Learning Spaces

This week's discussion board asked about our learning spaces, or contexts in which we learn. This was an interesting activity for me - I hadn't really thought before about how the various contexts in which I learn really do overlap to a variety of different places. I broke things down into a few categories: formal learning and informal learning, and work and home. Formal learning primarily applies to work, but I can also see where the things that I'm learning here could have an impact on other aspects of my life in the future. That said, I've already been able to apply several things I've learned in my classes this semester to the training that I do from day-to-day with work, and so far, I've seen a lot of positive results. Generally speaking, a lot of my learning comes via informal learning. I've taken courses on Udemy and Lynda, I've taught myself how to do various beading patterns and things like that by watching YouTube videos. Rosetta Stone and Duolingo are great tools for learning language, and TED talks are a great way to learn about a wide variety of topics. I'm rather fond of How It's Made on the Science Channel as well, and I've found myself leaving it on in the background as I do other things. A lot of the things I've gathered (so to speak) from informal learning are things that may never have a tangible benefit, and may never be able to be applied to work, but the information is still out there. Work and home are my other contexts. At work, I learn from a variety of different sources: my colleagues, people from other departments, product documentation, and a lot of times, just plain trial and error, especially when either trying to do things (break things!) in the software my company supports, or trying to learn how to use Articulate and other instructional design tools. A lot of these things tend to overlap, and I can certainly appreciate the idea of learning spaces being more like a tornado, which was something that one of my classmates mentioned. There are definitely times when it seems like I'm just standing in the middle watching it all swirl around me and hoping it doesn't carry me off! I've attached my hand-written lists of my breakdown of my learning space. As time goes on and I continue to learn, I'm sure that I'll continue to add to it.

I really enjoyed this exercise. It made me think about all of the different ways and sources that I get the learning that plays a part in my life. I know there are things I've forgotten, and other things that will need to be added in later, but it reminds me a lot of a quote from a movie made from one of my favorite books as a child, Bridge to Terabithia: "Just keep your mind wide open."