ICT Management > Training

Computer Training and Learning Styles

By Jane McCauley

Everyone has different learning styles – do you know what yours is? This article provides information on how to determine your personal style of learning in relation to ICT…

Ever sat in a class or workshop feeling totally baffled while everyone else around you seems to find it easy to understand what’s going on? Well, they might not. After all, we've all been conditioned to at least look as if we understand what is going on!

Or they may have a different learning style to you and the tutor may be using a method that is not conducive to the way that you learn.

What are Learning Styles?

 We all have different learning styles – do you know what yours is? Take a look at the Campaign for Learning site to get an overview of what learning styles are all about. The basic premise was summarised by David Kolb, and further developed by Honey and Mumford.  Kolb theorised that there are four stages in any learning experience:

• Feeling - Concrete Experience (CE)
• Watching - Reflective Observation (RO)
• Thinking - Abstract Conceptualisation (AC)
• Doing - Active Experimentation (AE)

The idea is that you need to go through all four stages in order to have learned anything fully, but you can join the process at any point. In reality, though, this is a bit of a luxury, in practice we can’t always go through all of the stages. We can, however, learn a lot more easily if we are aware of our learning preferences and are therefore more aware of what we need.

Tutors often deliver in the method that supports their learning style. But they do want you to learn, so they will usually try to support your learning style if you can tell them what you need. It helps you to learn more if you are aware that when you start to ‘glaze over’ in a learning situation, you can identify it as a consequence of your learning style and not just that you aren’t that clever!

What does all this mean in practice?  Take a look at the following table:

Do you like to know the theory behind any topic you are learning at the beginning?		Do you like to get the feeling of a topic, or get some experience of it first?
Then do you need to do it for yourself?	Then do you need to observe someone else doing it whilst reflecting on your learning?	Then do you need to do it for yourself?	Then do you need to observe someone else doing it whilst reflecting on your learning?
You are a Converger (Kolb), also commonly known as a Pragmatist (Honey and Mumford).	You are an Assimilator (Kolb), also commonly known as a Theorist (Honey and Mumford).	You are an Accommodator (Kolb), also commonly known as an Activist (Honey and Mumford).	You are a Diverger (Kolb), also commonly known as a Reflector (Honey and Mumford).

You can find out more about these styles and the theory behind them on the BusinessBalls.com website.

Now take a look at the diagram below.  It is the same information as in the table above, but in diagrammatic form.  You may have scanned through this article, seen the diagram and immediately been drawn to it, or the table above may have drawn you to it first.  This tells you something about your learning style.  Most of us learn a lot more from a diagram or a picture than from lots of text.  Indeed studies have shown that we remember 75% of the information in a diagram or image as compared to 32% of written text.  It’s good to know that tutors nowadays are trained in learning styles and try as best they can to accommodate different ones.

Kolb’s Learning Styles Diagram:

View a larger image of Kolb’s Learning Styles Diagram

Taken from http://www.businessballs.com/kolblearningstyles.htm, July 2007

Teaching Methods and Learning Styles

Methods of Delivery

So what methods of delivery suit your style? Think about a learning situation where you really enjoyed yourself and wished you could have carried on long after the session ended. Now think about one where you found it really difficult and had to do a lot of catching up afterwards by reading up on it yourself, or worse, you just didn’t learn anything. The former would be a good indication of your learning style, the latter is what you need to avoid if at all possible – or be prepared to put extra work in to ensure you do understand the topic fully.

For example, if you go to a computer training session and you are expected to work through a workbook throughout the session without any explanation or demonstration of the task to be completed, you might not find it easy if you are on the theory side of the wheel - you may find yourself asking ‘but why am I doing this?’.

There are many questionnaires available on the internet that allow you to find out your style and a lot of them are free, take a look at the following:

http://www.learning-styles-online.com/inventory

http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html

Basically, if you are on the theory side of the wheel (a Converger or an Assimilator) you will probably like discussions and debates, question and answer sessions, a seminar or laboratory session, brainstorming, quizzes, videos that talk about the theory of a topic, open/distance learning, individual projects and assignments and one to one sessions. 

If, on the other hand, you are on the feeling side of the wheel (an Accommodator or a Diverger) you will probably prefer role play, simulation, field trips, team discussions and debates, videos that talk about and show the effects something has and group projects and assignments.

Take some time to think through and find out what you need to ensure your learning potential is realised. Only you know which you prefer.  

Putting it all into practice

Computer training most commonly comes in the following forms:

• Traditional face to face sessions; Weekly afternoon / evening class at a local College or University – these are generally 2 / 3 hours long each week and each session covers a new topic with time to go over last weeks topic if needed.  These are good if you need someone to demonstrate the task for you and there is always someone on call if needed.  These are traditionally used for Technician training, NVQ in ICT or Computing, Specific application training, Specific skills courses.
• Online learning – various companies run online learning for computer applications and technician training.  The national, government led one is learndirect.  This has a national network of centres that support delivery of the courses so you can study at your own leisure but there is always someone there to talk to if you need that.  This is traditionally used for Specific application training, Specific skills courses.
• CBT – Computer Based Training (you buy a CD and run it on your computer at work or home).  Generally there is no one to consult if you need support so you need to be quite advanced in computer use for this to be of benefit.  This is traditionally used for Specific application training, Specific skills courses.
• Book – generally these type of books follow the format of screen shots so you can see what should be happening, a demonstration where you taken through it step by step and finally an exercise to consolidate your learning.  They sometimes include a CD that has files to open to work on and to give you demonstrations of the tasks.  This is traditionally used for Specific application training, Specific skills courses.
• One to One tutoring – there are local trainers who will work with you on a personal basis to ensure you get exactly what you need (this is not the cheapest option!).  Look in your local yellow pages or search online for them.

Summary

Everyone has their own learning style, make sure you are clear about yours. It will make it easier when you are ready to organise your training.

It is important that you realise that you can’t always get what you need.  We don’t live in a perfect world!  But often you can get a very close second, and this will greatly change the way you learn. Just do a bit of thinking before you apply for a course and it can make the world of difference. Most importantly have fun while you learn, get rid of those old feelings from school, where learning was, very often, not the most fun filled thing in your life.

• Find out what your learning style is
• Gather information about what you need/want to do
• Enjoy!