John, I think you hit on an important concept here — the one way nature of attempts like TV Spanish. We all recognize that learning involves an iterative process and that the communication between teacher and learner is where the magic happens.
How many teachers still seem to somehow believe that the secret is in “presentation” and that if the presentation is good enough, effective learning will occur? It’s actually only the degree to which that leads to interaction that the “presentation” is useful. Since many folks believed that teaching was one-way, then it isn’t surprising that they would try to use the latest technology (tv at the time) to do the same thing.
You are also right, that current technologies, allowing for much more learner choice and control begin to put things in an entirely new realm.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Thanks Tom. I agree that the presentation isn’t enough anymore….though that assumption definitely still persists. The good news is: In distance learning the read-write web gives us many new tools to facilitate the communication between the teacher and the learner AND (as you mention) to provide the learner with more control.
The question mark for me still is deciding what the new role of the video instruction will be… For language learning especially I’m thinking the answer must lie in providing stories and contextualized scenarios for vocabulary. Fewer talking-head formats, more stories.
In writing this I realize I’m talking about PRESENTATION again…and yet it’s different because I’m concerned with it as an impetus for student involvement and interaction.
By: johnkrueger on October 22, 2007 at 9:03 pm
If you ask students what they liked the most about the old distance learning course, they will tell you: “the soap opera”. Despite being able to “understand” (or what they thought “understanding” is). They will never mention the “stand-up PowerPoint lecture”.
So, yes … I do think that stories can be an answer. Especially, if students are the ones in the director seat. For you the hard part will be the pre-production vs. live aspects of the course.
John, I think you hit on an important concept here — the one way nature of attempts like TV Spanish. We all recognize that learning involves an iterative process and that the communication between teacher and learner is where the magic happens.
How many teachers still seem to somehow believe that the secret is in “presentation” and that if the presentation is good enough, effective learning will occur? It’s actually only the degree to which that leads to interaction that the “presentation” is useful. Since many folks believed that teaching was one-way, then it isn’t surprising that they would try to use the latest technology (tv at the time) to do the same thing.
You are also right, that current technologies, allowing for much more learner choice and control begin to put things in an entirely new realm.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
By: Tom on October 12, 2007
at 9:34 pm
Thanks Tom. I agree that the presentation isn’t enough anymore….though that assumption definitely still persists. The good news is: In distance learning the read-write web gives us many new tools to facilitate the communication between the teacher and the learner AND (as you mention) to provide the learner with more control.
The question mark for me still is deciding what the new role of the video instruction will be… For language learning especially I’m thinking the answer must lie in providing stories and contextualized scenarios for vocabulary. Fewer talking-head formats, more stories.
In writing this I realize I’m talking about PRESENTATION again…and yet it’s different because I’m concerned with it as an impetus for student involvement and interaction.
By: johnkrueger on October 22, 2007
at 9:03 pm
If you ask students what they liked the most about the old distance learning course, they will tell you: “the soap opera”. Despite being able to “understand” (or what they thought “understanding” is). They will never mention the “stand-up PowerPoint lecture”.
So, yes … I do think that stories can be an answer. Especially, if students are the ones in the director seat. For you the hard part will be the pre-production vs. live aspects of the course.
By: Thomas Sauer on October 22, 2007
at 11:39 pm