Following up to Gary’s Pedalogical Foundations of MOOC post… realized we needed more about what is the present theory of how the brain/mind works…and thus, the environment in which our personal learning takes place.
Considering that science is difficult to “summarize” in a paragraph or two… and that even those “popularizers” of science, that interpret scientific studies as they are released, or write books about same, often distort and mislead, it is unlikely we can do a whole lot better.
But we all want to know these things, and so we will try.
Here’s one example of a ridiculously simple perspective on short and long term memory, that somehow still seems worth the 1:30 or so it takes to watch.
But, as we probably agree, the best place to get quickly up to date on scientific knowledge is Wikipedia, no? Lots of articles there on this topic. Apparently this “field” is called “neuro-psychology”.
And learning is affected by alcohol use. Probably other drugs too. We all “do a lot of drugs” in the US, whether prescription or over the counter. Is there anyone who isn’t taking anything? Just asking….
Have there been any studies of taking a group of adult learners seeking to “go back to school, gain a new trade/skill/degree” and a controlled group of teetolers/non MJ and overall non pill takers?
Then there’s certain drugs that have been known to enhance mental activity. Should we have those available to be people taking a course to get a new job? Do they “work”?
If there aren’t any today, there will be someday. Learning in a bottle?
It’s also probably not too much of a reach, to imagine some SciFi inventions coming true, such as connecting our brain to additional “chips”, and or wirelessly direct “jacking in” of the cerebral cortex.
And more down to earth is the problem of “what” to learn… what form of knowledge is actually useful to “specialize in” and “accumulate” in todays instant access to all mediated knowledge in the cloud.