Feb 05 2008
Building Blocks
This vodcast is a visual metaphor for teaching. This was the first exercise in our classwork today. I selected building blocks as a visual representation for deep learning and education. My concept was centered around the notion that learning is essentially a process of building on prior knowledge to develop a greater understanding or concept of the way we view the world. Therefore as a teacher it is imperative for teachers to thoroughly investigate what students know about a topic and their preconceived ideas in order to develop learning sequences which are appropriate and worthwhile. It is far less valuable to make assumptions about what children understand and know and create educational activities based on your own personal educational perspectives or opinions. Instead it is much more beneficial to recognise how you can develop students’ skills and knowledge by building on what they already know like building a tower of blocks. This makes learning meaningful and personally informs how students’ view the world.
I found this learning experience worthwhile on two levels. Firstly it was interesting evaluating my perspectives on learning and teaching and then representing them using a metaphor. However, it was also valuable in developing greater skills in using iMovie. I hadn’t used iMovie since last year in e-learning. I found the new version very user friendly, but I missed some features such as the ability to manipulate sound levels using the rubber bands as well as adjusting the length and speed of transitions. But it certainly is still a great piece of software as it is quick and easy to publish a piece of visual media.
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[...] Emma has used a screen shot to show the workings of iMovie. [...]
[...] at Emma’s use of building blocks as a visual presentation for learning in her vodcast got me thinking. As she did note, teachers must build on the prior experiences of their students. [...]