Self Directed Learning

I see self directed learning as the student producing their own knowledge instead of the teacher delivering the knowledge. In self directed learning the learner develops their own initiatives or goals, and reaches these goals through their own direction. I think that self directed learning can be an effective learning strategy. This learning strategy involves the student directing their own learning, which in turn means that there is motivation behind the learning. It also allows students to learn at their own pace, which I think can become a downfall of teacher directed learning. In teacher directed learning, the teacher mostly delivers the knowledge to the class a whole, and I don’t think that this strategy takes into consideration that some students fall behind, some work ahead, and the rest fall somewhere in the middle. Having said this, I think there is a place in the classroom for both self directed learning and teacher directed learning. Both have positive and negative outcomes.

            I think that the curriculum areas where self directed learning would be most effective would be areas like language arts, and social studies. These are subjects where the student can read and think about concepts or interpretations on their own. I don’t think it would be as effective in subjects like math and science because these subjects require a lot more demonstration by the teacher of concepts. I do think that self directed learning can play a part in every subject. This concept might be more applicable to students in middle school and above who possess the cognitive abilities to self direct and motivate their learning. A lot of the time younger kids require more guidance and motivation.

            I think that technology can play a part in self directed learning. Students can use resources like the computer and the internet to assist them in their learning. I don’t think that this approach would benefit every learner. I think that motivation is a key aspect of self directed learning, and if students lack that this strategy would not work well with them. I also think that there are some students who learn better through teacher directed learning, while there are others who learn better through self direction. There will always be students in your class who benefit from one method while others benefit from the other. It is important to have a balance in the classroom to meet the needs of all the students.

I chose this picture to demonstrate students using self directed learning. These students are working independently on the computers. I also chose it because I think computers can be a very useful tool when it comes to self directed learning.