Discovery-Instructional Strategies

Discovery is one instructional strategy I would use very sparingly. I think students need some lecture/tutorial style instruction first, so that they have a general background on the subject. I agree with the article that time is a huge factor, and a very unstable one. When students experiment, unless their options are severely limited, they may try many different methods which as an instructor I know have no chance of leading to a solution, or an interesting discovery. As a society we often experiment for years before discovering a single useful outcome, and then offer the process to others so that they don’t have to spend that time stumbling across the solution.

Simulation-Instructional Strategies

I think a simulation is a very powerful tool. One advantage is you can simply the process, removing some components of the real world experience. The advantage is students can focus on a few pieces of information and simple skills. As students progress you could add additional components until the simulation becomes very similar to the real life situation. I think the main challenge is finding a way to simulate the experience in such a way that students would recognize the real world situation as the simulation. That could mean realistic photos, or using the same physical interface.

Discussion-Instructional Strategies

I think discussion is a very important part of education, particularly at the beginning. I’ve used it as a form of introduction to units and transition points, and I think it helps the students to feel engaged and involved; I am taking their thoughts and ideas into account before beginning the unit. I think it also helps to know what preconceptions and background knowledge students have about a specific topic.
I think it’s not very effective as a method of imparting knowledge to a student, because some may not absorb the information through their auditory channels very well, or they may need time to digest the information, but I think once I give students time to digest the information, it is an effective method of testing how well they understand the knowledge. In my experience students often learn the knowledge as a formula or “parrot”, but they don’t necessarily know how to combine that knowledge with other pieces of information they previously learned.
I could see discussion doubling as a discovery or cooperative learning strategy of instruction.

Teaching students to teach themselves

As I read the 3 primary perspectives on education, and sub categories within them, I was reminded of something my grandfather said. He is not an educator in the formal sense of the word, but he believes in the importance of education. He often says “the most important thing to teach a student, is how to teach themselves”, and I agree. I definitely find myself most drawn to the constructivist perspective, but I think in addition to helping a student to construct knowledge and understanding for themselves, there is also the broader issue of their continuing education. In the modern world knowledge is regularly expanded, revised, and replaced. For that reason the real challenge facing most students will be to teach themselves as they progress through their lives. Therefore I would argue the primary purpose of a teacher is to use the specific lessons they are teaching the student as examples, to demonstrate good techniques for self education; and teach the student how to find and evaluate potential learning resources and tools.

Hearing, Understanding, Learning

“What is the difference between hearing, understanding, and learning?”
I think this is a very interesting question. When I read this question my personal reaction was “hearing is the senses transmitting data to your brain”, “understanding is deciphering and translating that data into meaning”, and “learning is accepting the meaning as true and worth remembering”. A student can understand what a teacher is trying to say, but not agree with it. For example, my teacher teaches us a technique, how to edit footage for a standard dialogue sequence, and guidelines on when and how to use it. I understand what he is saying, but I don’t agree with his statements.

What is Educational Technology

In the article, Theoretical Foundations (McDonald), they discuss the two primary definitions of educational technology; “anything that can be used in instruction”, and “computers, computer peripherals, and software”. I think this is an interesting issue which poses the question, which definition helps us more. On the one hand, a broad definition helps us to adapt and utilize any resource, but often a broad and vague foundation leaves the teacher with too many choices, and a weak understanding of what this actually means in the concrete situation. A narrow definition helps the teacher to quickly seek out instructional technology, but they might overlook items and resources not traditionally used as educational technology that would be very suitable in his/her specific situation.
I think the audience and the time in history are also factors in this issue. Are books technology? Certainly, but books are a default instructional tool, used so often that I don’t think a teacher would need to be well versed in educational technology to consider that possibility. I think one important step in evaluating what technology to use in an instructional setting is to recognize what has already been used, how often it has been used in the classroom, and how effective it was. Books and videos are both used fairly regularly in classrooms. Using something just as effective, but less frequently seen by students; can have the additional merit/virtue of being unfamiliar, and therefore interesting.

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