e-CAL - e-Coaching et Apprentissage des Langues

e-Coaching et Apprentissage des Langues /N° de projet : 2015-1-FR01-KA204-015334
3.Indicate the relevant thematic area/s
Competence Process Communication Resources
X
x
3.1.Thematic Area Competence
Describe the solution from the perspective of eCAL
The use of the app requires very little ICT skills and/or technical ability. It is highly intuitive and easy to
use. Even for low level ICT users, it is simple to learn – this is the core nature of the programme.
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Assessment *of the solution found in the thematic area Competence
Clarity: To what extent the outcomes are systematically worked through, coherent and clearly 5
developed?
Credibility: To what extent the methodological approaches are plausible and justified? 5
Contribution: To what extent the outcome adds to knowledge and/or practice of an issue or 5
aspect regarding eCal?
3.2.Thematic Area Process
Describe the solution from the perspective of eCAL
The process of learning through Memrise, was devised by Grand Master of Memory, Ed Cooke.
The site and app claim to use an in-depth scientific method of learning developed by Ed Cooke
and a Princeton neuroscientist.
Elaborate encoding
The commonest way people try to learn facts, concepts, vocabulary and so on is simply to read
the material in the hope that our brains will automatically register what we’re studying. But
decades of memory research shows that this is a remarkably slow and ineffective way of learning,
and one of the main reasons for this is that it doesn’t encourage elaborative encoding, which
means relating what we’re trying to learn to what we already know. Our knowledge and
memories are highly organized and integrating new knowledge into this existing network not only
speeds up learning but also greatly boosts the likelihood that it will be remembered later on.
A simple illustration of this is that a random list of words like diamond, horse, orange, rabbit,
purple, emerald… is harder to remember than a list comprising the same words grouped into
taxonomic categories diamond, emerald… horse, rabbit… orange, purple… Organizing words into
common groups allows us to see connections between them and to use simple cues (‘animals’) to
help us recall them later.
The extraordinary performance of memory champions provides a spectacular example of the
power of elaborate encoding. When Johannes Mallow set the current world record for
memorizing 501 random digits in 5 minutes, he did so by grouping them into 3-digit chunks each
of which triggered a specific mental image, which he mentally connected together. He didn’t just
try to remember the digits in their basic form, he elaborated them via visualization.
When Memrise helps you to connect a word (such as ‘aburrido’) and its translation (‘boring’) by
suggesting a ‘mem’ (it’s boring to eat a burrito with every meal), it’s helping you to create an
elaborate encoding.