On learning…

"A learning style may become a learning disability if cultivated at the expense of other ways of learning"
(Torrance and Rockenstein, 1998, p.278)

Not really relevant to anything other than this struck me as a really useful quote to note and bear in mind. Personal learning environments, designed and tailored by the individual always sound ideal... but ultimately playing only to a person's strengths doesn't allow them to develop their weaknesses and grow in a holistic manner. Try to hard to make things perfect and that perfection becomes a source of imperfection, I suppose.

I don't know! I'm just musing really! The more and more I see different web tools, different sources of information 'out there', different ways of connecting… the more I tend to worry about things like information overload, the clash of identity and cultures in shared spaces… but actually, all of this stuff isn't necessarily daunting. No, I didn't 'get' Twitter at first – thought it was superficial, time wasting, dull, pointless. But actually it does have some interesting uses and can be quite useful. OpenLearn has its faults (who or what doesn't!), but there's an awful lot of good intent and great content in there. Blogging seemed utterly inane to me a few years ago. But, the ability to record, reflect and connect with others has opened my mind to plenty of possibilities.

I guess what this brain splurge is saying is that if you view life positively and accept that it's okay to like some things and dislike others… and give everything you can a fair go along the way (given the bounds of time and opportunity of course!) then it can be a seriously interesting journey.

Reference: Torrance, E.P. and Rockenstein, Z.L. (1988) 'Styles of thinking and creativity' in R.R.Schmeck (ed.) Learning Strategies and Learning Styles, New York, Plenum Press