The photo on the right highlights an ancient truth: self-guided learning – otherwise known as Self-Directed Learning (SDL) – is not a new idea, but has been with us longer than formal education.
In its most basic form, it is a process by which an individual:
- identifies a gap in his or her knowledge
- defines some learning goals
- identifies the resources necessary for the pursuit of those goals
- utilizes the available resources to learn
- assesses whether the goals have been met
This may not seem different from formal learning, but the key difference is that the learner’s own interests and self-motivation are the guide and driving force behind this process. While the learning does not have to be completely independent/isolated, the learner is responsible for deciding what they wish to learn and how they wish to learn it.