Learning Isn’t a Monologue. It’s a Conversation With the World.

One big thing i learnt about touch is that unlike sight that translates visual information, the ears translating the sound information, nose smell information and mouth taste information, our touch does not translate only one thing, it translates one or more of the following kind of information at the same time ;

Touch tells us that something has made contact with our body.

Pressure tells us how strongly something is pressing against us.

Temperature tells us whether something is hot or cold.

Balance tells us where our body is positioned in relation to gravity.

Proprioception tells us where our body parts are in relation to one another, even without looking.

Vibration tells us that something is moving or shaking against our body.

Motion tells us that our body is moving through space.

Clark Quinn newer statement about motion reminded me of the conversation mental model i landed on

“Our motions are how we act on the world, whereas the senses are how the world acts on us. The feedback from a steering wheel, for instance: The “feel” is both a mechanism for us to act on the world and for the world to provide sensory feedback back to us.”

I now see Our “feel” like a translator who passes the same message between two languages.

We speak to the world through action. The world speaks back to us through feedback.

And in between them is our feel, the translator that allows us to understand the conversation.

So when we interact with the world, we’re constantly having a conversation:

Us → Action →( Feel )→ Feedback →( Feel )→ Action → Us

The steering wheel Clark Quinn gave is a perfect example. We turn it to act on the world, but its resistance, vibration, and movement tell us what the world is doing in return.

But yet again our “feel” becomes that translator that makes that conversation possible.

I'd actually use this to strengthen the mental model i built in one of my previous post. Where i spoke about a statement he made “Sensory inputs eventually result in motor outputs, and then the world responds." “

Made me see us as humans and the world constantly having a conversation.

Here is the link to it incase you want to check it out quickly,

“READ BLOG"

The key connection is that my original S.A.A.S. loop focused on the flow of the learning system:

Stimulus → Attention → Action → Stimulus

But this new statement helps me see why the loop is actually circular.

I originally wrote:

“The action we take creates new stimuli.”

Clark Quinn statement gives that idea a deeper explanation when he said :

“Our motions are how we act on the world, whereas the senses are how the world acts on us.”

This meant that our action and sensation aren't two separate things. They are two sides of the same interaction.

And so this expands to more than our touch feeling, but i’d keep emphasis on our touch sense

Considering the steering wheel example Clark Quinn gave.

We don't simply:

Sense → Act → And then it stops.

Instead:

We Sense → Act → Sense → Act → Sense → Act...

And so we’re continuously receiving feedback from the world because of the actions we’re taking within it.

When we’re steering:

Our eyes see the road, Our brain interprets where the car is going, We move the steering wheel, The car changes direction, Our hands feel the steering wheel respond, Our eyes see the new position of the car, That new sensory information influences our next movement, And then cycle continues.

So the deeper model is that it's a conversation between organisms and their environment. in our case the learner and their learning experience environment.

And that's exactly what i was beginning to articulate in my original post when i wrote:

“Learning isn't a monologue. It's a conversation.”

I think that's the part worth revisiting with what i know now.

What Clark's new statement adds

My original S.A.A.S. model could be understood as:

Stimulus → Attention → Action → Stimulus

Clark's new statement helps me recognize that the final Stimulus isn't just some unrelated thing that happens afterward.

It is often the consequence of our actions.

So:

The world acts on me→ I act on the world → the world acts back on me.

Or, using your S.A.A.S. language:

Stimulus → Attention → Action → new Stimulus → Attention → Action…

And so it becomes

The loop is sustained because our actions change the sensory information available to us.

And this has a very interesting implication for learning design:

If learning is partly about improving how someone acts within the world, then feedback isn't something we simply “add” after an activity. Feedback is part of the interaction itself.

To me, that's a much richer idea than simply saying, “Give learners feedback.”

For example, a flight simulator isn't merely presenting information and then asking the learner what they know.

The learner acts in the simulated environment.

The environment responds.

That response becomes new sensory information.

The learner interprets it.

They act again.

And suddenly my S.A.A.S. model becomes relevant to experiential learning:

Stimulus → Attention → Action → Consequence → New Stimulus → Attention → Action...

So I think my post from last week was actually pointing toward something deeper than i initially realized.

I wasn’t just describing how information gets into the learner.

I was beginning to describe how a learner and an environment continuously influence one another.

And Clark Quinn steering-wheel example gave me that new layer:

Senses are how the world acts on us. Motions are how we act on the world. Learning happens within the loop between the two.

Day 38 of Instructional Design

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