My Learning Style/ Learning techniques and technologies

I’m doing a bit of reflection on my preferences learning styles as part of an eLearning facilitation Course, part of which is answering the VARK learning style questionaire.

The VARK learning style questionaire was interesting, and I found myself choosing all choices for a learning situtation, my results where:

• Visual: 11
• Aural: 7
• Read/Write: 12
• Kinesthetic: 10

I’m a multimodal learner, so a mixed up buch of learning strategies works best for me.

I had a look at the visual , aural , read-write and kinesthetic help sheets, a good primer for multimodal learning ideas with technologies.

Some ideas for utilising technology that spring to mind:

For Visual Learners:

Create clear diagrams of concepts, process steps and theories using the web 2.0 program http://gliffy.com

For student self assessment create sequencing or drag and drop activites with words and pictures to rearrange or link to key words in response to a question.

Some activity generating tools that enable creation of these activities are:

• ARED http://tinyurl.com/4jrqk5
• Hot Potatoes http:// hot pot.uvic.ca/
• TAFE activity generators

For Aural Learners

I would record lessons with my MP3 recorder such as an iRiver or an iPod.

 would then publish the mp3 files by uploading to a pod-casting service such as http://odeo.com or publish to the blog that I’ve created with http:/wordpress.com .

I could then instruct the students to visit the site and download to their iPod to listen at their leisure on the train or when walking to work…

For read write learners

I would develop my resource notes in a wiki first by work out the structure and sequencing of the content in a logical fashion on paper, then adding to the wiki with an overview on each subject page. This would then be fleshed out with underpinning theory mixing the text with various types of media, i.e video, audio files and diagrams. The resource would also include written prompts, definitions and reminders to encourage the student to consider ideas and concepts as they progress through the material.

Good examples of wiki’s used for education resources:

• http://wikieducator.org
• http://en.wikiversity.org/
• http://en.wikibooks.org/

For Kinesthetic Learners

A useful technology for Kinesthetic Learners are Point of View cameras. POV cameras are wearable technology that record hands free video from your point of view. They can be attached onto headgear or even glasses. Here are two examples:

• http://www.vio-pov.com/
• http://www.ausetraining.com/products/auset2/

The possibilities are limitless but for Kinesthetic learners I would individually work through the hands on steps of a process prior to a class, import the video into Windows Movie Maker an easy to use video editor that comes wth Windows XP or can be download for free at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/default.mspx .

I would edit the video and add captions. Publish to my blog and point my students to watch. On the training day the students (motivated) would be primed with the steps in the process to reinforce their F2F hands on learning. I would even introduce the POV technology to them, to record their work and review afterwards for feed back and comment.