86 Learning Reflections
Learning Reflections
I tend to learn best through active listening and note taking followed by either a worksheet or some other kind of learning check that promotes learning without demonizing incorrect answers
Learning Reflection 1: Active listening
Active listening isn’t just sitting idly by while someone talks at you for 20 minutes, it’s engaging with their story and learning from the intricate details they decide to provide. It isn’t interjecting every 20 seconds to ask a question, it’s letting the person tell their story the way they want it to be told and watching your questions get answered in an organic, free flowing manner. Up until last week I didn’t really understand the difference between listening and active listening, but since then I’ve been able to utilize it in a few different situations.
The first situation in which I was able to utilize active listening was with my friend. They were having an issue with their roommate, and needed someone to vent to. Usually in this situation I would have immediately went into problem solving mode and really listened to why they were upset, and more were trying to find solutions to their problem. After sitting there and listening to their problem, I realized that they already knew what they needed to do to solve their problem, they wanted to tell someone the story so they didn’t have it constantly weighing on their mind. Through active listening I was able to get more information out of my friends story than I wouldn’t have gotten had I constantly interjected and tried to offer solutions to a problem which has already been resolved
Another situation I was recently in where active listening would have been useful was during my math lecture. In the lecture the professor was going over problem, when he was interrupted by a student with a question. The professors response was that “we would get to that,” and continued with his lecture, but he had to backtrack because he had lost his train of thought. In this situation, active listening would have allowed of the professor to go about his lesson, and answer the students question quicker had he not interjected his question into the lecture.
Listening actively to conversations is the key to a deeper understanding of the person across from you or the concepts being taught to you. By listening actively, you can actually end up decreasing the amount of time you need to listen and probably end up saving yourself from asking questions which will already be answered
Visual Thinking Strategies
Being able to see past the face value of things and see the more detailed interworking of whatever you are looking at is an incredibly valuable skill. Being able to see paintings and art as a whole as the detail riddled masterpieces they are instead of the vague, muddled, unimpressive, you’d assume if they are taken at face value. This is especially true for any kind of abstract artwork, where at a glance it seems like a jumble of nonsense, but if you dive into the detail of the artwork you can see the message of the artwork shining though.
What I know About AI
Over the course of my freshman semester the advantageous benefits of AI have become ever more prevalent in my day to day life. With this I have also learned the dangers that AI poses for creative work and creative media in general. While certain AI tools can be used as an accessory to learning (Notebook LM, Research Rabbit, Etc) others can be used to take away from learning as a whole. Most all AI tools are trained on websites and documents on the internet, and while this can be used in a way to foster a more efficient learning environment, they can all also be used to cheat, copy, and plagiarize creative material from artists, authors, and researchers. This possibility has not only created a valid concern for the source of all creatively made pieces (Research Papers, Visual Art pieces, Voice Recordings, etc) but also a fear from students who are using AI to foster a better learning environment. The consistency of AI being used for integrally dishonest reasons has also made students who use AI as a tool for their education have to be more cautious about the wording, phrasing, and overall structure to whatever they write. Since AI detectors are not 100% accurate and can often times give back false positives, AI has turned into yet another hurdle that students and educators have to leap through in order to get a high quality education.
What I Learned In This Class
Music, and art therapy are very legitimate forms of therapy, that I know would have previously disregarded had I not seen and heard the positive impacts firsthand. Learning that social science ways of healing were not the only option when it came to healing illnesses has allowed me to expand my way of thinking, where before I would suggest someone take ibuprofen to fix a headache I now ask questions about what could have caused the headache and not just focus on what can get rid of it.
Learning how to use different AI tools to help get a better education and derive meaning from complex topics has helped me in many of my other classes. Understanding how to use AI in a humane, educationally ethical way has helped me succeed in other classes, and I’m sure that it will help me succeed in future classes as well. AI has helped foster a better learning environment for me in these past months, and I have learned much more using AI as a tool than if I wouldn’t have.
