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[lynesn-blog]

LEARNING HOW TO LEARN

Introduction

The topic I chose today was “Learning How to Learn”: Techniques to Help you Learn with Dr Barbara Oakley (Bridging the Gaps, 2022). I chose this particular topic for more than a reason, firstly, because we discussed it a bit in class after some people wrote about it so, it intrugued me and I thought maybe I should listesn to Dr Barbara. Secondly, if you are a learner like I am, surely this is one of those topics that would catch your attention. Every learner would be looking for ways to learn better if not easily. This topic would perphaps provide a light to even performng better in your classes.

This interesting classic from the portal for curious minds was a podcast between Dr Waseem Akhtar and Dr Barbara Oakley (Bridging the Gaps, 2022). Dr Waseem is the head of the Computing faculty in Griffith College Dublin where he is based. He hold an MBA in Higher EducationManagement from the institute of Education at University College London and a PhD in Computer Science from University College Dublin. The academic has a reputation for his engaging lectures and discussions where he explores multidisciplinary ideas, cutting edge research on diverse research topics with researchers and thought leaders from around the world (Bridging the Gaps, 2022).

Dr Barbara Oakley is a writer,Educator and professor of Engineering at Oakland University in Rochester,Michigan.With two Bachelors degrees, a masters and PhD in systems Engineering, the author has also taught one of Cousera’s most popular courses online “Learning How to Learn”. Dr Barbara has written books like Learning How to Learn, Uncommon Sense Teaching, Mindshift and more that highlight her topics of interest in neuroscience and social behavior (Oakley, 2022).

My favourite question from Dr Waseem in these podcasts is always the first one, “tell us about yourself”. It always seems like the guest is caught off guard or they have so much about them to tell that it can’t be answered in a single line. This I am yet to believe that because they have so much work on their names, the questions seems too small to fit such an answer. The most interesting part about Dr Barbara is that even after her work in the army and with a degree of Arts, she felt like something was missing at 26 years. A bit of her must have felt like a failure and she wanted to prove it wrong, from hating Math and Science to going head on with the same subjects and becomimg an Engineer in the field is not light (Bridging the Gaps, 2022). This was a trick worth sharing and we are all now thankful for the books she has written about this subject to help us all.

Dr Barbara explains with good examples when asked how learning occurs in the brain, just like driving a car and small tasks like those become natural to us after consistently and persistently doing them.I have heard people say “there is no talent good enough to beat persistence”. She advises on how important it is take short breaks for effective learning, the Pomodoro technique that I personally use was recommended (Bridging the Gaps, 2022).

Learning in chunks was another concept she advisein learning how to learn. Dr Barbara believes learning repetively and consistently can create neuro chunksfor example, reading something and stepping away from the material while trying to memorise or meditate on what you have just learned can help build your memory muscle (Bridging the Gaps, 2022).

Dr Barbara makes another not obvious point but a common one too about learning how to learn whe she says discussing with others as a form of learning is another good way to practise learning how to learn, because its so easy to read something and you think you know it until you don’t after talking to others.This has happened to me many times when I think I know but actually I don’t. She says we need to take learning as a social activity not just an individual one.

Conclusion

Many people learn differently, and as a past teacher in kindergarten I know this so well after seeing children learn in different forms. Dr Barbara advises that the Pomodoro technique is her most trusted style that can also be used to shut out distractions like social media (Uzu, 2022). Dr Barbara is looking forward to new future reseach on the brain and neuro science especially, on how people learn, she also hopes that in future, maybe we can impart brains into people and I think this is where scientists try to play God. Actually by just asking this question I wonder what Dr Waseem thinks?

SOURCES

Bridging the Gaps.(2022). Retrieved from: https://www.bridgingthegaps.ie/tag/learning/

Barbara, O. (2022). Barbara Oakley, Phd. Retrieved from: https://barbaraoakley.com/about-me/

Uzu, Y. (2022). Pomofocus. Retrieved from: https://pomofocus.io/

[lynesn-blog]

PHILOSOPHY AND ETHICS OF INFORMATION

The topic I chose was the "Philosophy and "Ethics of Information", an interview or chat between Dr Waseem Akhtar, head of the computer faculty at Griffith College Dublin and Professor Luciano Floridi from the University of Oxford as guest (Bridging the Gaps: A Portal for Curious Minds, n.d). Dr Waseem’s current research includes but is not limited to topics like Big Data and Machine Learning for strategic management, Business Intelligence Systems and more (Griffith College, n.d).

Firstly, I chose this topic because of my interest in philosophy as a subject and technology or computers. For me this is deep, given my career aspirations in technology and data management I am sure I will be working with chunks of data sets and that also means acquiring them in the right way possible. I care about privacy a lot and doing my work ethically. Technology today and technologists seem to be all about what they can do to make their mark in science and care less about what or who is hurt in the process. My view is that we can still do good work, and create and develop new technologies without losing the humanity bit in us while staying respectful and ethical.

The discussion is about the Philosophy of information, also described as the Philosophy of our time and Philosophy for our time by prof Luciano. He explains that it's both theoretical and partly historical. The historical part has reasons to do with the real understanding of Philosophy and its grandfathers, Plato and others. When asked how information was handled in ancient times he says it was used as a tool and not seen as a problem.

In his article “what is data ethics”, (2016) professor Luciano discusses the good and bad that come with technology advancements and I am personally inclined to agree with him especially when he points out ethical questions like whether is it worth it to exchange improved lifestyles and environments for fairness for example or lack of human rights and privacy? The extensive use of data that is often personal and sensitive coupled with a dependence on algorithms that shape decisions come with ethical challenges that can be handled from the start.

Professor Luciano explains ethics of information as a journey from machine or computer ethics, to information ethics which meant data on the machine and later to digital ethics to include anything and everything but most importantly the science behind it all. This would attempt to apply a clause of ethics to all digital transformations like engineering ethics, bio-medical ethics, and more (Bridging the Gaps: A Portal for Curious Minds, n.d). With Data science today and the amount of data being collected, I think it's no longer a specific device or technology but any digital print that can be misused can also be used ethically.

In the end, as long as Philosophy (the art of dealing with open questions) is still as alive as I believe, it will always give birth to more questions and technological advancements  through logical, empirical or both mathematical resources to reach a conclusion. All we need to do to ethically answer all the questions that come along as we advance.

SOURCES:

Bridging the Gaps: A Portal for Curious Minds. (n.d). Retrieved from: https://soundcloud.com/bridging-the-gaps/philosophy-of-information-and-ethics-of-information-with-professor-luciano-floridi?si=5625df9fbfb24372803f05cb7474d4f9&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Griffith College (n.d). Biography. Retrieved from: https://www.griffith.ie/people/waseem-akhtar

Floridi, L. and Taddeo, M.(2016)"What is Data Ethics?", Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.374(2083)20160360.