The Independent Learner LifeStyle (Second Part)

"You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself."

Galileo Galilei

Although no one disputes the contribution of teachers and fellow learners, formal learning has been possible by learners working independently since Sir Isaac Pittman began teaching shorthand by postal correspondance in 1840.

Independent learners have long been ignored by classroom instructors and professors who prefer to believe that they are necessary for learning.

Independent learners have been spurned by institutions that want to apply cost-effective batch-manufacturing techniques to education.

Learning indepedence may be in the nature of a person or it may result from special needs, such as achieving certification ny a certain date while not being able to take time off from tavel and other job duties to learn with cohorts.

Though truly indepedente learners will probably never be a majority, they are a crucial segment of learners.

And independent learners, because they learn for their own reasons, are more likely to apply what they learn.

Independent learning presages the era of consumer control of e-learning.

Until now, most of the decisions about the form and content of e-learning were made by those who knew best, that is, the producers of e-learning.

That was appropriate. Only the producers knew waht the technlogy could do.

Independent learners will revolutionize e-learning.

They will provide of tools and learning content with complete, detailed specifications of what they want.

They will report a million bugs and make a billion informed suggestions.

Economics will be guided by what people want and are willing to pay for rather than what someone convinced a venture capitalist would sell.

Independent learners must be able to spontaneously create and engage in learning events.

Independent learners crave valid assesments that are independent of how learning was accomplished.

Educational institutions and professional organizations can assist independent learners by helping them document their learning and obtain credentials attesting to their knowledge and skills.

The Independent Learner LyfeStyle (First Part)

"The true basis of education is the study of the human mind -- infant, adolescent and
adult."

Sri Aurobindo

Independent learners, also known as life-long learners or self-directed learners, know how to teach themselves whatever they want to know without enrolling in a class, ort at least know when and if a class is really necessary.

They can create a plan for their learning, seek out the resources and figure out how to master the material.

Every brain, that is every learner, is unique and no two are prepared to learn the same thing at the same time in the same way.

Most great philosophical traditions, including those embodied in Gandhi, Tagore, Aurobindo and Krishnamurti, recognize a spiritual component to learning, teaching that knowledge is more than a way to get a job or score well on a standardized test.

It is impossible to measure the success of self-learning with tests, grades, and scores.

These individuals are free to blossom in their own ways and do anecdotal evidence abounds about happy and successful learners who have travelled a non traditional path to their own personal success.

One way to strengthen and enlarge your skills is to look beyond scholarly sources.

The world of truth seeking, discovery, understanding, invention, and creation transcends the limited ways of knowing that most of us have been taught.

One of the advantages of being an independent learner is not being constrained, by training or peer pressure, to one single mode of inquiry.

Some inquiries are conducted best through solitary research and reflection; others thrive on interchange with peers.

Some draw principally from books and other written materials; others need gradual maturing over years, sometimes decades.

Self-learners often combine skills used by different kind of professionals, as the reference librarian, the university scholar, the investigative reporter and the detective, when they are searching information.

Respect And You Will Be Respected

"Respect yourself and others will respect you"

Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC)

It is important to respect other people opinion, especially when it is different from yours!

However, it is also important that you respect yourself; I mean you need to appear strongly convinced of what you affirm in front of others.

Self-learning does not mean that you should not interact with other people.

Self-learning involves only independent point of view but also it requires a great sense of respect and discipline.

It is also important to show your ethical values.

We reform and develop our values throughout our lives under the influence of friends, schools, and other institutional affiliations.

I would only to point out the centrality of ethical values about individual and professional effectiveness-specifically, honesty, trust, respect, and fairness.