Learning Due Primarily to the Growing Trend

Learning

Due primarily to the growing trend of globalization, education has now become paramount to the overall success of society. International competition for both jobs and prominent positions poses both threats and benefits. For one, international competition encourages innovations which ultimately increases the overall quality of life for society. Innovations such as the internet have given rise to many unique and attractive markets. However, in order to take full advantage of the opportunities globalization and business presents, society must properly educate itself. Through education, civilization can fill the needed jobs required to utilize growing fields of innovation. The underlying principles within education have now been altered. New techniques are required to retain more information. Alternatively methods must be simple enough that students can utilize it in an effective manner within their respective careers. Many theories have been developed in regards to learning theories. These theories primarily consist of behavior, cognitive, constructivism concepts. Although all of the above theories are very beneficial, I believe the cognitive theory to be particularly useful in the context of today's environment.

For one, cognitive theory is unique relative to the other theories as it attempts to focus on the individual learner rather than the environment. This is particularly important as globalization continues to become a larger force within the classroom overall. The mix of students is becomes more heterogeneous each year. Each culture has a very unique approach to both learning and retention. Traditional methods may simply not work for some students. As such the need to address the various cognitive components of each student will need to be addressed. Through the use of cognitive theory, teachers will be better equipped to provide instruction and retention of learning that best suits the student. This will ultimately help product productive members of society who are smarter and better prepared for the dynamic. Technology, industry, and skills sets are evolving rapidly. Traditional methods of work, much life traditional methods of learning are now becoming antiquated. Therefore, the need to address individual learners will become very useful in regards to the development of society in general.

Now, under cognitive theory, the student is affected in a litany of ways. First, the overall environment is altered to be more conducive to learning. The foundation of cognitive theory is to place less emphasis on the learning environment and more emphasis on the individual. For instance, the learning process under cognitive theory is more of a mental process. The process focuses on the individual's insight, information processing, memory and perception. Under this scenario, unlike the other learning theories, the educator focuses on building intelligence and cognitive development.

Cognitively the student benefits as more information is retained over time which can then be utilized at will. By focusing on the how the individual learns, the cognitive theory relies on the students strengths. The approach is also very holistic as it incorporates many different concepts that will develop over time. Life is constantly changing. Children enter high school, get their first job, date the opposite sex, and marry one another. Each experience is dynamic in that it increases cognition in each respective step. However, in many instances, these experiences are unique to the individual. Specifically, cognitive theory argued that reality involves transformations and states of mind and body. Many experts refer to transformations as all manners of changes that a thing or person can undergo. This definition is broad and incorporates the varying dynamics of life. No two occurrences are completely unique in regards to cognition. This is the same in a classroom environment as well. A lecture can be perceived in entirely different ways depending on the cognitive ability of the student. States refer to the conditions or the appearances in which things or persons can be found between transformations. For example, humans change in their characteristics as they grow older. Older individuals become more injury prone in many respects. They are also more susceptible to disease. Thus, cognitive theory argues, that if human intelligence is to be adaptive, it must have functions to represent both the transformational and the static aspects of reality.