Study makes learning possible.
Learning is a process of acquiring knowledge, skills, values and attitudes, made possible through study , teaching or experience. This process can be understood from different positions, which implies that there are different theories linked to the act of learning. Behavioural psychology, for example, describes learning according to the changes that can be observed in a subject's behaviour.
The fundamental process in learning is imitation (the repetition of an observed process, which involves time, space, skills and other resources). In this way, children learn the basic tasks necessary to survive and develop in a community.
Learning in people and animals
Human learning is defined as the relatively invariable change in a person's behavior as a result of experience. This change is achieved after the establishment of an association between a stimulus and its corresponding response.
The ability is not exclusive to the human species, although in humans learning has become a factor that surpasses the common ability of the most similar branches of evolution. Thanks to the development of learning, humans have managed to achieve a certain independence from their ecological environment and can even change it according to their needs.
Pedagogy establishes different types of learning. We can mention discovery learning (content is not received passively, but is reordered to adapt it to the cognitive scheme), receptive learning (the individual understands the content and reproduces it, but fails to discover anything new), meaningful learning (when the subject links his previous knowledge with the new and provides it with coherence according to his cognitive structure) and repetitive learning (produced when the data is recorded in memory but without understanding it or linking it with previous knowledge).
Different theories
As defined by Isabel García , learning is all the knowledge that is acquired from things that happen to us in our daily lives: in this way, terms, skills, etc. are learned. This is achieved through three different methods: experience, instruction and observation.
For Patricia Duce , one of the things that greatly influences learning is the interaction with the environment and with other individuals. These elements modify our experience, and therefore, our way of analyzing and appropriating information. Through learning, an individual can adapt to the environment and respond to the modifications and actions that develop around them, changing if this is necessary to survive.
There are many other theories about why and how human beings access knowledge, such as that of Ivan Pavlov , who states that knowledge is acquired through the reaction to simultaneous stimuli; or the theory of Albert Bandura , which says that each individual creates his own way of learning according to the primitive conditions he has had to imitate models. For his part, Jean Piaget addresses the question by analyzing exclusively cognitive development.
Learning theories attempt to explain the way in which meanings are structured and new concepts are learned. A concept serves to reduce learning to a point in order to make it less complex and to be able to grasp it; not only to identify people or objects, but also to order them and pigeonhole reality, so that we can predict what will happen. At this point, we can say that there are two ways to form concepts: the empirical one (it is done through a process of association, where the subject is passive and receives the information through the senses) and the European one (it is achieved through reconstruction, the subject is active and is responsible for constructing the learning with the tools at his disposal).
Through learning, it is possible to develop an academic career and achieve a degree.
Learning and education
Learning is often closely linked to education . Education is the instruction or training that is carried out through the intervention of a teacher , a master , a tutor or another authority figure. The educator, in this framework, transmits knowledge to the student by implementing different activities.
The educational system is one of the most common learning environments. Depending on age and level of education, a person goes to kindergarten, school , college, university or other institution to learn in a systematic way and to different levels.
In this context, the teacher can use various methodologies to promote the learning of his or her students. Beyond the chosen methodology, the important thing is to explain the content in a didactic way.
In formal education , the topics to be learned are usually organized into subjects or courses , which in turn are structured into a study plan . To know if the learning objectives have been met, students are usually required to take tests and exams, obtaining a grade based on what they have learned.
Critical thinking
Although learning can be achieved through repetition and memorizing concepts, it is generally considered that the most valuable and useful thing is to encourage reasoning to achieve a broad understanding of the topics. This can develop critical thinking and increase problem-solving skills.
Critical thinking is understood as the intellectual process that leads to questioning those statements that are presented as true. Thus, those who manage to develop critical thinking are prepared to question reality .
The educator, therefore, does not have to force his students to repeat what is taught in class. On the contrary, he should encourage them to pay attention to details and the environment and to use creativity to construct their own concepts.
Many training centres offer the possibility of developing a distance learning process.
The importance of learning
It can be said that learning consists of one of the basic functions of the human and animal mind and of artificial systems, which is the acquisition of knowledge from certain external information.
It should be noted that at the moment we are born, all human beings, except those who are born with some disability , possess the same intellect or intelligence and that depending on how the learning process develops, said intellectual capacity will be used to a greater or lesser extent.
Learning is acquiring, analyzing and understanding information from outside and applying it to one's own existence. When learning, individuals must forget their preconceptions and acquire new behavior. Learning forces us to change behavior and reflect new knowledge in present and future experiences. In short, learning requires three essential actions: observing, studying and practicing .
New technologies
It is worth mentioning that, thanks to innovation and the digital tools that exist today, learning possibilities are multiplied. There are numerous educational platforms and resources available to any individual with access to the Internet .
Distance learning eliminates geographical distances: you don't have to live in a specific city to learn. Moreover, this online learning can often be carried out according to the student's schedule, so it is not essential to respect schedules or allocate a certain number of hours to training.
Today's educational technology allows for everything from self-learning an activity through a video to completing a postgraduate degree via a computer or phone. Although in many cases it is necessary to pay for education, there are countless educational proposals available to Internet users that do not require payment and that even offer a certification that can help enrich the curriculum vitae.