Reflective synopsis

Assessment task 2-Reflective synopsis.
Welcome to my submission for reflecting on those e-learning tools, I envisage getting most benefit from in improving students' learning journey's.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

The use of images in an electronic learning environment is one of the key reasons that this style of learning is popular. Images not only suit visual learners and break up information in traditional written form, they also stimulate learning in various parts of the brain.

Using websites

The creation of websites for all manner of purposes is widespread. I appreciate their general communication ability and familiarity for most users. In an e-learning context, their usefulness may be limited by the availability of more learning specific tools.

The tools of Microsoft powerpoint.

The growth in available tools when using Powerpoint is dramatic. Outside of simply inserting text into a slide and reading off it, a little creativity can go a long way. Linking to a pertinent YouTube video can give a different feel to an entire presentation. Graphing capabilities are well known and are not only good for visual learners, but to break up text-based information. Knowledge in presenting the background can be critical, if only to enable the reader to distinguish your key points from the background. The variety of backgrounds available, can avoid this issue altogether.

Powerpoint also has a useful capability for interactions with students. Using macro's can enable development of assessment regime's for learning. This link shows how to go about this. For my situation, Powerpoint is a tool I would use constantly. This is mainly based around the familiarity students would have with Powerpoint, ease of use for the teacher and availability of numerous editing tools. Please let me know what you think and make a comment.

Modification in wiki's

The single greatest strength of a wiki is it's modification and history. In terms of covering a number of points of view, it's power is unparalleled. No longer restricted to how the british discovered australia, we can take comments from aboriginal and torres strait islanders, dutch and ? any other sea-faring nation's involvement in the growth of our nation. Like blog's, the wiki's timeliness gives us an accurate record of development of the topic. Please give any constructive feedback. M.L.

Active learning in more depth

After careful consideration of a number of sources on active learning, it seems one of the main focal points is behavioural activity compared to cognitive activity. My initial reaction is that both points of view carry some value. This is based on my feeling that everything is good for you in moderation. The worked example effect is necessary to ensure student understanding of the tools available. Following this up, a class discussion or think-pair-share can allow exploration of the topic including different points of view. Different learners will vary in the amount of knowledge gained from each approach, but more learners learning styles will be catered for. Feel free to comment, make a suggestion or for any sources that sum up the information well. M.L.

Active learning graphic

http://www.edutechie.ws/2007/10/09/cone-of-experience-media/


This is a graphic I located, illuminating the stages of active learning compared to passive learning. I believe it would be a worthwhile exercise comparing this system to other educational frameworks.