Learning Terminologies

Lifelong learning means learning is not limited to “school”, and that there are learning opportunities, both informal and formal, inside and outside of what we might traditionally think of as “education”, and that we can embrace these at any time in our lives.

It turns out that what motivates us best is not external carrots and sticks, but actually what is inside us. A sense of purpose and the autonomy to build our lives around it; these are the true levers of learning. But in practice, how can this be possible? How can education be fluid enough to support learners to pursue their unique direction in life?

To us at Learnlife, blended learning is a central part of personal learning, and that means that our learners can build their own passions, skills and knowledge anywhere, at any time, and from any place they choose.

The world ahead is uncertain and we need future generations to understand how to learn when they are outside the traditional boundaries of a learning environment. Self-directed learning is when a person knows how to organise their own learning, set their own goals and find out important things about themselves as they work towards them.

21st century learning is where we embrace the fact that learning happens anywhere, at any time in any place. Online, offline, with friends, alone at the laptop, with a learning guide, in the forest… anywhere. We do not all have to be in the same place when a bell rings, and we don’t need a bell at all for that matter.

A new Learning Paradigm is necessary because tinkering at the edges is not enough. A paradigm is not a racecourse, but is a pattern of elements which can be used when needed, adapted, updated and which coalesce around the learners as they determine their own pathway.

Learning methodologies are different ways to learn something, and there are a lot of them. Rather than get hung up on the myth of “learning styles”, and definitely not allowing the traditional model of “teacher-led instruction” shape our learning for us, these methodologies help us discover how to learn on our own terms.