Learning

Source: Wikipedia

Learning is the acquisition and development of memories and behaviors, including skills, knowledge, understanding, values, and wisdom. It is the goal of education, and the product of experience.

Physiology of learning
Thinking can be thought of as a network of neurons firing in a very specific pattern. As neurons are used, they become thicker and more permanent. It follows then, that the stronger the stimulation, and the more common the stimulation, the more likely the stimulus is to be remembered. More so, memory comes easier when multiple parts of the brain (such as hearing, seeing, smelling, motor skills, touch sense, and logical thinking lobes; informal names given) are stimulated.

Learning methods

Observational learning (learning by example)
The most basic learning process is imitation, one's personal repetition of an observed process, such as a smile. Thus an imitation will take one's time (attention to the details), space (a location for learning), skills (or practice), and other resources (for example, a protected area). Through copying, most infants learn how to hunt (i.e., direct one's attention), feed and perform most basic tasks necessary for survival.
Example can be a motivation for learning. Imitation of a role model is a natural mechanism for infants and children, when learning from experience. Child's play is another method for learning by the example of other children, who naturally gain satisfaction by playing the role of teacher or mentor to a less-experienced child.

The sandbox (sandpit) in a playground is an example of a location where children can learn by experience. It is instructive to watch smaller children on a merry-go-round, for example, who naturally push it more slowly than the larger, older, more experienced ones. In order for a little one to get on the merry-go-round, they might simply grab a bar and drag their feet in the sand, while holding on. This slows down the rotation, which allows the little one to climb on, under the oversight of a supervisor, to ensure their physical safety.
Learning "how to learn" is a skill, which can be taught to others, by example.

Approaches to learning

Informal learning
Main article: Informal learning
Informal learning is learning things in our day-to-day situations (if we don't look in front of us while walking, we learn that we run into things and that might be dangerous). It's what daily life practices teach us. It is learning from life, during a meal at table with parents, Play (activity), exploring...

Formal learning
Formal learning is learning that takes place within a teacher-student relationship, such as in a school system.
Non-formal learning is organised learning outside the formal learning system. For example: learning by coming together with people with similar interests and exchanging viewpoints, in clubs or in (international) youth organisations, workshops.
The European Union is actively promoting European Citizenship and offering several programs that enable its citizens to meet other citizens from other countries and cultures for non-formal learning sessions.
Typically funding is offered to projects where groups, youth groups with a similar interest develop a joint workshop so that their members may be able to meet each other, exchange viewpoints during non-formal learning sessions and informal learning during a meal, for example. International instruments concerning non-formal education
An overview of legal aspects of promoting and recognising training activities taking place outside of formal education systems in the EU and worldwide. http://www.logos-net.net/ilo/150_base/en/topic_i/t15_l.htm [EN]
Links to key documents and legislation concerning non-formal education. Website of the European Commission.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/doc/official/index_en.html [EN]
Want to know how youth organisations contribute to non-formal education, or to find information about the recognition of non-formal education in Europe? On this site you will find the studies and reports carried out by this Forum. http://www.youthforum.org/en/our_work/citizenship2.html [EN][FR]

Combined approaches
The educational system may use a combination of formal, informal, and non-formal learning methods. The UN and EU recognise these different forms of learning (cf. links below). In some schools students can get points that count in the formal-learning systems if they get work done in informal-learning circuits. They may be given time to assist international youth workshops and training courses, on the condition they prepare, contribute, share and can proof this offered valuable new insights, helped to acquire new skills, a place to get experience in organising, teaching, etc.
In order to learn a skill, such as solving a Rubik's cube quickly, several factors come into play at once:
Directions help one learn the patterns of solving a Rubik's cube
Practicing the moves repeatedly and for extended time helps with "muscle memory" and therefore speed
Thinking critically about moves helps find shortcuts, which in turn helps to speed up future attempts.
The Rubik's cube's six colors help anchor solving it within the head.
Occasionally revisiting the cube helps prevent loss of skill

History of learning
The history of the development of what is known about learning is the history of education. The history of what man has learned, is history itself.

History of education
The history of education is both long and short. In 1994, Dieter Lenzen, president of the Freie Universität Berlin, said "education began either millions of years ago or at the end of 1770". This quote by Lenzen includes the idea that education as a science cannot be separated from the educational traditions that existed before.
Education was the natural response of early civilizations to the struggle of surviving and thriving as a culture. Adults trained the young of their society in the knowledge and skills they would need to master and eventually pass on. The evolution of culture, and human beings as a species depended on this practice of transmitting knowledge. In pre-literate societies this was achieved orally and through imitation. Story-telling continued from one generation to the next. Oral language developed into written symbols and letters. The depth and breadth of knowledge that could be preserved and passed soon increased exponentially.
When cultures began to extend their knowledge beyond the basic skills of communicating, trading, gathering food, religious practices, etc, formal education, and schooling, eventually followed. Schooling in this sense was already in place in Egypt between 3000 and 500BC.
Basic education today is considered those skills that are necessary to function in society.