Technology Blog #4: Learning to Learn in Law Enforcement

                Chapter three of The Connected Educator: Learning and Leading in the Digital Age chimes in with the concept of 'learning to learn'. The introduction goes onto explain that while teachers may support initial leaps in learning, it is the learners who must be the ones to initiate learning for the rest of their lives during and after their first leaps in initial education. Knowledge for practice is the knowledge taught in hopes of development in professional and academic manners, to increase ones fluency in learning. Knowledge in practice is the phase where learners try and create and connect the dots for learning and overall knowledge, and the knowledge of practice is the final phase where learners can use new information to create those connections on their own and try to improve on their own. People must also learn to unlearn and relearn information effectively, as information changes rapidly.

                Learners must also learn to become co-learners. No one person can learn and construct their knowledge alone as we have distributed cognition, or small pieces of information. To learn effectively without the guidance of educators, learners are required to take responsibility of their own development. This leads to how schools operate now, where the current education system is shown as consistent courses where people are taught to be lawful, dutiful citizens. Go with the typical workflow, and do what is needed. While this is important, something that is needed to be focused on more in the future of educational development is the need to focus on the individual, not the collective. Individuals need to be able to function on their own, and the peers within the classroom will not always be together.

                This chapter connects heavily with my future career in law enforcement. Officers will need to be able to learn efficiently and effectively on their own terms, and connect dots in quick succession. These skills take time to nurture as explained through the knowledge for, in, and of practice. Laws will change throughout my career in criminal justice as well, so relearning and unlearning laws and regulations is necessary. Learning in groups responsibly is also vital to law enforcement as workshops with other officers, alongside coordination and planning for the higher ranks, are needed to eb done with full trust in supervisors and fellow officers.