4 November 2012
Week 1 Engagement Activities
Engagement Activity 1
1.
What
is your learning style? What sorts of learning experiences would suit you best
with your learning style?
According
to Felder and Solomon’s online questionnaire my preferred learning styles are
sensing, visual and sequential. When learning I like solving problems by
ingrained methods and I dislike complications and surprises (sensing learner). I
also prefer to learn visually with pictures, films and demonstrations (visual
learner). I also have difficulty in learning when steps are skipped and when
lecturers change topics in a non-linear fashion (sequential learner).
2.
In a
traditional classroom of 25 students, how would you support the range of
learning styles each lesson?
I
would provide a range of learning styles and learning options to suit my
learners preferred style of learning.
All students learn differently, but everyone absorbs information to a
greater level of understanding if the topic is presented both verbally and
visually. Thus, I would engage both of these learning styles through
demonstrations and accompanying explanations.
3.
With
your current knowledge of ICT, how could your design and digital pedagogy
support your learners better?
Whilst
currently possessing a limited knowledge of ICT, and I am aware of youtube
clips, wikis and blogging. Student’s
today are ‘digital natives’ and thus, whilst I am a ‘digital immigrant’, I could
incorporate these visual clips (visual learners), blogs (reflective learners)
and wikis (active learners) to assist in supporting student’s preferred learning
styles in the 21st century.
4.
What
sorts of profiling questions would you be asking about your learners to ensure
you cater for everyone's preferences?
When
working with students I tend to observe them at work and when I notice students
having trouble with the task I ask them what is it that they understand and then
we work on what they are having trouble. In order to do this I ask a range of
internal profiling questions that ultimately ask ‘how does this student learn
best?’. For instance:
a)
‘would the student learn better in a group, actively engaging with other
students, or would they prefer to work alone on the
task?’
b)
‘Would the student learn better with specific examples of concepts and
procedures based in a real world context, or would the student learn better if
the task gave greater scope for innovation?’
c)
‘would the student learn better from placing the learning material in the
context of the bigger picture?’
5.
How does ICT support differences in learning
styles?
The
students of the 21st century learn in a completely different technological
environment to that of most of the last century. ICT provides the opportunity
for students to learn with different computer programs and alike that suit their
preferred learning style. For instance, vokis, blogs and social networking. ICT
presents opportunities for new interactive learning resources. Students can
engage in collaborative formats, as well as in individualised options. There are also different formatting options
in terms of colour, design, visual content and auditory content to suit
preferred learning styles. Ultimately, ICT enhances all types of preferred
learning styles.
Personal Reflection on the first week
I agree with Prensky's views (2001) in the readings from this week. He examined how far we have come into the digital age. Those of us still in the immigrant stages of the digital world have to adapt to keep up with the natives.
My understanding of the nature of today's learners is that they expect to be entertained not by their teachers but by the activities that the teacher can facilitate for them onto their laptops. Gone are the days when we would stand out the front of a class with the chalkboard, chalk and talk. This is so boring for todays learners, although they still need this part of the lesson to help them on their way to investigate the topic that you have designed for them to keep them engaged in your lesson.
Furthermore if computers are not used in the class for that lesson students complain that they are bored or comment "why can't we use our laptops". I have observed this in classes on my prac and I find it quite strange that many teachers have not embraced ICTs.
Further reading see: Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizion, 9(5), 1-6.
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