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The Problem:
How can Learning Anxiety Disorder (LAD)
in adults be addressed using the Personal
Learning Environment (PLE) attribute of
IT innovations within the e-learning
framework?
―…despite the recent
technological advances in
social communication, and
the fact that social
bonding is a crucial
psychological aspect of
being human, there are
certain individuals for
whom social interactions
are difficult, leading to
real-life anxiety. Although
they crave the company of
others, socially anxious
individuals shun social
situations for fear of being
found out as unlikable or
worse‖ (Farfan, 2013).
Summary of the Study
This research provides a deep insight into:
What Learning Anxiety Disorder (LAD) is;
How LAD affects people prone to the
negative effects of socially-involved
learning;
Why and how the Personal Learning
Environment (PLE) and other active
components of IT innovations within the e-
learning education framework can be
effective as a solution to those that are
susceptible to LAD;
How policymakers, education community
and learners in the information age can
effectively capitalize on these attributes to
build better policies, education delivery
and learning strategies, and solutions for
enhanced efficiency and general learning
outcome.
So What?
What:
LAD is a branch of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD)
that bothers on significant amount of fear directly
relating to socially-involved learning.
How:
LAD is a product of severe shyness, unwarranted
self-consciousness, misappropriated Ego,
nervousness or other forms of socially-induced
phobia that inhibits learning adventures.
Learning Anxiety Disorder (LAD)
LAD is expressed in strong aversion for
and evasion of socially-involved learning,
depleted interest in learning adventures,
unsettling anxiety, and significant
diminution of cognitive abilities.
Complications of persisting
unwarranted self-consciousness,
severe shyness, nervousness,
Sophophobia, or misappropriated ego
resulting in anxiety can obstruct
learning adventures, or impair
cognitive abilities?
"The effects of stress on
memory include
interference with a
person's capacity to
encode memory and the
ability to retrieve
information" (de
Quervain et al, 1998).
"The impact of
anxiety on cognitive
function is a major
contributing factor
to these costs;
anxiety disorders
can promote a
crippling focus upon
negative life-events
and make
concentration
difficult, which can
lead to problems in
both social and work
environments"
(Robinson, Vytal,
et'al, 2013).
LAD impacts
"Many different types of medications are used in the
treatment of anxiety disorders, including traditional
anti-anxiety drugs ....These drugs can provide
temporary relief, but they also come with side effects
and safety concerns—some significant. They are also
not a cure. In fact, there are many questions about
their long-term effectiveness. According to the
American Academy of Family Physicians" (Helpguide.org
2016).
Helpguide.org (2016),
Anxiety Medication: The role
of medication in anxiety
treatment; accessed from:
https://www.helpguide.org/
articles/anxiety/anxiety-
medication.htm
LAD: psychotropic medication can’t work
PLE is shaped after cognitive or psychological
therapy;
because LAD’s underlying causes are 100%
emotional, PLE is 100% safe and also efficient when
purposefully applied agains LAD.
psychotropic (synthetic or herbal) medication
have been determined to be incapable of providing
real cure without side effects.
BACKGROUNDS
o Shyness is the source of nervousness, stress, and
anxiety in social interactions which seriously
interferes with the individual’s pursuit of
interpersonal goals.
o It sometimes prevents people from social
interactions, shy people have difficulties making
friends and in expressing themselves publicly.
Shyness as a Major Component of Learning
Anxiety Disorder (LAD)
SHYNESS:Shyness as a key
component of LAD is
a feeling of serious
emotional
discomfort resulting
from unwarranted
self-consciousness
which causes an
inhibition of free
expression in
socially-involved
engagements
Adopted from: http://www.fasthomeremedy.com/what-
is-social-anxiety-disorder-causes-symptoms/
Severe shyness is
an extreme case
that degenerates
into LAD, and it
totally inhibit
people from
engaging in any
activity that
involves others
whereby they may
be a subject of
attention.
Misappropriated ego in LAD is a psychological
issue associated with socially-involved learning in
adults whereby an adult learner refuses to yield to
any learning need when it involves individuals
whom the learner has given an impression of an
exalted self-worth particularly in knowledge or
power.
Ego-related LAD manifest mostly in adults in the
form of strange display of apathy, desperate
avoidance of socially-involved learning adventures,
use of aggression to suppress learning challenges,
attitude of too busy to be involved.
Ego as in Learning Anxiety Disorder (LAD)
Learning Anxiety Disorder (LAD) was discovered as a major
impediment to learning and sound cognitive operations for shy,
self-conscious, and ego-centered people. LAD reflects the reason
why some people avoid socially-involved learning in attempt to
ensure that their peculiar psychological challenges are not
discovered.
LAD is anxiety disorder that centres
principally on fear of socially–involved learning
rooted on grave concerns about humiliations that
may result from failure to perform as expected.
LAD is not necessarily fear of social interactions
from the general point of view; therefore, it is not
Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD).
LAD is not SAD
"symptom can also be
described as not being
able to remember new
information the way you
are used to or think you
should. The difficulty
retaining new information
can be so apparent that it
may startle you. ...
learning impairment
symptom can come and go
rarely, occur frequently,
or persist indefinitely.
...can precede,
accompany, or follow an
episode of nervousness,
anxiety, fear, and
elevated stress ..." (Folk
J. & Folk, 2016).
LAD is also not fear of confronting the labor of learning
which occurs mostly under private learning space;
therefore, LAD is not Sophopbobia
SOPHOPHOBIA bothers on anxiety or distress resulting
from one’s irrational assessment of his or her inability to go
through the rigors of learning, decode new information, learn, or
retain knowledge. SOPHOPHOBIA will more appropriately be
associated with mental laziness instead of shyness as the root
cause.
LAD bothers on the complications (disorder) resulting
from the fear of other people’s judgement of the individual’s
inability to learn like others and the resulting embarrassment
when the learner’s deficiencies become known.
How does this impact
learning and cognitive
abilities?
―during times of
stress, the body reacts
by secreting stress
hormones into the
bloodstream. Stress
can cause acute and
chronic changes in
certain brain areas
which can cause long-
term damage"
(Henckens, Hermans,
et’al 2009).
LAD is not SOPHOPHOBIA
PERSONAL LEARNING
ENVIRONMENT (PLE) AND
ITS DYNAMICS
The Personal Learning Environments (PEL) is an
IT innovation enabled feature within the e-
learning framework whereby the learner is not
constrained into a preset rigidly structured
learning environment as in the traditional
classroom, but the learner is at liberty to set or
customize his/her learning environment to suite
the learner’s peculiar needs.
The E-learning PLE environment’s edge is further
deepened by its integration with powerful and
dynamic learning tools like e-libraries, electronics
journals, knowledge repositories, e-encyclopaedias,
the wiki information gateways, digital learning
objects and teaching aids of divergent classes and
natures, highly scaled interactive, collaborative and
networking platforms.
UNDERSTANDING THE PERSONAL LEARNING
ENVIRONMENT (PLE) AND ITS DYNAMICS
PLE as an indefinable IT element is making
significant contributions in shaping the evolution
of the e-learning concept and its communal
adoption by:
Empowering the learners to take full control of
their learning environment.
Enabling dynamism in its applications - can be
tweaked to deliver effective solutions for
certain psychological issues like Learning
Anxiety Disorder (LAD) that impair learning.
Overall, the PLE features enable E-learning
to deliver more excellent results and
support for those susceptible to LAD.
There is not much that
can be done in an
instructor led class that
the e-learning
framework cannot also
using web 2.0 tools in a
PLE structured learning
environment.
UNDERSTANDING THE PERSONAL LEARNING
ENVIRONMENT (PLE) AND ITS DYNAMICS
The e-learning concept through its dynamic PLE
offers constructive Social and collaborative
virtual learning where ideas are shared without
limitations, even with its sheild of privacy. Its
start from virtual to real is the key.
Dynamically Applying Personal Learning
Environments (PLE) Against LAD
Adapted from: https://collaborativegrouplearning.com/2015/06/04/159/
There is great
strength in the
dynamic interactive
and learning
collaborative
platform structured
for robust discussion
forums that are more
accommodating and
sweeping in ensuring
participants are even
more involved than
the regular learning
models, yet it still
provides the learner
an effective shield of
privacy.
METHODS
METHODS APPLIED IN THE STUDY
The following methods were employed in this study:
1. Synthesizing of academic materials from related
research works;
2. Analyses of observational data from people engaging
in e-learning and regular studies;
3. Examination of accounts of individuals that consider
themselves susceptible to LAD, and review of
personal experiences in e-learning and conventional
studies;
4. Online surveys conducted using web survey portal for
managing the questionnaires and social media
platforms for reaching out to responders.
Survey focus:
A. If shyness, ego or phobia creates anxiety for socially-
involved learning resulting in LAD;
B. if Personal Learning Environment (PLE) can be of
significant help in addressing LAD when purposefully
structured and rightly applied.
The survey has 21
questions, some
questions are structured
to gain an insight into
the backgrounds of the
responder while some
are structured to
provide the responder
with an insight and a
lead for the
understanding of
subsequent questions
considered critical to
the enquiry. The few
questions presented
here are selected
because of their direct
bearing to the subject
matter. Complete survey
report can be accesses
through: :
https://www.surveymon
key.net/results/SM-
NLQDVJ2N/
RESULTS
Results
Q15: Do you think that there are people who
are NATURALLY VERY SHY to the extent
of not wanting to learn something new in the
presence of others so that their level of
ignorance will not be discovered and they
become ridiculed?
Q18: Do you think there are people that are
naturally POMPOUS OR FULL OF EGO to the
extent of not wanting to learn something with
some class of people so that they are not
humbled, disgraced or disrespected when their
ignorance is discovered?
Q16: Do you think that such situation (as
described in question 15) can really prevent
some people from participating or inhibit
them from performing well in a class
involving face-to-face learning?
Q17: Do you think that such people (as
described in question 15 above) can learn
better if they are giving a kind of cover that
does not bring them into physical contact with
people they are supposed to learn from so that
their weaknesses or ignorance are not
exposed?Online survey reports: https://www.surveymonkey.
net/results/SM-NLQDVJ2N/
Over 116 persons took that survey and responses indicates
that the notion of Learning Anxiety Disorder is real. The
adult learner can use PLE to overcome the challenges of
learning anxiety disorder by creating a suitable personalised
learning environment that shields the learner from the
negative impacts of socially-involved learning.
Reults
Q20: Do you think that such people (as
described in question 15 and 18) can
learn better if they are giving a kind of
cover that does not bring them into
physical contact with people they are
supposed to learn from so that their
weaknesses are not exposed?
Answered: 89 Skipped: 3
Q21: Do you think that e-learning (online
studies) will be able to provide such
people (as described in question 18) with
this kind of protective cover as it is not
usually a face-to-face learning, and
understanding that they are shielded will
make them to want to try learning?
Answered: 89 Skipped: 3
Paraphrased excerpts:
In addition to
flexibility, accessibly
and cost-effectiveness,
emphasis is now laid
more on participatory
and collaborative
learning as a culture.
Web 2.0 is offering very
powerful learning
environments that
enable learners to also
participate in the
creation and pruning of
knowledge at the same
time (An Y. –J,
Aworuwa, et'al 2009).
How E-Learning uses PLE to overcome LAD
Avails a multiplexed interactive learning platform
created within a personal Learning Environment
In the most critical stages of learning, it
eliminated the crowd, provides the required
personal space for experimenting within a shield;
The learner is at liberty to determine when
he/she is ripe for socially-involved learning;
Within a protective shield, learners acquire
personal development that eliminates their
concerns and enhances their confidence level
that assures preservation of self-esteem
This also eliminates the
grand challenge in
giving everyone a
chance to make
contributions in a
regular classroom due
to time, space and
resource limitations.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
“Intelligent Tutoring
Systems (ITS) are
programs that possess a
knowledge-base on
certain subject matter
…designed to transmit
this knowledge to
students by an
interactive
individualized process
that emulates a human
teacher or tutor guiding
a student in his learning
process. (Gascueña’ &
Fernández-Caballero A.
2005).
E-learning phenomenon was examined
E-learning phenomenon was found to have silent but active
elements that is revolutionalizing learning in the information age
Learning Anxiety Disorder LAD was discovered
The reality of anxiety disorders that negatively impact learning
was established as psychological problems that naturally impair
learning and cognitive abilities.
Dynamically Applying Personal Learning Environments (PLE)
Against LAD
PLE as a blend of learning platforms with the web 2.0 interactive
and collaborative tools and tailored artificial intelligence (AI)
applications can be structured to effectively support private
learning.
Solution
The adult learner can use PLE to privately learn, deeply research
the subjects within a private environment, and adequately
prepare thereby building strategies and confidence to overcome
shyness, phobia, nervousness or performance related anxiety.
IT innovations avail adaptable real-world solutions
that can be easily tweaked to deliver beyond their
original set goals.
PLE is an intangible element that bothers on the
nonphysical attributes of the learning environment
structuring and customization.
The web 2.0 mediated
e-learning platforms
provide advanced tools
for “...learning from
experiences resulting
directly from one’s
own actions, as
contrasted with
learning from watching
others perform,
reading others’
instructions or
descriptions, or
listening to others’
instructions or
lectures” (Reese,
2011).
MAJOR IT INNOVATIONS INFLUENCING
THE E-LEARNING GROWTH: PLE
How can
learning not
be better
under this
kind of
setting?
FUTURE WORKS
Empirical assessment of LAD’s underlying
principles for deeper insights.
Examination of Learners’ susceptibility to LAD
and other factors like genetic formations and
specific ways to help those with very complicated
cases who may not be computer savvy.
How the Personal Learning Environment (PLE)
elements can be effectively harnessed to form a
fully integrated tailored LAD solution
Future works
CURRENT AND FUTURE STEPS
LAD is a conception of this project. Therefore, as an emerging
notion that was nonexistent, a lot more research work need to
be done to avail readers with deeper understanding of this
concept, how it affects learners, how progress can be measured
when dynamic PLE is used as a therapy, and what peculiar
circumstances that require special approach.
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