Activity 4a - Discussion of spontaneous learning
1. Write a message to your tutors (using the subject heading "Spontaneous learning") and discuss these questions:
- What does Vygotsky suggest should be the role of schooled learning?
- How could we make schooled learning more effective?
- What are the key roles of the teacher in schooled learning?
- How can we apply this to the integration of ICT?
Activity 4b - Do we need to teach ICT skills?
1. Write a message to your teachers (using the subject heading "Minimally invasive education") and discuss the following questions:
- What conclusions do you draw from reading about Dr Mitra's work?
- Are there parallels between these conclusions and those you drew about Vygotsky's spontaneous learning?
- What are the practical shortcomings of Dr Mitra's experiments for ICT in schools?
- Reflecting on both readings in Activity 4, what lessons can we learn regarding our own practice in teaching ICT skills, and how can we adapt this practice to make it more effective?
2. Make reflective comments in your blog.
Spontaneous learning
ReplyDelete• To make schooled learning more effective we as teachers need to link spontaneous learning to scientific learning . This will allow the learners to understand difficult concepts quicker.
• The key roles of the educator n schooled learning was to:
Decide what knowledge should be passed on to their students
Decide how to pass on the knowledge
Decide when the learner is ready for this knowledge to be passed on
Hi Esther,
DeleteThis is crystal clear. It covers all questions asked for the discussion.
Thank you.
Minimally invasive education
ReplyDelete• Just as educators have been saying all along, children do not need formal training in computers to know how to use them.
• The parallels between spontaneous learning and these conclusions is that children learn from interaction with their environment.
• Children will learn skills from interacting with their environment but they need formal teaching to learn the theory part of whatever subject they are doing.
Hi Esther,
DeleteYou have said it all in a nut shell.
Thanks for sharing.
Activity 4 a – Spontaneous learning
ReplyDeleteWhat does Vygotsky suggest should be the role of schooled learning?
The role of school learning is to plan students’ learning (experiences) through a set of organized activities.
How could we make schooled learning more effective?
Schooled learning could be made more effective by simplifying concepts and making them link to real-life experiences that the students can relate to.
What are the key roles of the teacher in schooled learning?
The key roles of the teacher in schooled learning are:
It is the role of educators to decide what knowledge should be passed on to learners, how to pass on the knowledge and at what stage a learner should undertake the learning. This is done through formal school activities that are planned in a logical order to show connections between concepts.
How can we apply this to the integration of ICT?
Students learning ICT will be given a learning environment where they are able to make connections between concepts using real-life situations as they use existing knowledge and new knowledge to create ideas to understand what makes sense to them in their world.
However, this is done through plan activities created by the teacher for the students to learn about different concepts using computers.
4 b - Minimally Invasive Education
ReplyDeleteWhat conclusions do you draw from reading about Dr Mitra's work?
Give students appropriate computer access, connectivity, and content and they will learn basic computer skills on their own, teach others how to use the computer and increase their communication and collaboration skills. In addition, they will be able to create rules and procedures in using the computer.
Children learn through social interaction with one another.
Are there parallels between these conclusions and those you drew about Vygotsky's spontaneous learning?
Yes. Learning through informal, unstructured experience leads to students constructing or making meaning of the world around them on their own.
Learning takes place once children have interest in what's around them. They will know what they want to learn.
What are the practical shortcomings of Dr. Mitra's experiments for ICT in schools?
Even though it is good for students to discover things on their own, or to be actively engaged in practical skills, they may lack the theoretical or content framework they need to develop, enhance or extend their skills if they are not given some conceptual knowledge.
Reflecting on both readings in Activity 4, what lessons can we learn regarding our own practice in teaching ICT skills, and how can we adapt this practice to make it more effective?
A balance between discovery learning and instructional learning is needed to cover concepts that one need to learn through. This is to be done using everyday unstructured experiences, and every day logically structured experiences with an end in mind.
Great discussion. You have done justice to the topic.
ReplyDeleteI quite agree with Temika. I like the two different approaches of presenting your points. Makes for interesting reading and understanding of the topic
ReplyDelete