Hello again! After much anticipation, THE ANSWERS ARE FINALLY HERE! I want to say thank you to everyone who took the time and answer the questions. So lets get started!
1. MYTH. The students who are learning in the igeneration (they never knew what it was like to learn without the aid of technology) are better at multitasking and will learn better through the use of many digital additions to the classroom.
Explanation: Do you ever Google something and then realize an hour later that you are on a web page that is no where near what you originally were searching for? This is one of the ideas of this generation of students. They are simply going from page to page, not absorbing the material, but rather only touching the surface of it. The term "Homo Zappiens" was used a lot in this section of the article. It refers to the students who "develop on their own without instruction." Onto the topic of multitasking. As most of you probably already know, it is impossible to simultaneously perform two or more activities that require conscience effort. Instead, the brain rapidly switches focus from activity to activity, providing the illusion of multitasking.
2. MYTH. Students know best and can decide for themselves what type of learner they are and what type of learning style best suits them. (Visual vs. Verbal vs. Hands on, etc)
Explanation: It is common to think that everyone has a certain type of style of learning, whether that be a visual learner or a verbal learner or an impulsive learner or a reflective one. However, some people do not fit into these pigeon hole categories. For example, there is a test to determine if you are more of a reflective or an impulsive learner where the subject is given a standard photo and then 8 alternatives. The subject has to then match one of the 8 alternatives to the original. To be impulsive is to complete this task quickly, but with more errors. Reflective learners complete it slower and with less mistakes. However, there are also those that complete the task fast and with few errors or slow and inaccurately. It is also shown that some types or learning are better given a specific situation, no matter what type of learner that specific person thinks he or she is.
3. MYTH. Students should be self educators and should be in control over what they learn and how they learn it.
Explanation: Students may have the infinitely large internet to work with and learn from, but they are not effectively using it. Also with the vastness of the internet there are countless choices on what to learn. This leads to frustration. It is better to give the student "limited control" of his or her education, which allows them to choose to learn about something from a list of suggestions.
I hope you all enjoyed the answers and are not too disappointed with them. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment :). And congratulations to Angela for correctly answering all the questions! (If we were still in school I'd give you a cookie, but this is all I have for now.)
Week 2: So as it appears, my week was filled with lots and lots of reading. I don't think i have ever read so much in such a short amount of time. But the good news is all the articles I read are so interesting! I am really getting into the whole how the brain works while learning and what makes a textbook effective in a classroom.
Hope to see you all again next week (or maybe in a few days who knows)
TaTa for now! :)
Val
All information regarding the explanations of the questions was taken from "Urban legends: do learners really know best."
Sources:
Kirschner, P. A., & van Merriënboer, J. J. (2013). Do learners really know best? Urban legends in education. Educational Psychologist, 48(3), 169-183.
Ah, thank you for finally revealing the answers! And I do agree that types of learning are very situationally dependent; I'm sure everyone's had those moments of "wow, this isn't usually the environment in which I focus at all, but I'm being really productive right now". Is there anything that you read about that really shocked you/made you rethink everything you know about learning?
ReplyDeleteActually yes! I always considered myself a visual learner, but when reading that article I realized I have been misled. Also, I read an interesting article about how teachers use textbooks for learning in secondary school (high school) and a different article about textbook use in elementary schools. It was enlightening to see that in elementary school teachers use textbooks as a on size fits all mold for teaching, meaning they only use the textbook and not other material. And most teach for the standardized test at the end of the year. However, in high school teachers are more likely to use outside materials in conjunction with the textbook. Now obviously these were not definitive studies, but nonetheless I found them interesting.
DeleteI'll stop by your house later to pick up the cookie. This is actually all very interesting. I'm glad that you've debunked some myths for us. I'm looking forward to more!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to answer all myth, but I didn't think that you'd put only myths up.... For once, I feel like you're able to read more than I am. How odd. Have you read anything about the differences between textbooks and online textbooks? If students are more likely to learn from one than the other?
ReplyDeleteI actually just read a study on that topic today! It was a comparison to what students thought about studying from a print book versus all online. The majority of the students preferred print text book because of the way they can study with highlighting and writing in the margins. However, it is very much up in the air as to which is better. They both have their advantages and disadvantages.
DeleteI definitely agree that "multitasking" is not an effective way to learn, and that learners need to develop their ability to focus deeply on one thing at a time if they want to think well, write well, etc. Given that, isn't an online textbook a bad idea since it is connected to the ultimate distraction of all time - the internet?
DeleteYes that is of concern! However, I believe the benefits and additions to learning that digital textbooks could provide outweigh the possibility of major distractions provided by the internet. For example, there is work being done on collaborative sharing of ideas which would allow students and teachers to communicate with each other with the digital textbook as the medium for communication.
DeleteHey wait I got them all right too.................
ReplyDeleteyeah... mhmm... after a little help ;)
DeleteGreat answers to the questions, that Google thing happens to me all the time, so I can understand why it is a myth
ReplyDelete