believe that there is a better type of learning or teaching method over the other.

I think there are definitely different types of learning, but I agree with Daniel Willingham in his video, Learning Styles Don't Exist, and say that one person is not a certain type of learner over the other. All three styles of learning: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic, all must be used in order to gain information. It's not helpful to test for learning styles, because the student is taking the information in for meaning, not auditory or visual aspect. The information you learn is not remembered by vocabulary terms, but by the quality of picture or sound the information comes from.

On the other hand, I do feel like different people find certain activities easier to learn from than others. This is where multiple intelligence comes into play. Some students prefer to listen to music, while others may prefer to look a the sheet of music. It all depends on their intelligence style. There are eight different intelligences: linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, body-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, spatial, and naturalist. Many people use many of these intelligences in their learning, but some intelligences are stronger than the other. I am mainly body-kinesthetic, but I also am very strong in intrapersonal and musical. Every person uses multiple intelligence, but this doesn’t deal with anything in learning styles.

I definitely think teachers should use different types of teaching such as auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. An effective teacher is not one who stands in front of the classroom all day and lectures to his/her students. Teachers must include all the learning styles, because students need a variety of different approaches to s subject in order to fully wrap their head around the subject. Learning styles aren’t true in the way students are stronger in one than another, but they should be incorporated into everyday teaching styles.

Of course there are different ways of thinking, or else no person would be unique, but there are not better ways of learning over the other. All learning styles must be used in everyday teaching to improve the students understanding on a topic. Multiple intelligence is used to see how you think the best. Take the Multiple Intelligence Quiz for yourself and see how you think.

My strongest areas of multiple intelligence are kinesthetic, intrapersonal, and musical.

Wikipedia VS Textbooks

Going into elementary education, I feel it would be much more difficult for younger students to ditch the textbook and learn straight from the internet. Elementary students could have a balance between the two, attempting to look up and read easier topics on Wiki or other sites, but then reading their stories from the textbook. With younger students it is not so much the research and details as much as comprehension and learning. In today’s society, I feel that Wikipedia could start being used to fill the gaps between textbooks and understanding.


On the other hand, my mind has definitely changed about Wikipedia. "NO WIKIPEDIA" was drilled into my head from sixth grade until now. I was told Wikipedia was fake, anyone can change it, and it's not a reliable or acceptable source. Now my opinions have been changed after watching Common Craft Wikipedia, and I feel that Wikipedia is a reliable source of information. For a Wiki page to be changed there must be citations; Every change to a Wiki page is monitored by professionals that keep a close eye on the page. Bias opinions are normally taken out and/or debated on.


I feel that middle schoolers and high schoolers should be looking more into internet learning than the "old school" textbook ways. As I read in A Textbook Example of What’s Wrong with Education, textbooks are written not by experts but by no one. Textbooks are put together by the entire company, and some have no idea what they are writing about. This is why textbooks are boring to many students. They aren't exciting and descriptive, they only scratch the surface of some very important topics. Wikipedia is a great way to look up something and dig deeper into the topic.

Wikipedia isn't perfect, but what website is? Textbooks have mistakes and are bias at times. It just depends on the way a person looks at things. More teachers should be looking at technology and how to integrate it with their teaching. Wikipedia is not only a reading website, but students can possibly edit and put their thoughts into a topic they really care about. This helps the students think in different and efficient ways. Textbooks should not be completely left out of the education system, but I do think technology sources, such as Wikipedia, should be brought more into the system. For young students who are still learning to read, write, comprehend, and understand it would be difficult forcing them straight into technology. Increased internet use in the classrooms will help students development in the future, and advance their technology skills.

Our Brains on Video Games

Three things I learned today are video games make students think faster, they also help develop different parts of your brain, and it helps build up multitasking and problem solving skills. The most important thing I learned from the video Are Video Games Making Your Kids Smarter is the Flynn Effect and how average human intelligence is increases as time passes.

There are so many things you hear in today's world about the effects videogames have on the average person. I am not much of a "gamer" myself, but I have two younger brothers who play constantly.

The positive effects of video gaming would be:


learning how to multi-task


developing and increasing the use of different parts of the brain


enhancing hand-eye skills


focusing


All the positive effects of video games can definitely help children become not only better students, but better people. On the other hand, the different video games being used can have negative effects on the children. Games such as COD or Grand Theft Auto can harm a child's development teaching them curse words, cruel actions, and showing gory images. I feel like if parents stay on top of the game restrictions and ratings there wouldn't be as much controversy.


I think the idea of game based learning is excellent! It’s not just throwing a TV in front of a child and having them play a game...it's showing the student that videogames are not only fun, but they can also be your teacher. Game based learning school, such as the one in the video Game Changers: New Ways to Teach Our Kids is such a creative way to include video games in everyday learning.


Honestly, I do feel that video games, to a certain extent and with modifications, can be very helpful for today's students. I also feel that higher rated games such as, 17+ or mature, should not be used by young students, because it teaches the wrong things to the children. We need to make learning like a protein shake, have good ingredients (video games) disguising the gross protein flavor (learning).

Is Texting Making Us Bad Writers?

In the article Can Texting Help With Spelling there are many great points that support the use of text messaging instead of arguing against it. In this article is states, "The average American teen, you may not be shocked to discover, texts a lot: 3,339 messages per month, according to a recent Nielsen survey." In most cases when it comes to school the use of text messaging is frowned upon, such as the argument Historian Niall Ferguson gives in an opinion piece in Newsweek. He states, "Teens who text do not read books." Which is not true, but in fact texting helps with students reading, phonology, inventing skills, and historical roots. All these facts help to prove texting is a helpful tool for the average student not only for spelling, but for many other everyday skills.I think texting is improving not only our writing skills, but also their communication skills. In the video Txting is Killing Language. JK! by John McWhorter he explains that texting isn't decreasing our language skill, but creating it's own way of conversation. Texting is kind of a branch off the original language that is spoken. It is also a way to write the way we speak, rather than how we would write in a paper, essay, or letter. Texting is a convenient way of contact. It is just a way to speak to someone, but instead of actually speaking it is written.