Learning objective: to learn how to ride a bicycle.
Performance objective: to be able to ride a bicycle.
behavioral objective: to carry on riding a bike after knowing the ropes?
Briefly, yes.
Goal statements can generally tolerate fuzziness, and are mostly fuzzy. This is as compared to objectives. When you compare goals and objectives then you will obtain a clearer picture. Objectives are definite, measurable intended outcomes. A set of objectives adds up to achieve the more general goal. The goal is thus usually general and ideal and therefore a bit hazy. In designing learning strategies you will need to have/explain both goal and objectives.
-Elmie
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
???
Terminal objectives and Enabling objectives.
Terminal objectives are superorinates of enabling objectives.
Enabling objectives are subordinates of terminal objectives.
Are goal statments meant to be fuzzy? Are learning objectives NOT fuzzy?
What are the difference between Learning objectives, Performance objectives, Behavioral objectives? Or do they NOT hav any differences?
Am I right to say tat...
Learning objective is to learn how to ride a bicycle?
Performance objective is to KNOW how to ride a bicycle?
Behavioral objective deals with the affective and is concerned with will they WANT to ride a bicycle after learning?
Confused...
Terminal objectives are superorinates of enabling objectives.
Enabling objectives are subordinates of terminal objectives.
Are goal statments meant to be fuzzy? Are learning objectives NOT fuzzy?
What are the difference between Learning objectives, Performance objectives, Behavioral objectives? Or do they NOT hav any differences?
Am I right to say tat...
Learning objective is to learn how to ride a bicycle?
Performance objective is to KNOW how to ride a bicycle?
Behavioral objective deals with the affective and is concerned with will they WANT to ride a bicycle after learning?
Confused...
Monday, April 20, 2009
Week 10
I think a WebQuest is an interesting way of learning/giving instruction but because it is on the web, it might has it's downfalls. Learners are given more personal time to do the learning and this might lead to procrastination or even cheating hence evaluation of the success of the webquest and learner's progress would be difficult.
Webquest would be more interactive. Since in Singapore's low context, students not liking to participate much in lessons, a webquest's lack of face to face might motivate the learners to be more proactive in the learning and question more and learn more in the process.
Designing a webquest is not as easy as it seemed since we as instructors mus go thru the learning design process and that is difficult such as deciding the degree of information to disclose and evaluation and practice is difficult.
Overall I think webquest can only serve as a support/resource in a learner's course of study. Unless that person is full time student for some online university, then webquests cannot replace the normal traditional classroom setting.
Webquest would be more interactive. Since in Singapore's low context, students not liking to participate much in lessons, a webquest's lack of face to face might motivate the learners to be more proactive in the learning and question more and learn more in the process.
Designing a webquest is not as easy as it seemed since we as instructors mus go thru the learning design process and that is difficult such as deciding the degree of information to disclose and evaluation and practice is difficult.
Overall I think webquest can only serve as a support/resource in a learner's course of study. Unless that person is full time student for some online university, then webquests cannot replace the normal traditional classroom setting.
Week 9
Problem Solving skill and Affective learning.
Discuss what is a problem-solving knowledge.
It is the ability to use previously acquired skills and knowledge into another way to solve problems.
Ditto , knowledge of attitudes.
To teach/instruct by hoping to invoke emotions within them. By making them 'Feel' the need to know more. Changing their perceptions. Winning them over via converting them.
State the cognitive events in problem-solving (p. 219 - 222).
Problem identification
Analysis
Synthesis/recognisation
Idea generation
idea evaluation
Implementation planning
solution appraisal
Given then learning design structure, design instruction for problem solving (p. 238).
State the key instructional event for attitude learning (p. 265 - 266).
To have a role model to demonstrate desired behaviour.
Allow practice of desired behaviour
Provide reinforcement for desired behaviour (praising)
Given the learning design structure, design instruction for affective learning (p.270).
Translate the learning design sequence into a MicroLesson using exeXHTML as the principle learning design authoring tool.
Thinking about it, I think in a webquest, problem solving is more commonly found in the evaluation part of the webquest and affective learning would be better to be involved to improve the webquest response and etc. Hence i think it is pretty standard the learning design and outcomes. Just that we need to remember the terms well.
Discuss what is a problem-solving knowledge.
It is the ability to use previously acquired skills and knowledge into another way to solve problems.
Ditto , knowledge of attitudes.
To teach/instruct by hoping to invoke emotions within them. By making them 'Feel' the need to know more. Changing their perceptions. Winning them over via converting them.
State the cognitive events in problem-solving (p. 219 - 222).
Problem identification
Analysis
Synthesis/recognisation
Idea generation
idea evaluation
Implementation planning
solution appraisal
Given then learning design structure, design instruction for problem solving (p. 238).
State the key instructional event for attitude learning (p. 265 - 266).
To have a role model to demonstrate desired behaviour.
Allow practice of desired behaviour
Provide reinforcement for desired behaviour (praising)
Given the learning design structure, design instruction for affective learning (p.270).
Translate the learning design sequence into a MicroLesson using exeXHTML as the principle learning design authoring tool.
Thinking about it, I think in a webquest, problem solving is more commonly found in the evaluation part of the webquest and affective learning would be better to be involved to improve the webquest response and etc. Hence i think it is pretty standard the learning design and outcomes. Just that we need to remember the terms well.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Week 8
Explain what is a procedure knowledge.
Concepts and facts that affect/determine how you behave. Involve both mental and physical activiteis.
Ditto , principle knowledge.
Know WHEN the situation are appropriate for the procedure and those which are inappropriate.
Knowing of steps.
Introduce demonstration. (worked examples/whole to parts/parts to whole)
Let learners practice.
Mus feedback to them.
State the key instructional events in teaching principles (p. 206 - 207; 216).
State Principle.
When the principle applies.
Introduce variables, factors and provide illustrations and explanations.
Introduce context and conditions.
Provide practice and feedback.
Difficult to determine practice and provide feedback in E learning.
Maybe a solution could be to have them record/film their methods down for psychomotor skills like doing a certain stunt on a bicycle or folding paper cranes and have it posted on youtube and you(instructor) can evaluate that and provide feedback on that as well.
For our WebQuest we thought it wouldbe difficult to evaluate their performance and provide feedback as well. So we thought it would be appropriate to supply them a form of support and resource by having them post their success/failure(obviously we wont use the term failure since this might demotivate learners to share) stories on online platforms such as asynchronous forums to allow instructors to evaluate their performance and provide feedback. It also allows other learners of the WebQuest to know where they stand in the process and have a form of group cohesion to stimulate motivation to learn and create the 'I am not alone' mentality. Learning and applying to our particular WebQuest, since it has highly individual parts and is quite complex and also learners online have relatively short attention span so in conclusion we need to emphasis on the parts and I think we did just that by focusing on the Time and Date function.
Concepts and facts that affect/determine how you behave. Involve both mental and physical activiteis.
Ditto , principle knowledge.
Principles are making use of procedures, concepts and facts. Finding the link among them and using them for higher order tasks.
FACTS/Verbal Information : circle, shapes, geometry. (knowing what are circles etc)
Concepts: Circles different from square.
Procedures: Area of circles and squares.
Principle knowledge: (Pie R Square=area) Applying it on other kinds of shapes/problems. (Are these correct? pls correct me if i am wrong)
Distinguish procedure and principle learning.
Principle consists of procedures. Knowing how vs Knowing why.
State the key instructional events in teaching procedure (p. 193 - 195; 202).Know WHEN the situation are appropriate for the procedure and those which are inappropriate.
Knowing of steps.
Introduce demonstration. (worked examples/whole to parts/parts to whole)
Let learners practice.
Mus feedback to them.
State the key instructional events in teaching principles (p. 206 - 207; 216).
State Principle.
When the principle applies.
Introduce variables, factors and provide illustrations and explanations.
Introduce context and conditions.
Provide practice and feedback.
Difficult to determine practice and provide feedback in E learning.
Maybe a solution could be to have them record/film their methods down for psychomotor skills like doing a certain stunt on a bicycle or folding paper cranes and have it posted on youtube and you(instructor) can evaluate that and provide feedback on that as well.
For our WebQuest we thought it wouldbe difficult to evaluate their performance and provide feedback as well. So we thought it would be appropriate to supply them a form of support and resource by having them post their success/failure(obviously we wont use the term failure since this might demotivate learners to share) stories on online platforms such as asynchronous forums to allow instructors to evaluate their performance and provide feedback. It also allows other learners of the WebQuest to know where they stand in the process and have a form of group cohesion to stimulate motivation to learn and create the 'I am not alone' mentality. Learning and applying to our particular WebQuest, since it has highly individual parts and is quite complex and also learners online have relatively short attention span so in conclusion we need to emphasis on the parts and I think we did just that by focusing on the Time and Date function.
Week 7
This week we learn how to go about teaching and inculcating verbal information/declarative knowledge into the learning design.
Learning always require basic knowledge of information and these information are what we call verbal information. They are necessary for higher order learning. They are facts, constantly absorbed by learners and also constantly updated and added upon. They would also change the learner's overall view of something with the required basic information.
3 types of verbal information:
Labels and names - no direct link just pairing of information
Facts and lists - relationship between information
Organized discourse - reading from a text
After this week's lecture, I realised that it is easy to criticise the learning design of a module/course but constructing one that is highly effective and motivating for students is difficult. We must not only provide reliable information for them to learn, design and organise information to them to improve learning and also to motivate them to learn and remember information.
Putting what I learnt on to our WebQuest project. We wish to teach learners how to use StarHub HubStation's SmartTV to record shows. It is a relatively Behavioristic process and verbal information is transferred to them visually in many ways other than text to increase motivation to learn. We organised and elaborated the information for them on the WebQuest to help them better understand the linkages between different information that might otherwise not make sense to them.
For example this module, 3204, we are introduced to a series of mnemonics to better aid memorising of information such as ADDIE and ABCD. We were introduced to the basic knowledge of terms and symbols and after that we were introduced to the linkages between them and the connection are further elaborated to improve our understanding. An example of organised discourse would be us reading from the readings.
Another thing taught is the teaching of concepts. We need to first name the concept, define it and show examples and non examples of it as well as state the attributes of the concept. Not forgetting to have the learners practice and also give them feedback.
So if there is a definition then it is a concept and if not then it is a fact.
Learning always require basic knowledge of information and these information are what we call verbal information. They are necessary for higher order learning. They are facts, constantly absorbed by learners and also constantly updated and added upon. They would also change the learner's overall view of something with the required basic information.
3 types of verbal information:
Labels and names - no direct link just pairing of information
Facts and lists - relationship between information
Organized discourse - reading from a text
After this week's lecture, I realised that it is easy to criticise the learning design of a module/course but constructing one that is highly effective and motivating for students is difficult. We must not only provide reliable information for them to learn, design and organise information to them to improve learning and also to motivate them to learn and remember information.
Putting what I learnt on to our WebQuest project. We wish to teach learners how to use StarHub HubStation's SmartTV to record shows. It is a relatively Behavioristic process and verbal information is transferred to them visually in many ways other than text to increase motivation to learn. We organised and elaborated the information for them on the WebQuest to help them better understand the linkages between different information that might otherwise not make sense to them.
For example this module, 3204, we are introduced to a series of mnemonics to better aid memorising of information such as ADDIE and ABCD. We were introduced to the basic knowledge of terms and symbols and after that we were introduced to the linkages between them and the connection are further elaborated to improve our understanding. An example of organised discourse would be us reading from the readings.
Another thing taught is the teaching of concepts. We need to first name the concept, define it and show examples and non examples of it as well as state the attributes of the concept. Not forgetting to have the learners practice and also give them feedback.
So if there is a definition then it is a concept and if not then it is a fact.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Week 6
For this week, it is still in the planning process of E-Learning.
We were taught how to distinguish fuzzies in our goal statements and how to avoid them. Some of the important words that we should avoid would be KNOW, UNDERSTAND and COMPREHEND.
Writing our Learning objectives, we would have to have these four components in it.
Audience
Behaviour
Condition
Degree
This week is rather important since we were taught how to write or create the curricular map. Basically we just need to create a task listing first. Then after that create a task detailing of the steps/decisions required for the tasks. After which we need to jot down the knowledge required for the individual tasks. Remove the repeated knowledges and create a learning outcome with the remaining ones. But before which you mus sort the knowledges according to requirements first. Like how we need to know how to read english before learning how to complete a form.
In this week we are also introduced to the different levels of learning. Bloom's hierachy of learning is as follows
Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation
I agree with these levels of learning stages and similar to these are Gagne's categorisation of learning.
Verbal Information
Intellectual Skills
-Discrimination
-Concepts
-Rules
-Higher order Rules
Cognitive
Affective
Psychomotor
Gagne's categorisation are important since they allow us to plan wat kind of learning activity we can have in our learning design. We can also place them in accordance to the levels of application/exposure such as we need to explain to them the basic terms and knowledges before introducing them the concepts and distinguishing one concept from another. After which we need to allow them to put it into application and apply it to case studies. Placing them in real life scenarios such as role playing/simulations/internships allow them to use higher order skills to creatively apply their knowledge to use.
For learning, we mus first expose them to the knowledge and information first. By exposing them, they would be more aware of the information and it depends on them if they are willing to receive/respond to it. If they are willing to respond, this means their affective level is being changed. This means the internal value system they hold are changing already and this would lead to the decision of accepting the values or not.
Psychomotor skills are body coordination skills we pick up at the end of the learning design. Putting things into action.
We were taught how to distinguish fuzzies in our goal statements and how to avoid them. Some of the important words that we should avoid would be KNOW, UNDERSTAND and COMPREHEND.
Writing our Learning objectives, we would have to have these four components in it.
Audience
Behaviour
Condition
Degree
This week is rather important since we were taught how to write or create the curricular map. Basically we just need to create a task listing first. Then after that create a task detailing of the steps/decisions required for the tasks. After which we need to jot down the knowledge required for the individual tasks. Remove the repeated knowledges and create a learning outcome with the remaining ones. But before which you mus sort the knowledges according to requirements first. Like how we need to know how to read english before learning how to complete a form.
In this week we are also introduced to the different levels of learning. Bloom's hierachy of learning is as follows
Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation
I agree with these levels of learning stages and similar to these are Gagne's categorisation of learning.
Verbal Information
Intellectual Skills
-Discrimination
-Concepts
-Rules
-Higher order Rules
Cognitive
Affective
Psychomotor
Gagne's categorisation are important since they allow us to plan wat kind of learning activity we can have in our learning design. We can also place them in accordance to the levels of application/exposure such as we need to explain to them the basic terms and knowledges before introducing them the concepts and distinguishing one concept from another. After which we need to allow them to put it into application and apply it to case studies. Placing them in real life scenarios such as role playing/simulations/internships allow them to use higher order skills to creatively apply their knowledge to use.
For learning, we mus first expose them to the knowledge and information first. By exposing them, they would be more aware of the information and it depends on them if they are willing to receive/respond to it. If they are willing to respond, this means their affective level is being changed. This means the internal value system they hold are changing already and this would lead to the decision of accepting the values or not.
Psychomotor skills are body coordination skills we pick up at the end of the learning design. Putting things into action.
Week 5
Ok for this particular week the Needs Assessment is highlighted and explained.
Some of the key important things to note is:
To memorise the 3 steps of Need Assessment.
Step 1 - Run through the 3 face model. (Problem model, Discrepancy model, Innovation model)
Step 2 - Analyze the Goal (Discrepancy and Innovation)
Step 3 -Output of analysis
We first analyse and state the problem.
Is learning the cause of the problem?
If yes, are there instructions prior to this?
If yes then go ahead with the Discrepancy model. If no then proceed onto the Innovation model.
Another important thing this week is to distinguish discrepancy model from the innovation model.
Discrepancy model has prior instructions while innovations model is the introduction of a new task/innovation/product.
Some of the key important things to note is:
To memorise the 3 steps of Need Assessment.
Step 1 - Run through the 3 face model. (Problem model, Discrepancy model, Innovation model)
Step 2 - Analyze the Goal (Discrepancy and Innovation)
Step 3 -Output of analysis
We first analyse and state the problem.
Is learning the cause of the problem?
If yes, are there instructions prior to this?
If yes then go ahead with the Discrepancy model. If no then proceed onto the Innovation model.
Another important thing this week is to distinguish discrepancy model from the innovation model.
Discrepancy model has prior instructions while innovations model is the introduction of a new task/innovation/product.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Week 4
Ok... This is alittle late but as the saying goes... Better late than never! haha So here I am updating this cob web filled space now
So after reading the readings and listening to the webcast, I realised two things. First I was there at the lecture! haha but I duno why listening to webcast is sooo much more insightful than being there physically haha Another thing i realised is, this week's topic is not as tough as i would have imagined it to be! haha So here are my 20 cent worth on this week's topic of 'Learning Design'.
Basically the most important thing this week is we should design our Learning Design based on Activities than on the technology used.
Another important thing is, what the different shapes of a learning design represent. Using a method of mine to remember them, Rectangles are the learner's tasks, Triangles are the resources that support the learner's activities/task and Circles are the supports aka feedback channels such as online Chat rooms and this reflection blog.
This week's readings also differentiated the different tasks. Basically there are 6 different tasks with their own set of appropriate tools. They are Assimilative, Information Handling, Adaptive, Communicative, Productive and Experiential.
Assimilative are tasks that involved reading, listening, viewing. An example of this would be a student going for lectures/viewing/listening to the webcast. This is an assimilative task with the powerpoint slides as a form of resource and tutors/lecturer as the support. (? not too sure if this is correct since supports are feedback channels but I remember (Elmie) when u said it depends on how I define the lecturer/tutor as support ?)
Information Handling is the process that involves students actively gather information either thru the web or in other forms of media. This also involves students gathering and sorting the information as well as distinguishing the appropriate information from those that aren't.
I am not too sure about adaptive tasks but I guess Adaptive would be the process of simulations. Some what like a role playing scenario whereby we 'pretend' to be somebody and do something. An example would be case studies?
Communicative tasks would involve the students to present/discuss their findings to other students/lecturers.
Productive would involve the students to produce something at the end of the learning design. An example would be us producing a workable learning design on EXE at the end of this semester.
Experiential would be something like an on-the-job-training kinda thing. To gain real life experience.
After reading the readings, I thought learning is a combination of all. Like the courses in NUS and using Elearning as an example, it all requires us to participate in the Assimilative process. To further motivate us to learn more beyond the information given to us, we are required to produce essays/projects that require us to do some information handling first. At the end of the semester, we would usually be required to communicate to the class what we found and also constantly engage in online forums to communicate with everyone our thoughts on what was taught. I guess an Adaptive process would be something like a given scenario for us for our projects? haha Experiential process would be the internships i suppose haha
Oh one more thing we learnt this week too. It is the use of ADDIE.
Analysis
Design
Developement
Implementation
Evaluation
Like how we went about doing our EXE webquest project, we had to go thru all the steps of ADDIE and because it is online now, we can now not follow the linear path and jumble the steps up to further improve the webquest. Going through this week's lecture and readings also explained to me why our webquest 'Learning how to record using Starhub's Smart TV' is a productive activity.
There are a few things I would like to clarify regarding this week's lecture.
First on the slide on Affordances, does he mean that we must design a learning platform that is easily understood and simple to navigate? Does he mean this when he said affordances? That the website should afford students to move/proceed from one page to another like flipping a book?
Another thing is as you can see below the learning design we created all have the supports and resources pointed towards the tasks. But in the readings and lecture slides (cos they used the same examples), the arrow is pointing from the task to the Resource. For example on the 12th slide, the task is 'take part in lecture' and the arrow points to 'powerpoint slides'. I thought the resource is supposed to compliment/support the task? So it should be pointing towards the task instead right? Well it might not matter but just wondering =)
And also would it be a problem if for example you as the markers of our paper, do not understand why we chose certain things as supports/resource?
So after reading the readings and listening to the webcast, I realised two things. First I was there at the lecture! haha but I duno why listening to webcast is sooo much more insightful than being there physically haha Another thing i realised is, this week's topic is not as tough as i would have imagined it to be! haha So here are my 20 cent worth on this week's topic of 'Learning Design'.
Basically the most important thing this week is we should design our Learning Design based on Activities than on the technology used.
Another important thing is, what the different shapes of a learning design represent. Using a method of mine to remember them, Rectangles are the learner's tasks, Triangles are the resources that support the learner's activities/task and Circles are the supports aka feedback channels such as online Chat rooms and this reflection blog.
This week's readings also differentiated the different tasks. Basically there are 6 different tasks with their own set of appropriate tools. They are Assimilative, Information Handling, Adaptive, Communicative, Productive and Experiential.
Assimilative are tasks that involved reading, listening, viewing. An example of this would be a student going for lectures/viewing/listening to the webcast. This is an assimilative task with the powerpoint slides as a form of resource and tutors/lecturer as the support. (? not too sure if this is correct since supports are feedback channels but I remember (Elmie) when u said it depends on how I define the lecturer/tutor as support ?)
Information Handling is the process that involves students actively gather information either thru the web or in other forms of media. This also involves students gathering and sorting the information as well as distinguishing the appropriate information from those that aren't.
I am not too sure about adaptive tasks but I guess Adaptive would be the process of simulations. Some what like a role playing scenario whereby we 'pretend' to be somebody and do something. An example would be case studies?
Communicative tasks would involve the students to present/discuss their findings to other students/lecturers.
Productive would involve the students to produce something at the end of the learning design. An example would be us producing a workable learning design on EXE at the end of this semester.
Experiential would be something like an on-the-job-training kinda thing. To gain real life experience.
After reading the readings, I thought learning is a combination of all. Like the courses in NUS and using Elearning as an example, it all requires us to participate in the Assimilative process. To further motivate us to learn more beyond the information given to us, we are required to produce essays/projects that require us to do some information handling first. At the end of the semester, we would usually be required to communicate to the class what we found and also constantly engage in online forums to communicate with everyone our thoughts on what was taught. I guess an Adaptive process would be something like a given scenario for us for our projects? haha Experiential process would be the internships i suppose haha
Oh one more thing we learnt this week too. It is the use of ADDIE.
Analysis
Design
Developement
Implementation
Evaluation
Like how we went about doing our EXE webquest project, we had to go thru all the steps of ADDIE and because it is online now, we can now not follow the linear path and jumble the steps up to further improve the webquest. Going through this week's lecture and readings also explained to me why our webquest 'Learning how to record using Starhub's Smart TV' is a productive activity.
There are a few things I would like to clarify regarding this week's lecture.
First on the slide on Affordances, does he mean that we must design a learning platform that is easily understood and simple to navigate? Does he mean this when he said affordances? That the website should afford students to move/proceed from one page to another like flipping a book?
Another thing is as you can see below the learning design we created all have the supports and resources pointed towards the tasks. But in the readings and lecture slides (cos they used the same examples), the arrow is pointing from the task to the Resource. For example on the 12th slide, the task is 'take part in lecture' and the arrow points to 'powerpoint slides'. I thought the resource is supposed to compliment/support the task? So it should be pointing towards the task instead right? Well it might not matter but just wondering =)
And also would it be a problem if for example you as the markers of our paper, do not understand why we chose certain things as supports/resource?
Ok the two pictures above were done on week 4, one being a lecture activity and the other being the revised version in tutorials. I think overall it is much better/neater after revising it.
Ok I hope I can get some clarifications regarding some of the questions i posed earlier on. =)
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Lecture 2
Assignment:
- Blog your reflections on the three theories and on their application to the different types problems.
- Respond to one and read at least three other students' blog.
After my attempt to understand the readings and the lecture, I guess this week, we are learning about the different approaches to learning. So here are my thoughts.
Behaviourism
I personally think this is the most primitive method of teaching but also quite an effective method as well. The whole idea of humans being selfish is blatantly true, to a certain extent. This particular method is especially efficient with children. In order to motivate them to study/read more, we give them incentives such as sweets, sticker stars, grades, a praise etc. When they do badly in a test or refuse to learn, punishments would be enforced such as scolding, caning or shaming them in class or publicly. These rewards and punishment method still hold true for adults as well.
We live in a highly meritocratic society where punishents and rewards shape our behaviors. When we commit an activity deemed by the society as a 'crime', we would be punished by being sentenced to jail or fine. When we do something good, we get acknowledged by the public and receive awards, etc. We, as adults, work hard to earn money for survival. We look good to get attention or a good mate. We reproduce so we would be taken care of in the future. Basically we do things out of our own needs and desires. We study hard to get good grades for our future. To give us an edge when it comes to competiting for jobs.
The readings said that the mind is like a black box. Does he mean the mind is non-existant? I am not sure what he meant but I personally feel humans are not purely reflexive in nature. That we do not respond like how our legs jerk on its own when the doctor hits the knee. We have mental processes going on before executing our actions. We learn to do better in future more complex matters like we learn basic mathematics to solve more complicated problems in the future. Hence a case of Behaviorism would be teaching students English, Maths and other basic stuff in the primary/pre school level. However this does not mean behaviorism ends after we mature. Behaviorism is still present but instead of rewards such as sweets, rewards and punishments come in other forms such as success or failure and etc.
As primitive as it is, Behaviorism is, to me, a very efficient approach to learning.
Cognitivism
This seemed quite similar to Behaviorism but a little more abstract and treat the learning subject more humanely. Unlike Behaviorism, Cognitivism is focused on the Internal Process of the subject.
We do think and like what is mentioned in the readings, we have mental theories of how the world works. And we base our actions and judgements on these mental theories. Cognitivism is also effectively used in social institutions as well. Through trial and error, individuals will refine their mental theories and learn from their mistakes (embarassment) or rights (praises).
Cognitivism is more advanced than Behaviorism but not necessarily a better theory for learning. It is more apparent at the later parts of our life when we encounter more complicated problems. Like solving mathematics equations or solving a sudoku puzzle. The person must go through mental processes to solve the problems and get the answer.
Furthermore I agree with the reading that there is an innate desire to learn/curiosity in everyone and how it would be undermined by extrinsic motivations.
Sociocultural Approach
From the emphasis on the individual, the sociocultural approach has a different approach. They say people learn using tools. The system the individual is in allows the individual to form abstract knowledge aka context and despite not fully equipped with the necessary skills, these external tools such as the environment you are in and the other visual/audio/verbal cues will help you understand things better and learn something from it.
Despite being more obviously used in the more advanced method of teaching such as on-the-job learning method, it is also used quite often like what Dr Wortham used to explain in the readings. It is used in helping a fresh engineer to better understand his working conditions and solve more hands on problems. The practical side of learning is more closely associated with the Sociocultural approach.
In conclusion, the three different approaches are different in abstraction. Behaviorism is the least complex and more direct approach while Sociocultural is the most complex method. Institutions used these three approachs together rather than individually. As we age, our approach to learning has to be more complex than before. Hence although I believe more strongly for Behaviorism, but I think all three approaches as to be used together for a more comprehensive approach in learning.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Lecture 1
Perspective of E-Learning
What is e-Learning?
e-Learning is an online interaction program of which individuals can do from anywhere and anytime. Despite its functionality, accessibility and instantaneous advantages, it still cannot replace the conventional classroom.
I always thought e-Learning to be a stand-in teaching tool if anything were to disrupt all activities in the physical classroom, such as a disease outbreak or some sort of danger that interrupts the academic scheduling.
By the term ‘stand-in’, I mean it would never replace the mainstream way of schooling. However this is my personal opinion and as stated by Rosenberg, it might be because I had a bad experience with e-Learning before.
I always thought e-Learning was expensive to maintain and even more difficult to execute. I also thought, despite its ease of uploading and removing information and scalability, the information might not be very accurate. However Rosenberg’s reading proved me wrong. But please take note that things always seem easier and better theoretically speaking and not so much when placed into practical use.
After reading and attending the first lecture, I was still bewildered with the strong emphasis on e-Learning. After receiving all the different definitions of e-Learning, I conclude that e-Learning is basically an enhanced learning experience in an electronically stimulated environment that can be done anywhere and at anytime.
The history of e-Learning and apparent trend towards e-Learning is apparent but bleak at the moment. Until more reliable and user friendly activities are done with e-Learning programs/experiences, my impression of e-Learning is pessimistic.
Technology eases our ability to interact with people breaking barriers in both distance and time. But it does not necessarily mean people are comfortable with it.
As mentioned in the readings, e-Learning makes learning for an individual personal and at his time and place. This means more discipline on the user’s part to sit before his computer to ‘study’ and not distracted by the comfort and other uses of the computer. As mentioned also, e-Learning lacked the critical essence of human interaction, it lacked the human factor. Conventional classrooms allow the teacher to interact with the students. This gives meaning to the relationship and by converting everything into the matrix, interaction through the computer lacks reality and realness to the relationship even though it is synchronous and you see the other person’s avatar. Furthermore, not everyone is comfortable with using technology. Those that are technologically challenged rely heavily on the people around them to obtain more information and by confining them to their computers to study means ‘enclosing’ them to their computers hence disrupting the teaching process.
In conclusion, I have a brand new understanding of e-Learning, but does it mean it is the next best step to education? I’m not too sure.
- Educational delivery and interaction via technology
- Computer mediated.
- Educational technique (pedagogy)
What is e-Learning?
e-Learning is an online interaction program of which individuals can do from anywhere and anytime. Despite its functionality, accessibility and instantaneous advantages, it still cannot replace the conventional classroom.
I always thought e-Learning to be a stand-in teaching tool if anything were to disrupt all activities in the physical classroom, such as a disease outbreak or some sort of danger that interrupts the academic scheduling.
By the term ‘stand-in’, I mean it would never replace the mainstream way of schooling. However this is my personal opinion and as stated by Rosenberg, it might be because I had a bad experience with e-Learning before.
I always thought e-Learning was expensive to maintain and even more difficult to execute. I also thought, despite its ease of uploading and removing information and scalability, the information might not be very accurate. However Rosenberg’s reading proved me wrong. But please take note that things always seem easier and better theoretically speaking and not so much when placed into practical use.
After reading and attending the first lecture, I was still bewildered with the strong emphasis on e-Learning. After receiving all the different definitions of e-Learning, I conclude that e-Learning is basically an enhanced learning experience in an electronically stimulated environment that can be done anywhere and at anytime.
The history of e-Learning and apparent trend towards e-Learning is apparent but bleak at the moment. Until more reliable and user friendly activities are done with e-Learning programs/experiences, my impression of e-Learning is pessimistic.
Technology eases our ability to interact with people breaking barriers in both distance and time. But it does not necessarily mean people are comfortable with it.
As mentioned in the readings, e-Learning makes learning for an individual personal and at his time and place. This means more discipline on the user’s part to sit before his computer to ‘study’ and not distracted by the comfort and other uses of the computer. As mentioned also, e-Learning lacked the critical essence of human interaction, it lacked the human factor. Conventional classrooms allow the teacher to interact with the students. This gives meaning to the relationship and by converting everything into the matrix, interaction through the computer lacks reality and realness to the relationship even though it is synchronous and you see the other person’s avatar. Furthermore, not everyone is comfortable with using technology. Those that are technologically challenged rely heavily on the people around them to obtain more information and by confining them to their computers to study means ‘enclosing’ them to their computers hence disrupting the teaching process.
In conclusion, I have a brand new understanding of e-Learning, but does it mean it is the next best step to education? I’m not too sure.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)