Learning Wiki Blog & Learning Styles Results

Learning Theories Blog I found the learning wiki an excellent resource to refer to and understand better others students perspectives and analysis of the material. It clearly demonstrated constructivism in action; how each student or group brought their own personal understanding and interpretation to the material.  The sharing of the resources and the team work reflected a connectivist approach.  The learning activity examined the PMI of various learning activities using the technique of jigsaw learning.   “Introduced by Aronson (1978), Jigsaw is an efficient way for students to become engaged in their learning, learn a lot of material quickly, share information with other groups, minimize listening time, and be individually accountable for their learning.” (Teachervision,n.d).   This strategy was effective on many levels including the production of a comprehensive summary by the pooling of information, and a networked learning experience, drawing on connectivism learning theory.  Resor, (n.d. para. 2) affirms that “Many additional outcomes have been documented, including improvements in self-esteem, group relationships, attitudes toward school, and acceptance of and ability to work with others.”  Given the supportive research on this strategy and my own experience of this technique as a learner, I feel this strategy would be useful within the primary school teaching context, as also discussed in the Wiki Profile Blog.   My personal experience of this exercise was very positive; not only did it allow for a comprehensive summary of the various reading material, it provided a shared learning experience with another student (over hot delicious coffee and hot chips) providing an emotional connection to the material.  Finding a partner was relatively easy as I had made some connections with students at the residential.  I am glad I had prior knowledge of the students as having only the profile wiki to rely on, I would have possibly felt a lack of depth in the profile wikis as they did not extend to deeper philosophical views, and important issues when choosing a partner to work successfully with.    My other criticism of this activity is that is it assumes the feedback from the other participants is reliable.  Having ready the many responses on the wiki, it is evident that there is vast understanding of the same theories, and I found at times I had to refer to the readings to clarify my own understanding after feeling a little confused from the feedback at time.  This maybe avoided by the provision of a summary of the main theme of the theory before the PMI exercise is undertaken.  In thinking about application of this technique, the expert jigsaw strategy within the Primary school context could be implemented online with the use of a wiki, or in the classroom setting.  I would argue for the primary setting the benefit of conducting this activity within the classroom includes teacher observation of the students participation and content knowledge and ability for the teacher to provide immediate feedback, however I can also acknowledge that the online context provides for students who do not perform as well in face to face groups, or who are slower to read information or have verbal communication difficulties.   Given the individual application of this technique in the online setting, this strategy caters for various learning needs as it involves a range of activities including reading, reflection, discussion, reporting and writing.   In addition it is noted that this application shows cognitive, connectivist and constructivist learning theory underpinnings, as demonstrated in the scaffolding of the task, the personal perceptions of the articles, and the collaboration and partner synthesis of the material. .    Contemplating my role in the classroom, I can apply this process and recognise the need to provide a diverse experience for my learners.  “Consequently, easy recognition of the learning environment by the learner  increases the potential for learning. Consequently, the challenge for teachers is the construction of a learning environment recognisable to and comfortable for as many learners as possible.” (Thrupp, 2010). Thus, understanding children's learning styles is essential to be able to deliver lessons to meet the student’s needs.  Reference Felder  Solomon. http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm  Resor, C. (2008).  Encouraging students to read the texts: the jigsaw method  Teaching History: A Journal of Methods, Spring, 2008 Retrieved 23rd February 2011 from  http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb302/is_1_33/ai_n29427184/   TeacherVision: Jigsaw, P1.  Retrieved on 23 February 2011 from  http://www.teachervision.fen.com/group-work/cooperative-learning/48532.html#ixzz1ElgFIkMO Learning Styles Results

Results for: SHARON GRAHAM       ACT      X                                            REF            11  9   7   5   3   1   1   3   5   7   9   11                               <-- -->       SEN                          X                        INT            11  9   7   5   3   1   1   3   5   7   9   11                               <-- -->       VIS              X                                    VRB            11  9   7   5   3   1   1   3   5   7   9   11                               <-- -->       SEQ                  X                                GLO            11  9   7   5   3   1   1   3   5   7   9   11                               <-- --> It became apparent from undertaking this activity that I have a definite preference for active learning. Felder and Solomon (n.d) state  “If you always act before reflecting you can jump into things prematurely and get into trouble”. Reflecting on my previous learning experiences, I have to say this would not be an inaccurate description of me at times.  I can get so excited and wrapped up in the learning process that I tend to jump in head on, and have often found myself backtracking and heading to the warnings coming from my ‘self smart’ such as “slow down, let’s just look at this first".    My results suggest I’m well balanced on the sensory and intuitive scales, and sequential & global learning scales and I have a moderate preference for visual over verbal. This was evidenced in my Internet search for videos on ICT in the classroom, and my need to hear and see others talking about this topic despite having completed all the readings.