Thing 1 of 23 Things: Lifelong Learning

As students in EDUC 3040 at APSU, we are assigned activities, better known as 23 Things, to gain better knowledge and experiences of the internet and Web 2.0 tools. For Thing 1, we are to read the tutorial, 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners, and write down which habit we find to be the easiest for ourselves and which we find to be the most difficult.

The habits discussed are:
1) Begin with the end in mind.
2) Accept responsibility for your own learning.
3) View problems as challenges.
4) Have confidence in yourself as a competent and effective learner.
5) Create your own learning toolbox.
6)Use technology to your advantage.
7) Teach and mentor others.
7.5) Play!

I find that it is easy to (#1) create goals for myself. I make to-do lists daily. I become unmotivated and without direction if I don't. The tutorial suggests making goals with the end in sight. We should  make goals realistic enough to accomplish them in the amount of time given to do so.

Possibly the most difficult habit for me to keep is to (#3) understand that life may not always go the way I have planned. I went to school with a girl whose father has said that if you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans. The tutorial suggests that we should look at problems, not as roadblocks, but as challenges that allow us to learn a new way to accomplish something.

Learning begins in the womb and ceases when we retire from life. While the habits for successful lifelong learning listed in the tutorial are not super-secrets that have been revealed, it is motivating to see them listed in one piece of writing. It allows us to see which of the habits we need to work harder to keep.