Wednesday, 5 March 2014

Week 9: Learning styles - technology connections

I have been interested in the concept of learning styles for a while and has become convinced that it is technology that will inevitably help address the learning style preferences of all students. Now that I have read about tech tools whichsupport multiple intelligences I am able to identify which technology I use in class is best suited for each of the multiple intelligences:
Verbal/Linguistic- e-mails and forums,
Logical/Mathematical - Webquests,
Visual/Spatial - Powerpoints,
Bodily/Kinesthetic - Animation (Macromedia Flash),
Musical/Rhythmic - Sound and music files,
Intrapersonal - Blogs,
Interpersonal - Peer tutoring.
Moreover, I suppose the article "LEARNING STYLES AND STRATEGIES" is absolutely necessary for students to read, since it explains how learners can enhance their progress if they follow the recommendations for taking up information in the manner which is more efficient for the learning style they have. I believe what teachers should primarily do is to let students find out what multiple intelligences they prefer and then provide them with instruction of how to benefit from this fact. It is practicable even to teach a lesson about multiple intelligences, for example the one provided by the TeachingEnglish community at https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/multiple-intelligences-what-are-you-good
Also, I have come across the examples of lesson plants aimed at some of the intelligences: http://esl.about.com/od/teachingenglish/a/l_multiple.htm
Some more quizzes followed by recommendations
http://www.brainboxx.co.uk/a3_aspects/pages/vak_quest.htm
http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=questionnaire

2 comments:

  1. Dear Tetiana,

    I guess most of the teachers, like you, are interested or are supposed at least to be interested in the concept of learning styles. If the teacher forgets about this, then I doubt how successful her classes are and how successful his/her students are. We should not focus on our teaching styles too much but rather look for means how to alter the teaching style in such a way so it would match the learning styles of the students you work with. It is actually not about the way you like learning or teaching but rather about the way your learners achieve the best results while studying. Hence, teachers should constantly be looking for the material on how to best incorporate activities in the lesson that would help the students feel at ease while learning rather than feel torture while learning.

    I also like your standpoint that it is not only teachers who should read articles on multiple intelligences but also students should be given information over how to find out what works best with them or which learning styles they possess. You are totally right when saying that this is important for the learner, as the learner studies at home and thus can also look for material that matches his/her learning style best.

    Thank you indeed for an idea to have a lesson on multiple intelligences. I think that I will give it a try with my new students! :)

    Best wishes,

    Jurga.

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  2. Hi Jurdita,
    It is good to know that you agree with the idea of considering learning style strategies as self-study techniques. I hope you can benefit from using the lesson plan about multiple intelligencies in your classes.
    Regards,
    Tetiana

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