The Role of Learning Styles and Technology

Abstract

Learning style research has informed effective classroom teaching strategies for decades. Technology has allowed faculty and students to move the learning environment from the four-walled classroom to a fluid global virtual space. Knowledge gained through the application of learning style research to the online instruction has enhanced practice; however, research demonstrating the alignment of learning styles with current technological resources has been limited. Learning styles and their interrelationship with technology and adult learners is as important today as initial learning style research was in the six decades after its beginnings in the 1940s. Education today must meet the needs of students who are more comfortable in electronic environments as well as those who need the four-walled classroom. The ability to use learning style research to accomplish both will lead to enhanced student learning and a more productive experience.