Posts
3 years ago
Sunday 22 February 2009
Second Life in the History Classroom
Read interesting post by middleclassgirl hereabout using Second Life in the classroom. Look forward to seeing where she'll take it. I will certainly be checking back often.
Sunday 8 February 2009
Make it stick
Make it 'sticky'
Sticky = understandable, memorable and effective in changing thought or behaviour.
* Teacher talking to a class (5%)
* Student reading a book (10%)
* Student watching an audio visual presentation (20%)
* Student watching a teacher demonstration (30%)
* Students taking part in a discussion group (50%)
* Students involved in an activity that is related to what the teacher wants them to learn (75%)
* Students teaching others (90%).
Speaking or lecturing without dialogue continues to be the most common form of teaching mode in both secondary and higher education, in the face of overwhelming evidence that it produces the lowest degree of retention for most learners.
Some lessons seem to ‘stick’ in students memories more than others, why? If we think about it, some information, facts, ‘knowledge’ is inherently interesting, whilst some will be inherently uninteresting. The million-dollar question is of course how we can ensure that all (or at least most – let’s be realistic!) lessons stick. For example, how do we get students to care about being healthy; relate to life in the Warsaw ghetto in 1943; get them to really understand the notion of a mathematical function?
The brothers Chip and Dan Heath have explored the idea why some things stick and why some disappear[1]. In a nutshell, they argue that the main reason why people, such as teachers, fail to create effective, memorable - 'sticky' - messages or lessons is because what they call 'The Curse of Knowledge'. This refers to the notion that educators and presenters of information sometimes fail to see that abstractions, the wealth of knowledge which they have and which makes sense to them, may not make sense to the students. In order to ensure that their their lesson become memorable and therefore 'sticky', according to the authors, we need to consider six simple principles which the Heath brothers call SUCCESs:
§ Simplicity
§ Unexpectedness
§ Concreteness
§ Credibility
§ Emotions
§ Stories
Some of these may seem fairly obvious to some (maybe you?). Let us take a look at a few examples.
Simple:
If you think about the topic ‘Titanic’ issues such as inequalities, poverty and social dispair might spring to mind. However, if you start the first in a series of lessons investigating these issues you will most certainly see the enthusiastic spark disappear in many of the students faces. What is the core that students will understand and how can you ensure they understand that? The core is of course social inequalities. How will you reach the students? Titanic sank two hours and forty minutes after setting sail and 1,517 people died most of them from the working class.
Another powerful point to consider are the simple questions What's the point of the lesson? and Why does it matter - will it matter to the students? It may seem obvious to many but it can be easy to forget when you have taught the same topic for several years. Why should they care about the skills of evaluation or synthesis? That is a fair question. If we cannot provide a good enought explanation then what is the point?
By considering these ideas, coupled with lashings of our own creativity, we can produce powerful, purposeful lessons which contains enriching tasks that will ensure skills and learning progression for all classes.
Sticky = understandable, memorable and effective in changing thought or behaviour.
* Teacher talking to a class (5%)
* Student reading a book (10%)
* Student watching an audio visual presentation (20%)
* Student watching a teacher demonstration (30%)
* Students taking part in a discussion group (50%)
* Students involved in an activity that is related to what the teacher wants them to learn (75%)
* Students teaching others (90%).
Speaking or lecturing without dialogue continues to be the most common form of teaching mode in both secondary and higher education, in the face of overwhelming evidence that it produces the lowest degree of retention for most learners.
Some lessons seem to ‘stick’ in students memories more than others, why? If we think about it, some information, facts, ‘knowledge’ is inherently interesting, whilst some will be inherently uninteresting. The million-dollar question is of course how we can ensure that all (or at least most – let’s be realistic!) lessons stick. For example, how do we get students to care about being healthy; relate to life in the Warsaw ghetto in 1943; get them to really understand the notion of a mathematical function?
The brothers Chip and Dan Heath have explored the idea why some things stick and why some disappear[1]. In a nutshell, they argue that the main reason why people, such as teachers, fail to create effective, memorable - 'sticky' - messages or lessons is because what they call 'The Curse of Knowledge'. This refers to the notion that educators and presenters of information sometimes fail to see that abstractions, the wealth of knowledge which they have and which makes sense to them, may not make sense to the students. In order to ensure that their their lesson become memorable and therefore 'sticky', according to the authors, we need to consider six simple principles which the Heath brothers call SUCCESs:
§ Simplicity
§ Unexpectedness
§ Concreteness
§ Credibility
§ Emotions
§ Stories
Some of these may seem fairly obvious to some (maybe you?). Let us take a look at a few examples.
Simple:
If you think about the topic ‘Titanic’ issues such as inequalities, poverty and social dispair might spring to mind. However, if you start the first in a series of lessons investigating these issues you will most certainly see the enthusiastic spark disappear in many of the students faces. What is the core that students will understand and how can you ensure they understand that? The core is of course social inequalities. How will you reach the students? Titanic sank two hours and forty minutes after setting sail and 1,517 people died most of them from the working class.
Another powerful point to consider are the simple questions What's the point of the lesson? and Why does it matter - will it matter to the students? It may seem obvious to many but it can be easy to forget when you have taught the same topic for several years. Why should they care about the skills of evaluation or synthesis? That is a fair question. If we cannot provide a good enought explanation then what is the point?
By considering these ideas, coupled with lashings of our own creativity, we can produce powerful, purposeful lessons which contains enriching tasks that will ensure skills and learning progression for all classes.
Friday 6 February 2009
How to create an interactive diagram in Adobe Flash
We just uploaded a new tutorial on how to use Adobe Flash to create your own Interactive Diagrams. Please visit the site to find out how to make your own diagrams which you can use with students.
How to create a website in Adobe Flash
Just uploaded a series of tutorials on how to create your own website using Adobe Flash, see InnovativeICT.net
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