Unit 1 - Learning about Learning Styles
Objectives:
- Educators will learn about the three main
learning styles: Visual, Auditory, Tactile/Kinesthetic
- Educators will learn what style of learning
best suits them
- Educators will learn how to effectively teach
to their students using differentiated instruction
Introduction
Have you ever wondered why certain students work better than others in certain learning situations? You may have taken course which outline how learners learn in their own unique style. Some students learn best by just simply listening to a teacher explain directions and be able to produce the desired outcome. Other students learn best by "doing" or working hands-on. These students like to be up and about and working with their hands to produce the desired outcome. Lastly, some students learn best by seeing. These students can watch a teacher do an example of a problem and can easily remember the steps that were involved. Also, these students can view a video and recall important information when questioned about it.
During the course of Unit 1, you will read a couple articles and watch a couple videos that explains each main learning types: Visual, Audio, and Tactile/Kinesthetic. Following the videos/articles, you will take a quiz to determine what style you may be categorized in. You may come to the realization that you have attributes of all three learning types.
From there you will reflect on what your learning type was and if you agree or disagree with your findings. Finally you will answer a few questions inquiring how you have or how you will implement different learning strategies in your own classroom.
Learning about Learning Styles
Every student is different. They come from different backgrounds, have different likes and dislikes, and have a variety of personalities. Having said that, educators should realize that each student learners differently from one another. Knowing about learning styles is very important to a teacher because knowing how certain students learn will gear you instruction to include new strategies in your teaching.
For the first activity, please read [TEACHERS ADJUST SCHOOLING TO FIT STUDENTS' INDIVIDUALITY] and answer the following questions located in the reflection section.
Visual
For this first activity, please follow the link to a video which gives a great demonstration of the definition of visual learning. While watching this video, think about if you can relate to some aspects of this learning style. Think about any student you may have taught or know of who learns like this. What strategies work well for visual learners? [The Visual Learning Style]
When using Glogster, there are plenty of visual aids that help the student retain the content desired. With Glogster you can use pictures and videos to display information you want the student to learn. As you have learned, visual learners
Auditory
For this activity you will be watching a video that I have made which involves you listening to me while I give you instructions. There will only be audio in the video until the end which shows you what you should have created. The materials for this activity is only YouTube and a piece of loose leaf paper.
Please follow the link to participate in this fun activity.
[Auditory Learning-style Activity]
After participating in my activity I hope you were able to create to end result! Some of you may have completed the task with no problem and some may have come into trouble. If you completed this successfully, you may practically be a auditory learner. With Glogster students will have the ability to listen to spoken word either from video or audio files.
Tactile/Kinesthetic
For this section, the activity will be you the learner creating you very own Glog and understanding how it functions. Tactile learning is all about learning hands-on and working with the tools to understand it better and being able to master the art of it. You can think of science units where students work with groups or themselves growing a plant in the classroom or creating a circuit with wires, batteries, and light bulbs. It gives students a way to define their motor skills while learning a new topic all at the same time.
As you will find out, just by creating you Glog, you are actively participating in the creation of your own interactive poster board allowing you to maneuver and configure your Glog however you like. You'll see the implications that Glogster will have on your students that like to be creative and enjoy learning by doing.
Reflection
At this time please go to the "Discussion" page. Copy and paste the questions below onto the page and answer.
- What are things you have done or could do to make your classroom differentiated for each style of learning?
- What do you believe is the preferred learning style of your students? Why do you think your students work best this way?
After answering the these questions, take [Learning Style Assessment] and figure out what type of learner you are!