# 4 Am I ready to learn?

Learning at a distance may feel different from learning in a traditional classroom environment. Just as in face-to-face teaching, some online learning experiences include support from a tutor or an educator. However, other distance learning courses will embed the teaching within the material. Because this may be different from how you have studied in the past, this can take a little bit of getting used to. For example, you might not be instantly able to ask the tutor a question to check your understanding; instead, you might ask your peer group on a forum or contact the apprenticeship support team.

The crucial thing to being a successful distance learning apprentice is to engage fully with the teaching materials. Apprentices have shared with us the key approaches that lead to successful learning outcomes. These include:

- read
- take notes
- learn with others
- demonstrate what you have learned.

Read – When you engage with your learning materials it is important to remember that you are reading for understanding and need to digest significant points in the text. You will learn to develop reflective reading skills so that you check your own understanding as you go. Sometimes difficult concepts might need to be read more than once. Your learning materials will be on a screen, but the skills you use to read and understand them are similar.

Studying will include opportunities for you to engage in online learning activities. Being a digital learner can help you develop essential skills for study, work and lifelong learning.

For example, modules that teach the skills needed to study in digital environments. Or where most of the module is based on online activity such as software use.

Take notes – When reading your learning materials, it is a good idea to take notes. Apprentices tell us they develop their own approaches to making notes. This might be highlighting text on screen, summarising notes on a separate piece of paper or in an electronic document. They may even produce mind maps.

Research tells us that learning is most effective when done with other people. Increasingly in distance education, apprentices will interact with one another using technology; for example, through forums, discussion threads and live tutorials or webinars.

Learn with others – As an apprentice distance learner you learn through a group-based teaching approach. From time to time, you may be required to attend residential schools or workshops. You will be able to find this information once you have access to your module website.

Learning with others by using the range of technologies available can be a creative way to check your understanding with your peers or your tutor. Collaboration in this way can help you take on feedback from others and learn from different points of view. You will also enhance the learning of your peers by your comments and feedback.

Demonstrate what you have learned – The ultimate demonstration of your learning will come in your response to assessment tasks. This can include formal report writing, drafting essays, presentations, quizzes, blogging, contributing to work projects.

As part of the apprenticeship programme, you will need to show what you have learned by gathering evidence through your assessment tasks. This may be facilitated by your Practice Tutor who will support you integrate your learning with your professional work.

## Activity 4

Duration 30 mins

Read and reflect on Jon Rosewell’s article on Learning styles (2004).

In the box below, note the learning style that most closely aligns with your own approach to learning.

Example: I am more of a pragmatist because I like to try out new things and just get on with it. I am practical and I can apply what I have learned to my own situation.

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## Activity 5

Duration 20 mins

In Rosewell’s article you will have seen a reference to Kolb’s learning cycle (Kolb, 1984). Learning approaches are visually overlaid on Kolb’s cycle to describe effective ways of learning. The most successful learners follow a four-step circular approach:

- Experiencing – doing something
- Reviewing – thinking about what has happened
- Concluding – drawing some conclusions
- Planning – deciding what to do in the future.

In the box below note the approaches to learning that you feel most confident with.

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You might also want to note the approaches to learning you may wish to develop.

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## Next steps

As a result of reflecting on these learning activities, you may have been thinking about your own English language and number skills.

You may need to study Functional Skills as part of your apprenticeship.

The following free short courses on Open Learn might be helpful for you to explore.

English: Skills for Learning

Essay and report writing skills

Numbers, units, and arithmetic

OpenLearn - Am I ready to be an apprentice distance learner?
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