Does it make sense to design a learning experience one way for Bob and a different way for Sally?
Roger Schank does not belive so. In Designing World-Class E-learning: How IBM, GE, Harvard Business School, & Columbia University are succeeding at E-Learning, he insists that people do not have different learning styles, but they do have different personalities.
Schank's dictum: figure it out yourself or get help.
He claims "repeated practice is necessary to embed new rules and replace the ones that have failed. All people learn through failure and practice no matter what type of personality or style they possess"(81).
Schank suggests that designers take personality differences into account when designing a learning environment. "Some people learn to swim by being thrown in the lake, and others learn by being gently held. Nevertheless, the learning is the same"(81).
"A good e-learning system must present the learner with options that allow the learner to learn in his or her own way and own time. A learner who is in control of his or her own experience is likely to learn the most"(81).
Based on a cursory review of learning style literature, the key seems to be that indeed differences do exist and need to be accounted for in the learning environment.
Is this issue one of poor preparation of learning materials or differences in learning styles? Is this an issue concerning pedagogy, i.e., teacher/instructor preparation. Perhaps it is simply a case of "know your audience," as my writing instructors used to insist.
Boud and Griffin (1987) suggest that much of what passes for e-learning is text-based and therefore tied to the development of our rational thinking processes and ergo to the exclusion of our other capabilities, e.g., our emotional, relational, physical, metaphorical, & spiritual capacities.
The question becomes: Do we risk losing our students if we don't pay attention to these other dimensions?
Palloff & Pratt (2003) suggest that in order to foster learning and develop community online, designers should focus on building courses that utilize collaborative activities as a means for touching on all six learning capacities. To me, this begs the question about learning styles in general: i.e., what if I don't want to collaborate; what if that's not my style? Isn't collaboration really a governance issue or a Cold Cure?
Ultimately, e-learning design should attempt to re-create the work environment and problems faced by your audience. If practice is the sine qua non of learning, then the question of learning styles seems somewhat irrelevant.
Or is it?
