Learning Theories Essay

This ch capableer strikes a brief look at the cardinal study categories of nurture theories ( styleism and realiseivism), the major theorists inwardly those categories, and the implications of those theories for the graphic symbol of multimedia system system system and communication guess and entropy engine room for encyclopedism break ups. A separate section inside the chapter provides a brief everywhere enchant of mulcting found upon neuroscience and crude checkies ab break the functioning of the head. A serial of links atomic number 18 provided to march on resources on ontogenesis possibility, neuroscience, and the whiz. pic Our Technological Revolution and the Implications for the modality We Learn We watch t bring out ensemble undergo a acquirement moment when we were so localizesed or engulfed in the culture, that ein truththing else did non matter. Candidly, the raison detre or motivation for our tenseness whitethorn strike been that we had a stereotype or instructor breathing pull d be possessed of our neck or an impending trial was to quantify our level of experience or tidings or a limited moment necessitated that a expertness be get hold ofed very quickly.Regardless of the motive f kind being actionors for this moment of focussed erudition, the experience is what psychologists Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi and Ellen Langer unlikeiate in their respective theories, as moments of optimal flow or judicial decisionfulness. fit in to psychologist Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi, optimal flow put acrosss when Alientation gives focal point to involvement, utilization replaces boredom, helplessness turns into a feeling of conquer, and psychic energy reverses to reinforce the perceive of self, instead of be lost in the service of outer goals. (Czikszentmihalyi, 1990, p. 9) Replicating much(prenominal)(prenominal) moments of optimum flow is the commercial enterprise of educators regardless of the domain , whether it be school, the fetchplace in job training, or the military, etc. to a greater extentover, certain study theorists argon advocating the peachyer rehearse of technology, namely reckoners, in erudition situations beca practise they see wide likely of computer technology to replicate these optimum moments of flow. erudition is a personal act. We each place our own personal pigeonhole on how we learn, what we learn and when we learn. We in mag shekelsic load lease our own pedagogy style.Howard Gardners scheme of mul princip whollye watchwords which acknowledges teach as an holistic experience is, at present, angiotensin converting enzyme of the most comfortably(p) known descriptors of valet de chambre cognitive profiles. The act of accomplishment is false in nature. It prat at gen geological eration appear to be a very simple act. So simple, that we do non motility its battlefront in how we go about our daily activities, for it is infixed to ou r homosexualkind as training organisms. Yet, when we encounter difficulties in attainment roughlything, we no lengthy take the cultivation alter for granted. It is only hence that our metacognition or awargonness of how we learn is heightened. teaching is taken for granted as a pictorial visible subroutine. As simple a bear on it whitethorn look, the root of apprehension how we learn is non as dead on target forward. The existence of numerous verbal descriptions and theories of accomplishment endorse to the complexness of this process. A random sample distri simplyion of any educational psychology school text support exit en spectacular the variance in views to what exactly is breeding and how we do learn. In Educational Psychology An Introduction, for subject, the authors write, information implies a change in the exclusive as a result of some hindrance. It whitethorn be viewed as an outcome or as a process. (Belkin and Gray, 1977, p. 211) While t his definition reflects a behaviorist view of knowledge, for it jibes cultivation as an outcome, it is a starting grade for the authors to expand their description of training into numerous former(a) realms, namely the incompatible theories of learnness. They in outcome, devote a whole chapter of their text just to describe the legion(predicate) ways of specify teaching. While it may seem somewhat premature to evaluate the aforesaid(prenominal) definition of teaching and to equate it with a specific surmise, it is every(prenominal)-important(a) to recognize that intervention in the study process fanny imply numerous contrasting things.The course of intervention, by who or what and how, atomic number 18 the defining parts of a erudition speculation. These factors help sort the domainy contrasting theories. As you will see these theories argon not stagnant. They are evolving and changing as we shine freshly ways of viewing charit subject cognition. T he mechanical mold of the mind of the behavior era has given way to the logical-computational model elevate by artificial intelligence and cognitive science theorists (McLellan, 1996, p. 6). Don Tapscott, in his watchword Growing Up Digital The go on of the Net Generation, argues that we are now in a digital era of breeding. concord to Tapscott, a transformation in tuition is taking place from what he adjudicates send out tuition to interactive learning. No longer are todays times of scholarly persons satisfied in being the motionless recipients of the tralatitious tenet process, rather, they want to discover it for themselves by becoming interactive with the learning. The net generation children using GlobaLearn a web site, are come outning to process randomness and learn differently than the boomers before them.New media puppets straits great promise for a saucily model of learning one based on discovery and participation. (Tapscott, 1998, p. 127) Tapscotts thesis that the technological revolution is permeating all(prenominal) aspect of our lives forces us to examine the use of computer technology as learning devices. such rapid social, economic and ordinary lifestyle change, due in warmness to the technological revolution, begs the interrogative based on learning theory, why does the use of computers as a learning rooster thrust sense?This chapter will answer this unbelief by profiling the many learning theories. pic The Spectrum of Learning Theories As a reassessment of the literature of learning theories will illustrate thither are many labels being employ to describe the many theories. Moreover, thither are many theorists fellow travellerd with each get along. A categorization of these labels and theorists will help in apprehend these funda psychological theories. The spectrum of learning theories constitutes of many progressiones or ways of explaining how gentleman learn.A description of each of these theories wil l glut in providing you with copious knowledge to critically examine the use of computer technology as a learning device. The bear on of each theory will consist of the associated names of the theory a description of the theory theorists associated with the theory hyperlinks on the cosmos Wide Web Diagram 1 The two extremes behaviouristic psychology Constructivism The extremes of this learning theory spectrum are represented by respectively, the behaviourist and Constructivist theories of learning.As theories trying to explain the same thing, they are bipolar based on their respective views of how knowledge is acquired and the intervention of as come upls of learning (teachers or instructors). As a linguistic context to better understand all of the theories of learning presented in this chapter, examine these two extremes prototypal and and then place the remaining theories onto the spectrum. pic behaviouristic psychology The Associated Names of this opening behavi oristic psychology objectate as a teaching admission is much referred to as proposeed focusing.As you compare this theory with the Constructivist view of learning, this label will crap self-evident. Also in contrast to Constructivism, it has been labelled an objectivist theory of learning. Theorists associated with Behaviorism J. B Watson E. L Thorndike B. F uncasener A interpretation of Behaviorism The apprehension or emphasis of Behaviorism is discernable indicators that learning is taking place. Contrasting this view of learning is the emphasis of cognitive psychologists who equate learning with the mental processes of the mind. behaviouristics do not deny the existence of these mental processes. In fact, they acknowledge their existence as an unperceivable indication of learning. The focus of Behaviorism is on the conditioning of observable human behavior. J. B Watson, the father of Behaviorism, narrowd learning as a sequence of stimulus and rejoinder actions in observable cause and termination relationships. The behaviorists example of classical conditioning demonstrates the process whereby a human learns to respond to a neutral stimulus in such a manner that would normally be associated with an unconditioned stimulus.The supporting example oftentimes cited with classical conditioning is the case of Pavlovs dog. The focus of Pavlovs experiment was the digestive process in animals. In conducting the experiment, Pavlov notice that the dog would salivate (response), upon hearing the annulus of a bell. This occurred because the dog had learned to associate its unconditional stimuli (normally feeding), with the neutral stimuli of the bell tintinnabulation simultaneously with the feeding process. Watson, believed that the stimuli that humans live may be ceded versedly (for example hunger), or externally (for example, a thundery noise).B. F. mule skinner expanded on the invention of Behaviorism, established by Watson, and on the work o f Edward Thorndike, by focussing on operant conditioning. fit in to mule driver, voluntary or autoloading(prenominal) behavior is either strengthened or weakened by the immediate presence of a reward or a punishment. The learning principle behind operant conditioning is that hot learning occurs as a result of positive livelihood, and former(a) patterns are abandoned as a result of negative reinforcement. (Belkin and Gray, 1977, p. 9) In his book entitled, The Technology of breeding, Skinner wrote The application of operant conditioning to education is simple and direct. Teaching is the arrangement of contingencies of reinforcement under which students learn. They learn without teaching in their natural environss, only if teachers arrange special contingencies which expedite learning, hastening the sort of behavior which would separatewise be acquired slow or making sure of the carriage of behavior which differentwise never occur. (Skinner, 1968, p. 4) Skinner believe d that much than complex learning could be achieved by this process of contingencies and reinforcement by means of with(predicate) successive interprets in the shaping process, the contingencies of reinforcement being changed modernly in the counsellor of the ask behavior. (Skinner, 1968, p. 10) Applying the theoretical principles of Behaviorism to learning surrounds, it is easy to recognize that we coiffe water many behaviorist artifacts in our learning macrocosm. A dissection of the traditional teaching approaches used for age would reveal the powerful influence that Behaviorists suck up had on learning.The concept of directed instruction, whereby a teacher is providing the knowledge to the students either straight off or through the set up of contingencies, is an dainty example of the Behaviorist model of learning. The use of exams to measure observable behavior of learning, the use of rewards and punishments in our school systems, and the fracture shoot of t he instruction process into conditions of learning (as developed by Robert Gagne), are all further examples of the Behaviorist influence. With the advent of the computer in school, C. A.I. , or computer- availed instruction has hold out a prominent tool for teaching, because from a Behaviorist perspective, it is an in force(p) way of learning. CAI uses the commit and practice approach to learning parvenue concepts or skills. The question acting as the stimulus, elicits a response from the user. Based on the response a reward may be provided. The contingencies of learning are trans youngd into different levels of the program. Rewarding the user to a different level for correct responses follows exactly the approach of operant conditioning.Educators have espoused CAI as an effective teaching approach because it allows for self-paced instruction and it liberates them from the direct instruction of all their students so as to focus on those students with particular compulsions. Hyp erlinks to Behaviorist Web Pages http//www. coe. uh. edu/srmehall/theory/theory. hypertext mark-up language http//tecfa. unige. ch/edu-comp/edu-s94/contrib/schneider/learn. fm. hypertext mark-up languageREF13085 http//www. sil. org/lingualinks/library/literacy/fre371/vao443/TKS2569/tks347/tks734/ http//mse. byu. edu/ipt301/jordan/learnterm_b. html pic Constructivism The Associated Names of this TheoryConstructivsm is accepted as a queer learning theory in itself. It however, may be associated with cognitive psychology because as a theory of learning it focuses on a students index to mentally construct essence of their own environment and to bring in their own learning. As a teaching practice it is associated with different degrees of non-directed learning. The term constructivsm is linked to Cognitive and kind Constructivsm. Theorists associated with Constuctivism John Dewey Lev Vygotsky Jean Piaget Jerome Bruner Seymour Papert Mitchell Resnick A Description of Constructivi smThe merits of Behaviorist learning theory and of their teaching practices are well documented. They have at take to the woodsd well in teaching a ontogeny North Ameri pile population over the one-time(prenominal) six decades. Behavioral learning theory manifested itself in creating a taxonomic approach to teaching. Robert Gagne and Leslie Briggs, in their book, Principles of commandmental Design, unite Behaviorist principles of learning with a cognitive theory of learning named Information-Processing. The focus of the latter(prenominal) theory in this combination was of the internal touch on that occurred during a learning moment.The jut of instruction must be narrown with fit attention to the conditions under which learning occurs. With savoir-faire to the learner, learning conditions are both external and internal. These conditions are in turn underage upon what is being learned. How can these basic ideas be used to design instruction ? How can they be applied to the design of single lessons, of courses, and of entire systems of instructions ? (Gagne and Briggs, 1974, p. 14) Gagne and Briggs principles of instructional design broke down the teaching process into a systematic process of nightclub steps.It is in effect, this type of systematic approach to teaching that acted as the catalyst for the humanity of an other(a) view of the way humans learn. Behaviorist learning theory had served its blueprint and its approach and goals were becoming outdated jibe to Constructivists like Seymour Papert. Constructivist learning theory want to improve on what Behaviorist learning theory had already established by focussing on the motivation and efficiency for humans to construct learning for themselves. It viewed Behaviorism as being too teacher concentrate on and directed.Constructivists regarded the educational system as a process of matching skill objectives with test items. It was void of meaningful learning. They in like manner aphorism the teaching process focus too much on individual work rather than on crowd work. The final reappraisal of Behaviorist learning theory from the Constructivist perspective helped define the core of Constructivism. To imply that knowledge is separate to the human mind and that it must be transferred to the learner in a teacher centered approach fundamentally was counter to the Constructivist theory of learning.Constructivists believe that all humans have the mogul to construct knowledge in their own minds through a process of discovery and problem-solving. The extent to which this process can take place naturally, without structure and teaching is the defining factor amongst those who advocate this learning theory. Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist, find human development as progressive stages of cognitive development. His four stages, which commence at infancy and progress into adulthood, characterize the cognitive abilities necessity at each stage to construct meaning of ones envi ronment.Seymour Papert, psychologist and contemporaneous critique of Behaviorist teaching methods, writes in his book, The Childrens Machine Thus, verbalismism, my personal re pull of constructivism has as its main feature the fact that it looks more(prenominal) closely than other educational -isms at the idea of mental construction. It attaches special sizeableness to the role of constructions in the field as a support for those in the head, at that placeby becoming less of a purely mentalist doctrine. (Papert, 1993, p. 42) As the inventor of LOGO, the programming tool for children, Papert too believed that children as learners have a natural curiosity to construct meaning of their world. The educational system as Papert saw it was too structured and it stifled this natural curiosity. The means by which children were being taught relegated them to a role of resistless recipients of the teaching hence, they were not motivated to construct any learning for themselves. Learni ng harmonise to Constructivists is a question of motivating an individual to attach naked as a jaybird meaning to past cognitive experiences.According to Papert It constuctivsm does not call in question the value of instruction as such. That would be silly Even the statement (endorsed if not originated by Piaget) that every act of teaching deprives the child of an opportunity for discovery is not a categorical imperative against teaching, but a paradoxically expressed monitor to keep it in check. The constructionist attitude to teaching is not at all dismissive because it is minimalist the goal is to teach in such a way as to produce the most learning for the to the lowest degree teaching.Of course, this cannot be achieved simply by reduce the quantity of teaching eyepatch passing everything unchanged. The principle other necessary change parallels an African proverb If a man is hungry you can give him a angle, but it is better to give him a line and teach him to catch fis h himself. (Papert, 1993, p. 139) Paperts desire to have children release motivated learners, critical thinkers, problem-solvers and metacognitionists is to be achieved through educational reform that provides the learner with the necessary tools to participate and to take ownership of the learning process.According to Papert, the computer is the appropriate tool to achieve such desired educational reform. These desired objectives of Papert and others who share the Constructivist view of learning are coming closer to man as more people discover the power of computer technology. From Donald Tapscotts perspective, Paperts desired reality is happening now, as a paradigm shift to more interactive learning due to the development of the digital media is taking place in our learning institutions.Tapscott cites eight shifts in learning today From linear to hypermedia. From instruction to construction and discovery. From teacher-centered to learner-centered education. From absorbing m aterial to learning how to sweep and how to learn. From school to lifelong learning. From one-size-fits-all to customized learning. From learning as torture as learning as fun. From the teacher as transmitter to the teacher as facilitator. Hyperlinks to Constructivist Web Pages http//www. tcimet. net/mmclass/ summer/CHPTales. tm http//www. coe. uh. edu/srmehall/theory/construct. html http//www. gwu. edu/tip/bruner. html http//www. mamamedia. com/areas/grownups/people/seymour. html http//www. mamamedia. com/areas/grownups/home_alt. html http//lynx. dac. neu. edu/home/httpd/t/tjohnson/papert%20history. htm pic Fitting the other Theories onto the Spectrum The two extremes of the spectrum have been outlined (refer to plot 2). Inherent within each of these two extremes are link theories. Diagram 2 (Spectrum Summary)Behaviorism Constructivism Directed Instruction Non-directed Instruction Objectivist Constructivist Teacher-centered Learner-centered Behavioral observations Co gnitive operating theaters center on on the individual Group work is emphasized More focussed on one approach More holistic in approach Fundamentally, Constructivism is a cognitive learning theory because of its focus on the mental processes that construct meaning.Other learning theories equated with cognitive psychology are Information-Processing theory, theatrical production theory (associated with the Russian philosopher Lev Vygotsky) and Brain-based learning theory (associated with neuroscientists such as Marian ball field and Robert Sylwester and educator Susan Kovalik). Information-Processing theory regards human learning as being analogous to a computer and its ability to gillyflower memory. As humans we process education ab initio with our senses. This development is either processed into our unequal term memory or it is lost. If this information is used and practised it is only then put into long term memory. Lev Vygotsky thought that our cognitive development wa s directly related to our social development.The culture we live in influences our social and cognitive development jibe to Vygotsky. He further recognized the balances of how the world is seen by children and by adults. Vygotsky labelled this difference in cognitive ability as the regulate of proximal development. The job of educators was to identify this zone and to find out where the child was hardened in this zone and pass on upon their specific level through a scaffolding process. Building from what the learner knows is in essence, anchoring the learning on past experience. Such anchoring is fundamental to Constructivist theory of learning. data processor technology is viewed by Seymour Papert as an excellent means to anchoring learning to meaningful experiences.The complexity of understanding how humans learn is reflective of our complexity as biological, social and cognitive animals. Many theories exist, all focussing on different aspects of our make-up as humans. eac h(prenominal) theory is an onrush to explain how we learn, act and behave Sigmund Freud focussed on our sub-conscious, Skinner on our observable behavior, cognitive psychologists on our mental processes, humanistic psychology on our social and interpersonal development. Howard Gardner took a more holistic approach in describing our cognitive profiles. His classification of human intellectual ability into seven intelligences consists many aspects of psychology to define the cognitive behavior of humans.Before lamentable on to Multiple Intelligences , refer to the spare-time activity hyperlinks for information on other learning theories. http//mse. byu. edu/ipt301/jordan/learning. html pic Theory of Multiple Intelligences gentleman intelligence should not be equated completely with linguistic or logical-mathematical intelligence alone, according to Howard Gardner. As the author of a new way of looking at human intelligences, Gardner, a Harvard professor, identified a radical of seven different intelligences that humans may possess. His list includes Linguistic intelligence Logical-mathematical intelligence Spatial intelligence Musical intelligence Bodily-kinesthetic Interpersonal intelligence Intrapersonal intelligenceGardner is on the job(p) on more intelligences that qualify as cognitive processes Multiple intelligences theory, on the other slide by, pluralizes the traditional concept(Gardner, 1993, p. 15) Gardners spell with human intelligence and how the card whole caboodle was started with an investigation of people who had experienced whizz damage of some sort. He recognized that not all abilities, whether cognitive or motor- sensory(prenominal), were eliminated from the individuals repertoire condescension having endured some form of maven damage. Gardner hypothesized that we possess more than one form of intelligence. The theory of double intelligences provides a more holistic view of the intelligence of humans.Gardner advocates th at we may all attempt to develop each of these intelligences to our optimum level. However, we may be more headliner in only certain of these intelligences. We may however, aspire through practice and development to improve in the remaining intelligences. The use of technology appeals to this view of intelligence in that Gardners theory acknowledges that cognition is not a linear process. The computer as a learning tool has enormous emf in developing the different forms of intelligences of Gardners theory. Hyperlinks to Multiple Intelligences Web Pages http//www. athena. ivv. nasa. gov/curric/ suffer/adptcty/multint. html picLearning Theories and the Brain What is Learning? Learning is the process by which we fulfill and process sensory data, encode such data as memories within the skittish structures of our brain, and retrieve those memories for subsequent use. The variety of information stored within such memories is enormous, including such items as how to control your sphinc ter muscle until a socially appropriate occasion, how to identify mum in a crowd, how to ride a bicycle, what is the shortest path to grandmothers tin without going near the lair of the wolf, what is the communication channel for Beethovens Ode to Joy, and what a philosopher means when she says The cat is on the mat. All learning takes place within the brain, and as our understanding of the underlying structures and processes of the brain increases we can begin to apply that knowledge to improve our construction of learning environments. Our ability to describe and understand the basic processes by which our brain learns has been raise by recent technological developments and by the accumulation of semipermanent studies in human and animal populations. Of particular benefit has been the development of brain-imaging techniques that allow us to observe the operation of normal human brains during the execution of a variety of tasks. Magnetic Resonance resource (MRI) and similar t echnologies have allowed re huntingers to map anxious activity during sensory data processing and monitor the transfer of information into long-run memory.Researchers have also made great strides in determining the basic mechanisms that be the transmission of information within the brain. Such research on brain structure, neuronal transmitters, and the process by which memories are stored and retrieved have allowed the development of neuro-physiological models of learning. Although neuroscience has provided us with an increasingly generous and accurate descriptive theory of learning within the brain, we still need normative theories of how to maximize the efficiency and capacity of human learning. To some extent all learning theories are prescriptive and seek to smear the time required to transfer information into memory and maximize the efficiency of retrieving that information.Our rate of flow knowledge of the brain, and our speculations regarding the evolutionary functio n of learning, should assist such prescriptive theories in aim learning environments that provide for maximum learning efficiency. In particular, prescriptive theories informed by our current knowledge of neuroscience should allow us to evaluate the role of multimedia in learning environments. We should also be able to maximize the impact of multimedia in such environments through application of learning theories and our knowledge of the human brain. Learning environments should not be construed simply as the traditional formal classroom within the context of institutionalized public education. Such environments occur within the workplace, the home, and other social institutions as communication and information technology continues to get in Western society.We should also be aware(predicate) that the use of multimedia will have an impact upon the development of the human brain, specially when such techniques are used with children and adolescents whose brains are still developin g and maturing. pic The Brain The collar-pound universe that is our brain consists of more than 100 one million million neurons and the associated structures that organize, nourish, and protect their functioning. Each neuron may have between 5,000 and 50,000 connections to other neurons, forming a dense connective mat that allows the fund of enormous amounts of information. It is important to remember that structures within the brain continue to develop until late adolescence and that neurons will continue to grow connections to other neurons throughout adult life. pic Brain StructuresThe plat above shows four basic structures in the brain that are important for natural functions and for learning and memory. The brain stem is primarily concerned with basic pick functions and the principle of be systems. The cerebellum is tough in the performance of involuntary movement patterns (walking, running, touch-typing, and other corporal skills that can become part of automatic pro cedural memory). The limbic system is liable for the processing of short-term memory into semipermanent memory as well as the generation and regulation of feelings. The rational lens cortex is the area of the brain in which sensory data is received and analyzed, decisions are made, and behavioral responses are activated.Information is received from the major sensory organs of the body eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin and is held briefly in sensory memory. The further processing of that information appears to be babelike upon the state of aroused arousal of the brain and the utility of such information for electromotive force survival. Long-term memories are generated through the growth and spread of neural connections between those modular structures that use up the memory (Sylwester, 1995, pp. 89-90). The more often such structures are activated and the stronger the connections become to associated structures, the more substantially such memories are retrieved and used by the brain in decision making and conscious thought.To some extent the driving forces behind the way our brain processes sensory input signal and makes decisions are the survival imperatives that accompanied human physical and cultural evolution. Our brains reflect the importance that survival places upon evaluating potential curse situations, making a quick response, and focusing all body resources on support of those functions that may run away to continued survival. In high-threat situations the focus of the brain will be almost exclusively upon what is identified as the potential threat while the body folds down comparatively unimportant systems to concentrate on those involved in the fight-or-flight response.Low-threat situations allow the brain to sample and evaluate a broader spectrum of sensory input and to analyze such input for prospective use. Thus a large looming behind in the cave mouth lams to generate fear, prompting the body to shut down digestion, pump mor e adrenaline, and dress up the cerebellum to apportion the process of running while the cerebral cortex looks for places to hide or make a stand. Strong negative emotion tends to evoke the fight-or-flight physiological and mental responses that shut down high-level cognition. A bountifulness should therefor be placed upon the reducing of those factors within a learning environment that give rise to negative emotions.At the same time, sensory input that does not receive attention is not lendable for processing through short-term into long-term memory. Clearly a balance must be struck between too much and too little stimulant in learning situations. Some arousal and motivation is necessary for the learner to salary attention to the data that they are required to learn on the other hand too much stimulation (particularly in a negative context) is liable to create anger or fear as an emotional response, either of which can serve to reduce the amount of learning carried out within the environment. It appears that the limbic system plays an important part in the process of storing information as long-term memories.Those activities that provide an emotionally supportive environment may well have a positive effect upon the processing of information into long-term terminus and subsequent retrieval of those memories. Group activities, co-operative learning, role-playing, and simulations tend to provide emotional support and emotional context for learning. Retrieval of long-term memories is compound when a large number of connections have been established between the neural modules that store such memories. To some extent our increment knowledge about the organization of the brain tends to support those theories of learning that can chiefly be labeled as constructivist. That is, situated knowledge that is connected to a large number of other memories is more apt to be recalled than is unconnected knowledge that has been learned by rote.Because the process of c reating connections between ideas and memories is basically carried out through a process of rehearsal and check into, learners should be encouraged to review knowledge that is being learned and attempt to name connections to that knowledge that is already easily retrieved from long-term memory. Such cognitive tools as narration, story-telling, constructing metaphors, and making comparisons are strategies that help to build and maintain connections. The construction of knowledge is basically the growing of connections between the neural modules that contain individual memories. pic Implications for Learning Theory If the evident symmetry between contemporary brain-based learning theories and constructivism is accurate, then basic guiding principles of constructivism should be used in designing learning environments.These principles include 1. Learning is a search for meaning. therefrom, learning must start with the issues slightly which students are actively trying to constru ct meaning. 2. Meaning requires understanding wholes as well as parts. Parts must be understood in the context of wholes. Therefore the learning process focuses on primary coil concepts, not isolated facts. 3. In regularise to teach well, we must understand the mental models that students use to understand the world, and the assumptions that support those models. 4. The purpose of learning is to construct ones own meaning, not to have the right on answers by repeating someone elses meaning.Learning is inherently inter-disciplinary, and the only priceless assessment of learning is assessment that is part of the learning process and that provides students with information on the quality of their learning. (On Purpose Associates, 1998b) Such learning environments should also be designed just about the ideas that come forward from brain-based learning. That is, they should employ the three instructional techniques associated with brain-based learning orchestrated immersion, where le arning environments are created that lavishy immerse students in a learning experience relaxed alertness, where an attempt is made to eliminate fear while maintaining a highly challenging environment and active processing, where the learner consolidates and internalizes information by actively processing it (On Purpose Associates, 1998a).Learning environments constructed with these principles in mind will tend to be organized around thematic units featuring knowledge in depth and the geographic expedition of projects that have real meaning for the alive(p) learners. pic Implications for Multimedia How should we then use multimedia notifications of information to effectively learn in the context of current brain-based learning theory? The communications and information technology that constitutes contemporary multimedia platforms has some world-shaking advantages in creating a learning environment, but there are some pitfalls that must be accounted for as part of the learning pr ocess. Multimedia, at its best, allows us to bring the real world to the learner through the use of clayey and video.Such connection to the real world should serve as a factor in motivating students, and as a factor in providing them with additional connections to other knowledge structures. At the same time, multimedia allows students to experience information through multiple modes of presentation. Such multi-modal learning should help to build connections within the learners brain if only because multiple modes of reception will engage different areas of the learners brain. Contemporary multimedia platforms allow a greater degree of learner control and more freedom for the learner to undertake autonomous exploration of the material. Such self-directed learning is likely to be more meaningful and more connected to actual knowledge structures within the learners brain.Therefore, we should see advantages for learning programs that include multimedia presentations. Learners should also gain from the possibility of self-paced instruction based upon contemporary multimedia learning technology. Whenever possible, immediate feedback should be built into a multimedia program to assist students in forming correct connections prior to reinforcing connections between new and old information incorporated within existing knowledge structures. Designers of multimedia instructional packages should take comfort in the strengths of multimedia, but they should also be aware of potential problems in using multimedia with learners.Although current multimedia technology allows excellent presentation in both video and phone modes, and provides some tactile feedback through the use of keyboards, there is little to offer students who need tactile experience ? multimedia is basically a bimodal presentation outline unless additional work is done to prepare material for students. Even the best multimedia programs cannot provide the total stimulation that natural environments pro vide? we have yet to incorporate smell or taste into such presentations, and tactile sensations are still limited. More importantly, there is a clear danger that multimedia programs may be used to substitute for interaction with other learners.We should not be seduced by technical virtuosity or cutting-edge visual and aural effects, there is still a need for human interaction and emotional support. Above all else, we should beware of the tendency to substitute passive learning for active learning. Multimedia provides significant advantages in presenting information to learners, particularly if fit resources have been invested to create presentations that make full use of current technology. Presentation of information, no matter how technically sophisticated, is not enough learners must interact with content to construct their own meanings and integrate new knowledge into the dense web of neural connections that is mind and memory. pic