"Knowledge is like paint. It does no good until it's applied."
Connect activities help learners tie what they’ve
learned with their lives. We learn things through Absorb and Do activities and
we link those with our lives through Connect activities. Here are the types of
these activities:
Ponder
Activities: These activities require learners to think deeply and answer
rhetorical questions, summarize learning, brainstorm ideas etc.
Questioning
Activities: They enable learners to fill gaps by asking questions of
teachers, experts.
Stories
by Learners: Learners remember events from their own lives. This will make it
easier for learners to connect information with their lives.
Job
Aids: Learners apply learning to real-world tasks via these tools.
Research
Activities: Learners use their own sources.
Original Work: Learners perform real work.
Applying what we’ve learned to other
things that are relevant to what we know is crucially important. It will make
the information more permanent and help us succeed. Connect activities don’t
teach knowledge or skills; however, they make knowledge and skills that already
exist more useful.
Do-type activities help us transform
information into knowledge and skills.
While we get information in Absorb activities, we discover, analyze,
discuss, evaluate and apply knowledge in Do activities. Do activities include
some types of activities:
Practice Activities: These
activities allow learners to information, knowledge and skills. Some practice
activities are drill-and-practice, hands-on, guided-analysis and teamwork
activities.
Discovery Activities: They lead
learners to make discoveries. Some discovery activities are virtual
laboratories, case studies and role playing games.
Games and Simulations: They include
quiz show games, word games, jigsaw puzzles, adventure games, software
simulations etc.
We should use these activities to provide encouraging and safe practice for
learners so that they can apply learning in the real world; motivate learners;
prepare them for Absorb activities; enable learning by exploration and
discovery.
Click on the picture below to see my story.
Absorb
activities consist of and give information. During these activities, learners
are usually passive but they actively get, process, consider and judge
information. The content is really important in these activities.
There are four common types of Absorb activities.
1) Presentations: These are slide
shows, demonstrations, videos etc. that learners watch or listen to. They give
information and demonstrate and explain things to learners. They have a
sequential structure. They usually consist of introduction, body parts and
summary. In the introduction part, the topic and its value are explained to the
learner. In the body parts, each segment explains a concept, answers a question
or makes a point. In the summary part, most important parts of the presentation
are gone through again. Presentations also have several types. They are slide
shows, physical demonstrations, software demonstrations, informational films,
dramas and discussions. All these types enable people to get information. Slide
shows give us information through text and graphics and they can be really
effective if the designer knows how to make them. Physical demonstrations show
how a physical procedure such as doing push-ups or wearing contact lenses is
done. Software demonstrations show how to use a software program or do
something with it. Informational films give information about something as
their name suggests. Dramas are also similar to informational films but they
have a storyline which makes the learners interested. Discussions can show
people other opinions and allow them to have their own opinion after that.
2) Readings: These activities enable
the learners to use printed or electronic documents. Learners get important
information from these. We can use these activities when learners need deeper
information and they are motivated readers. There are different types of
documents that could be useful in e-learning such as text books, reports, data
sheets, diaries and journals, newspapers, blogs etc. You can also create an
online library and/or provide useful reading links for your learners.
3) Stories by a Teacher: Stories that
someone ─ in this case, a teacher ─ have a great impact on people. They have
happened and usually carry a deep and meaningful message. And listeners
remember them. They are effective in classrooms, and they would be effective in
virtual classrooms, too. We can use them to make a point and encourage and
motivate the learners.
4) Field Trips: Online field trips
enable the students to observe examples of what they are learning. Students
learning geology can examine various types of rocks through online field trips.
They can give the students a break from the lesson but more importantly, let
them see the concrete examples of the abstract things they are learning. This
can be really effective in their learning and motivate them.
Absorb activities can be even more beneficial if they are combined with Do
activities. In this way, learners can practice what they’ve learned and the
information they got will be more permanent.
In this chapter, we learn about e-learning, its varieties and designing of e-learning. E-learning has a great role in today’s world where technology is at its peak and we try to use it the best we can. E-learning is the use of technology (i.e. computers, smart phones) to make the learning happen. Its varieties are as follows:
Standalone Courses: Those are courses that are taken by just one learner. There’s no need for interaction with a teacher or classmates.
Learning Games and Simulations: This is learning by performing simulations which require you to explore and also lead you to discoveries.
Mobile Learning: This is learning even when you’re moving in the world. You can do this using your smartphones and/or tablet devices.
Social Learning: This is learning through interaction with a group of experts or other learners. The communication between the learners happens on discussion blogs, forums or via texting.
Virtual-classroom Courses: These are online classrooms which are like real classrooms. You have reading assignments, presentations, discussions, homework via forums and other social media.
Now we move on to the design of e-learning. Design affects a lot of things ─ and it definitely affects e-learning, too. In order not to fail the e-learning process for the learners, we should pay great attention to the design. First, we should start with good instructional design. Things should be organized and specified. The instructional design should be in a way that:
a) You won’t be teaching too much.
b) You will be able to teach what people really need to learn.
c) You won’t bore the learners.
d) You won’t force people to learn in ways that are uncomfortable for them.
We should design all parts of e-learning (i.e. curriculum, course, lesson, topic, activities). To design effectively, we should identify the goals of our teaching. We should be aware of the people we’re teaching and analyze their needs and abilities, why they are learning this, their preferences, background knowledge about them etc. We should identify the prerequisites. Those prerequisites specify the abilities, knowledge, feelings the learners should possess before accomplishing the main objective.
We should decide what we need to teach or things can get out of hand and become a mess. We should determine the hierarchy of objectives so that we’ll know in what order to teach and the learners will learn more effectively. We should search learning activities because they can help accomplish learning objectives.
And lastly, we should start with a big picture and go on with little details.
