Deeper Learning

It's clear that the true essence of learning is more than just flipping through a PowerPoint and reading the information on the slide. To really create a learning environment, it all starts before the training begins.

At the top of my post there is a brief statement, "Information is a foundation that creates endless thoughts and practices for new learning". While writing this expression, it came from a thought that information we are exposed to provide the footing or base of our continued learning. If we think of a new born baby who sees the world for the first time, that baby takes in images which begins the learning process.

This probably doesn't complete the answer to the question, where does learning begin; but instead, it proposes that learning has a base and from there continued learning takes place. A great example would be math...at least from my personal experience. I'm not going to say that it's impossible to step into a calculus class without a foundation of mathematics, but it sure would be difficult to gain the concepts.

Interestingly a friend and I just had this exact conversation concerning math. Math never was my strength and as it was pointed out in our discussion, often times this can be due to the foundation of instruction when the subject was very first introduced. I prefer not to think of myself as non-teachable, so I accepted this suggestion.

So, the point of all this is my notion that initial learning needs to start with a solid foundation, or just like a house with cheap wood, it will crumble as the foundation continues to built upon. The learner who is taught with a cheap foundation will also fall behind as the subjects become more complex.