web quest software is very helpful in guiding and setting up frameworks for the development of lesson plans. i feel it encapsulates the true "essence" of e-learning as it caters to primarily web-centric resources of information and does not require any prior knowledge of web authoring software which many websites require today.
the definition given in class describes web quest as " an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web"
a typical web quest is made up of:
an introduction stating the rationale/background for choosing a certain topic and includes newspaper articles or case studies
tasks which specifically state the required learning activities and may also include various tasks such as design, analysis, creative, decision and prediction tasks
resources which tell students where to find information about the topic (books, journals etc.)
process which explains how to attain the resources listed (go to the library, useful links etc.)
evaluation which provides a checklist (like the rubric's cube, for example) for assessing the students' effort
conclusion which summarises the main learning tasks and expected outcomes and may also consist of instructor led reflections either face to face or via forums or social networking sites
a teacher's page which acts as a helpful resource for educators to review the lesson plan and
states the purpose of the web quest, goals and objectives, its target audience and credits.
breaking down learning activities into such categories provides a useful step by step guideline for both educators and students to follow. web quests provide a form of scaffolding for students to follow and leads them to desired learning outcomes. web quests are especially useful for complex topics which require much effort on the part of students. breaking down the topic into the categories as mentioned above allows students to mentally strike off their required inputs one by one. it provides them with a "starting point" for their task and hence reduces the likelihood of them from being overwhelmed which could adversely affect their performance as a result.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
week 8
instructional strategies for fact learning popularly include organisation, linking and elaboration.
i feel that organisation is the most popular form of learning for most of the information we attain today. in organisation, learners arrange information gleaned in a way that is meaningful to them, hence aiding in memory retention. an example of organising would be trying to remember the characteristics of a lion as being part of certain concepts such as the cat family, a mammal and a carnivore. a sub-set of organisation is chunking, where individuals group or "chunk" information together. an example of this would be attempting to recall the following numbers: 19855552009. different learners chunk information in different ways. so for me, i would remember this number better if i chunk it as such: 1985 (the year i was born), 555 (triple five) and 2009 (the current year).
linking refers to the use of mnemonics in enhancing recall and memory. jingles, rhymes and acronyms all offer examples of memory by linking. fast food delivery numbers usually make use of both chunking and jingles in helping their customers better recall their number over their competitors. hearing the familiar tune of the pizza hut jingle instantly allows us to remember its hot line and gives way to images of scrumptious, piping hot pizzas.
lastly, elaboration is perhaps the most traditional form of recall and memory. learners try to understand certain information and apply their relatedness in their daily lives. elaboration requires a fair amount of analysis and critical thinking and is usually the learning method commonly used in higher education. it involves not merely remembering and spilling out information but rather understanding the whys and hows of particular phenomenon. however, i feel that elaboration is one of the most challenging, but effective ways of memory: once we understand why a certain issue occurs, we are less likely to forget about it.
with the vast amount of information we are bombarded with everyday, is it impossible and unnecessary to make sense of and elaborate every piece of information we encounter. elaboration is best used for very abstract issues, linking for basic factual information and organisation for everything else is between.
i feel that organisation is the most popular form of learning for most of the information we attain today. in organisation, learners arrange information gleaned in a way that is meaningful to them, hence aiding in memory retention. an example of organising would be trying to remember the characteristics of a lion as being part of certain concepts such as the cat family, a mammal and a carnivore. a sub-set of organisation is chunking, where individuals group or "chunk" information together. an example of this would be attempting to recall the following numbers: 19855552009. different learners chunk information in different ways. so for me, i would remember this number better if i chunk it as such: 1985 (the year i was born), 555 (triple five) and 2009 (the current year).
linking refers to the use of mnemonics in enhancing recall and memory. jingles, rhymes and acronyms all offer examples of memory by linking. fast food delivery numbers usually make use of both chunking and jingles in helping their customers better recall their number over their competitors. hearing the familiar tune of the pizza hut jingle instantly allows us to remember its hot line and gives way to images of scrumptious, piping hot pizzas.
lastly, elaboration is perhaps the most traditional form of recall and memory. learners try to understand certain information and apply their relatedness in their daily lives. elaboration requires a fair amount of analysis and critical thinking and is usually the learning method commonly used in higher education. it involves not merely remembering and spilling out information but rather understanding the whys and hows of particular phenomenon. however, i feel that elaboration is one of the most challenging, but effective ways of memory: once we understand why a certain issue occurs, we are less likely to forget about it.
with the vast amount of information we are bombarded with everyday, is it impossible and unnecessary to make sense of and elaborate every piece of information we encounter. elaboration is best used for very abstract issues, linking for basic factual information and organisation for everything else is between.
Monday, March 2, 2009
week 7
the past few weeks have acquainted me with a myriad of different theories primarily focusing their efforts on providing a substantial and comprehensive framework for successful e-learning activities to take place. although i feel that, and i have mentioned this is my other post, e-learning frameworks and concept maps aid greatly in establishing a clear visual for the learning process, too much emphasis is placed on developing numerous theories of learning and not much is said about the role trainers, adopters and learners of e-learning tools are expected to play.
take for example, the adopting of e-learning tools in an educational setting - most learning programmes are either too simplistic and childish or too advanced and boring to garner and sustain interest among students. moreover, many e-learning programmes (at least, the ones i have come in contact with so far) strive to be all encompassing and comprehensive. unfortunately, such guides often come off as too complex to follow with vague instructions.
moreover, many educators treat e-learning tools as secondary to their primary education methods. as a result, such e-learning activities tend to be regarded as supplementary material to "tinker around" with. this mindset seriously undermines the full capacity of e-learning programmes in providing a practical viewpoint to learned theory.
much time and effort is invested in developing e-learning tools that can aid and enhance the learning process. however, if its users and adopters do not embrace these tools with the right mindset and continue to treat e-learning as a supplementary but not necessary aspect to learning, developers would ultimately fail in their mission to revolutionise learning in this digital age, and e-learning may never blossom into anything more than a academic past time loosely tied to syllabus.
take for example, the adopting of e-learning tools in an educational setting - most learning programmes are either too simplistic and childish or too advanced and boring to garner and sustain interest among students. moreover, many e-learning programmes (at least, the ones i have come in contact with so far) strive to be all encompassing and comprehensive. unfortunately, such guides often come off as too complex to follow with vague instructions.
moreover, many educators treat e-learning tools as secondary to their primary education methods. as a result, such e-learning activities tend to be regarded as supplementary material to "tinker around" with. this mindset seriously undermines the full capacity of e-learning programmes in providing a practical viewpoint to learned theory.
much time and effort is invested in developing e-learning tools that can aid and enhance the learning process. however, if its users and adopters do not embrace these tools with the right mindset and continue to treat e-learning as a supplementary but not necessary aspect to learning, developers would ultimately fail in their mission to revolutionise learning in this digital age, and e-learning may never blossom into anything more than a academic past time loosely tied to syllabus.
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