Education for a Digital World Advice, Guidelines and Effective Practice from Around Globe, 2008a

20 – Instructional Strategies
if students discuss issues or explain concepts to each
other. As Giambattista Vico said, “One only knows
something if one can explain it”. Also through computers,
it is possible to tap into real data or tools such as
those used by scientists. Wouldn’t students enjoy learning
about climate, for example, if they could use real
data and models to predict the weather?
Table 20.1
Objective
Frequency
Importance
Difficulty
Total
Percent
Number 1
Number 2
Number 3
Number 4
Number 5
2
4
2
3
1
1
3
3
1
5
1
5
3
2
4
4
12
8
6
10
10%
30%
20%
15%
25%
Total 40 100%
Depending on the learning outcome, you may need
to teach some of them or support them through computer-based
resources when the more common online
strategies will not suffice. Computer-based resources
include drill and practice, tutorials, simulations, online
labs, educational games, intelligent tutoring systems,
and virtual reality. These are described in Chapter 22,
Computer-Based Resources for Learning. Some drill and
practice activities can be effectively provided within
Learning Management Systems. However, depending on
the learning domain, thinking level required, complexity
of the problem presentation, and feedback that needs to
be provided, some drill and practice activities will need
to be created with specialized tools such as Macromedia
Flash.
PROVIDING LEARNING GUIDANCE
In helping students to learn the material, you can provide
ways to categorize materials, provide memory devices,
and link new knowledge to previously learned
knowledge. You can also emphasize differences between
related skills. As an example, you might explain that
adding two digit numbers is similar to adding single
digit numbers, except that a value may have to be “carried”.
You can also provide students with strategies for
recalling information and encourage them to create
their own memory recall techniques. Providing guidance
is particularly important because many students
have not learned how to learn effectively.
Remember that learning is minimal if you simply
provide information. As Paulo Freire said, “To teach is
not to transfer knowledge but to create the possibilities
for the production or construction of knowledge”.
This event is usually integrated with “presenting the
material”.
ELICITING THE PERFORMANCE
Learners must know how well they are progressing. You
can do this by asking questions or providing opportunities
to practise the skill being taught and then giving
feedback. This event is also usually integrated with “presenting
the material”.
It is better to provide a little bit of practice often as
compared to a lot of practice given seldom. Allow for
practice as learners logically need it after each concept of
a lesson has been presented, rather than at a fixed interval
such as at the end of each lesson after many concepts
have been presented. This is even more important when
learners need to practise sub-skills before proceeding to
higher-level skills. In other words, help learners learn
the material as the content is taught. Learning effectiveness
can be compromised if you wait too long.
Make the difficulty level of the practice proportional
to the difficulty of the task. Practice should not be so
easy that it is trivial nor so difficult that it is frustrating.
Remember to also check whether the learner makes expected
mistakes.
Metacognition is an important step in eliciting the
performance. Metacognition can be defined as your
knowledge and understanding about your own mental
processes, as well as how you actively control and
monitor your memory, comprehension, and other
thinking processes involved in planning to learn, learning,
and assessing your learning. In simple terms, metacognition
is a self-questioning strategy that entails
“thinking about thinking”.
To address metacognition, learners can be prompted
to answer questions such as:
• “How do I learn best?”
– Answers to this question relate to the individual’s
learning style. For example, the learner may study
best in a quiet area.
• “How does the nature of the task affect my decisions
regarding learning the material?”
– The learner needs to think about issues such as the
difficulty of the task. This can impact the time
needed for learning the material.
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