A Learner Today is Like a Tree...

 

 

A learner today is like a tree which can come in any variety of sizes, shapes, and colors.  So too, do our learners today.  Trees can live alone or in groups like students who prefer to work collaboratively and others solitarily.  Trees can live in various climates – some prefer the tropics, others the desert, still others are suited for the cold.  Students thrive in various environments, they have strengths and weaknesses that are exacerbated by the context that they are in.   In the article Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age by George Siemens the connection is made between a tree and a learner flourishing in their respective environments.  "Connectivism provides insight into learning skills and tasks needed for learners to flourish in a digital era."  The climate is crucial for the growth of the tree.  Certain trees can only grow in particular climates.  As teachers, we must remember that our students are very individual, just like a tree.  By getting to know our students, we come to better understand their individuality and use it to assist them in learning to the best of their ability. 

Trees adapt to their climate for survival, deciding to store water in the desert where water is scarce.  Learners today are most successful when they do the same thing.  They are most effective when they learn their learning style and how to capitalize on it in their context.  The classroom is a place where the students should have an opportunity to utilize their strengths to succeed if they are provided instances where they can be individualized.  However, if students are not given the freedom to do so, if they are expected to all learn the same way, some will fail to grow.  This works in the same way that a palm tree should not be planted in the desert with the intent that it will grow.  In the video The Changing Nature of Knowledge, another correlation can be made between learners and trees regarding their unique needs,"A dramatically different need for knowledge," just as trees have dramatically different needs for their survival in various environments.

Trees also have extensive root systems that firmly connect them with the earth, providing a network of connections with the ground.  Learners, too have prior knowledge and experience that makes them unique, rooting them in the ground.  Most importantly, trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air and release it as oxygen which fuels life.  Branches and leaves grow uniquely in each tree based on its vitality.  Learners who are able to glean the important parts from an unending influx of information (carbon dioxide), can process it and turn it into something spectacular (oxygen) that fuels life and makes contributions to the earth just as a tree gives us oxygen that is essential for human life.  A learner who captures and internalizes the input, working on his/her prior experience and using his/her system of tools to apply this knowledge can release a wondrous product.  It could be a solution to a problem that results from this process.