ICTS For Learning Design Wk 2 Learning Activities PART 1

Q1 - Think about your own experiences at school and write a list of what you believe was student-centred and what was teacher-centric.

From the snippets of high school I can remember, I remember clearly of having to sit in a two-hour legal studies lesson where we would continuously write notes written by the teacher from the whiteboard. I guess this would be teacher-centric. An example of student-centered learning would of been when we went on a camp to Humpy Island for HPE and in small groups we were required to organise everything from accommodation to food. We also were given a chance to have input into what type of activities we could do on the camp to help us achieve the learning outcomes involved. This sort of student-centered activity was also mirrored in our Year 12 geography trip to Great Keppel Island.

On a whole, however, I think it would be safe to say that most learning experiences I had at school were more teacher-centric, however having spent time in schools just recently I can see a noticeable shift to student-centered learning. Please feel free to comment.

Q2 - Contrast this approach with what you have experienced in your own education and think about the advantages and possible pitfalls of this approach.

From experience, my time at school was mostly teacher-centric and involved students taking notes from the board. It wasn't enjoyable and there didn't seem to be any focus on how the students' best learnt or their individual learning styles. The advantage of the 8 LMQ's is that by using them in the learning design process the learning manager can ensure the learning experiences designed will suit the individual needs of all students and that they will also result in all students obtaining the desired learning outcomes. Essentially the 8 LMQ's is a framework designed to ensure that all students obtain the desired learning outcomes.

Q3 - Outline an example of a learning activity you might design on the "Learning Design" discussion forum and invite discussion from your colleagues

One learning experience I having actually implemented previously in a classroom setting involved the Year 6 class completing an Amazing Race type activity using the internet and a variety of websites and other technological tools such as Google Earth. This was the culminating activity of their assessment as part of the Unit of Work covering mathematical concepts such as co-ordinates, latitude and longitude, reading timetables and mapping skills. Before the assessment task, the students undertook learning experiences covering the above-mentioned topics. The students then worked collaboratively on the Amazing Race activity which required them to answer clues to find each destination and also airline websites to book flights. The students were allowed to use the web to answer the clues by using websites such as wikipedia and Google. The students were then required to use Google Earth to map out their trek. The team who finished first won the Amazing Race. This activity was very effective in the sense that the use of technology engaged all students in the class and helped them to achieve the desired outcomes. Even those students who were reluctant to work in a more teacher-centric learning experience were highly engaged in this task and more often then not were the most enthusiastic about the task.

The experience I had implementing this sequence of learning experiences, proved to me that student-centered learning can be implemented across numerous KLA's and in most instances allows the learning experiences themselves to integrate a number of KLA's at the one time.

There are negatives involved in implementing student-centered learning experiences however. Some students in the class may not be suited to the learning style of working in collaborative situations and as learning managers it is important that we cater for all individual needs. However, I believe that if the oportunity arises to implement a learning experience involving student-centered learning and it is beneficial to all students' needs, by all means use it because it can be extremely beneficial to the students' learning and development.