How To Use ICT for Individual Learning

From the cognitive perspective, learning is considered as building and reforming cognitive structures. Humans are basically seen as guided by mental schemas that affect how they perceive and learn information, which in turn develops their mental schemas further (Neisser, 1981). Learners are seen as individual information processors, learning both declarative (facts) and procedural (strategies) knowledge. However, environmental, emotional and social aspects also have important impacts on what is actually learned, as will be reviewed in this section.

Constructing knowledge
Constructivism emphasizes the active role of the learner and the interaction with the environment. Learning includes the assimilation of new knowledge to existing structures as well as the accommodation of existing knowledge and structures to new situations (Piaget, 1977). Hence, knowledge is not a commodity to be transmitted – delivered at one end, encoded, retained, and re-applied at the other – but an experience to be actively built, both individually and collectively (Ackermann, 2004). Vygotsky (1986) emphasizes the role of language and other cultural artefacts in mediating interactions. By expressing ideas, or giving them form, these can be made tangible and shareable which, in turn, helps to shape and sharpen these ideas. Externalising ideas is essential for communicating with others as it is possible to negotiate meaning only through tangible forms (Ackermann, 2004). 

Papert's constructionism adds to the picture the opportunities offered by ICT, emphasizing the fact that people learn better when they are engaged in building personally meaningful artefacts and sharing them with others. He views the computer as a powerful tool for this purpose as it can support new ways of thinking and learning. By constructing an external object to reflect upon, people also construct internal knowledge. For example, his work on programming with turtle graphics showed how children learned to create complex activity and instruction paths, situating themselves as the turtle that draws lines and forms, and seeing concretely the results of their work when trying out new ideas.

Bruner (1961) emphasizes the importance of discovery, where the learner asks questions and through them discovers new facts, relationships and truths. The learner selects and transforms information, constructs hypotheses, and makes decisions, based on his/her previous knowledge and experiences. According to Bruner, interest in the topic to be learned is the best stimulus for learning. Learning through inquiry and discovery promotes independence and responsibility for the learning, encouraging learners to be actively engaged in a tailored learning experience. Furthermore, he suggests that any subject can be learned effectively by any child in any stage of development, with a suitable approach
(Smith, 2002).

Experience and reflection
Schön (1987) discusses the importance of concrete experience and ‘reflection-in–action’ in the context of creative processes. Reflection-in-action refers to conscious thinking on the unique situation in which the action takes place. During the active process, practitioners think and draw upon their repertoire of images, ideas, examples and actions from previous experiences. Thus they engage in the activity, which in turn generates a new understanding and changes the situation. Reflection on action takes place afterwards, developing questions and answers about the practice after the encounter. Individual
experience is crucial, and a skilful dialogue between a coach and student, situated with students' doing and elaborating on it, enhances student's action and understanding.

Kolb (1984) defines learning as a process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience (p.38). His model of "experiential learning" describes learning as an ongoing cycle, where learning occurs through a sequence of phases where concrete experiences generate an opportunity for observation and reflection. This, in turn, leads to the creation of new concepts and models that are then tested in upcoming situations, giving rise to new experiences. In order to make the learning cycle effective, learners need four different types of skills. They have to be able to engage openly and
without prejudgement in new experiences, reflect and observe their experiences from many perspectives, create concepts that integrate observations into logically sound theories, and, finally, use these theories in decision making and problem solving. He developed the Learning Style Inventory to assess individual orientations to learning, based on the axes of ‘concrete experience’ – ‘ abstract conceptualisation’ and ‘active experimentation’ – ‘reflective observation’, thus identifying four learning styles, as depicted in Figure 3:

• Convergers rely on abstract conceptualisation and active experimentation. Their strengths are in problem solving, decision making and practical application of ideas. They prefer to deal with technical tasks and problems, rather than social and interpersonal issues.
• Divergers emphasize concrete experience and reflective observation. They have high imaginative ability and awareness of meaning and values. They can generate alternative ideas and implications, are interested in people, and tend to be imaginative and feeling-oriented.
• Assimilators are strongest in abstract conceptualisation and reflective observation. They can assimilate observations into theoretical models, and are more interested in logically sound theories than their practical application.
• Accommodators are strong in carrying out plans and getting involved in new experiences. They are good at opportunity seeking, risk taking and action and adapting to changing circumstances. They tend to solve problems with intuitive trial and error tactics and rely on other people for information rather than on their own analytic ability.

 
So it means that in individual learning, ICT makes possible a learner to explore knowledge through the internet. Individual learning also can be done by direct experiment. However, not all experiments can be done in laboratory. ICT provides a virtual laboratory to make impossible experiments can be experimented just in front of the monitor. Virtual laboratory gives a direct experience, even when we do experiment through virtual laboratory, we don't really do the experiment.