Mod 5 (1) A learner is like a social mediator

Learning is endless and we need to learn continuously since the knowledge is changing and we should update to catch up the world. As learning per se, learning style is changing with the development of society. As I remember, when I was in elementary school, we seldom used computer and all we need is the textbook and notebook. Students wrote all information and knowledge on the paper and every subject needed to rely on the book. At that time, learning is about each student per se, which means we acquire knowledge by ourselves without any relationship to other classmates. Like what the author wrote in the article A Learning Theory for the Digital Age, We can no longer personally experience and acquire learning that we need to act. We derive our competence from forming connections. 

However, things have great now. Today's learning is no longer just about the individual. Learning is becoming more and more social and we learners are like social mediators. Technology plays a vital role in learning. Instead rely on only textbooks, we have Internet, which is a very important and popular tool for us to learn. Knowledge changes fast and we can get the latest information from the Internet. As we know from the video The Network is Learning, if what I know today is going to change because knowledge changes rapidly, if I am not continue the learning, I am becoming obsolete in my particular field. We need to update what we knowledge frequently. Also through technology, we can share our knowledge with our friends, classmate, or people we even don't know. It is a process of exchanging. From the key words and labels, we can find the things in our own particular field. By doing so, our database is expanded and people can help each other in their learning. Therefore, learners become social and can mediate our own and others' learning.