Week 5 - Open Reflection Journal What is the most important lesson you learned in this section? Why?
Although I already knew that engaged learning was a useful instructional design, I never thought of it in terms of virtual simulations. In science education we use laboratory experiments as engaged learning activities. These are particularly helpful to many students so that they can build concepts with a practical, concrete approach. Engaged learning goes well beyond experimentation-it encompasses many technology areas.
I have been hesitant to use computer simulations in place of live demonstrations. Recent reading on this topic has changed my mind. I will begin to use computerbased simulations more because they can be accessed by all students many times and some simulations are available online.
What are your personal strengths and weaknesses in this area?
I have been weak in presenting core course content in an engaged learning approach. Most of the basic information that I present to my students is in lecture format.
On the other hand, I try to make my lectures as interactive as possible. Question and answer sessions are intertwined with the traditional lecture format so that students are as involved as possible. It is both boring for students and tedious for me to just present notes for them. A mix of activity is far more engaging.
Our laboratory experiences allow all students to take an active role in discovery learning. It would be great to do laboratory experiments on a very regular basis but there just isn't enough time to interject these practical experiences too often. I am working toward being able to
How would you implement what you have learned about this topic in a classroom? What specific strategies would you use? What type of lesson plans would you develop?
I have used some of these engaged learning strategies in my classroom before. I can now focus my efforts more clearly after reading some more supporting thoughts on the topic.
The strategy that I will use includes more individual research projects and virtual lab experiments. The lesson plans will include instruction on the use of the technology coupled with long term individual projects. Students will be required to complete work outside of class time.
What is the greatest obstacle for using this type of technology in traditional classrooms?
We are endowed with excellent internet access and connectivity at our school. There is a limit to the ease of use of our computing system.
The greatest obstacle simply lies with the challenge of obtain enough computing resources. Most schools were designed and constructed before computer networking was a regular part of school infrastructure and computers are too expensive to be able to be placed on every single desk.
Luckily we have computer labs that may be used by entire classes. This is still a challenge since it requires the teacher to schedule lab time and see that all students arrive at the proper location. There is some down time associated with this since students take time to become acclimated to a computer lab environment.
What questions remain unanswered about this topic?
I wish that there were a perfect answer to how much time our curriculum should allow for this type of instruction. The limit lies with computing resource availability. Similarly, if we could barely complete an entire course of instruction with traditional resources how are we to add this component to the course. Arguments can be made that engaged learning replaces the traditional approaches. I will argue that teachers must spend much more time preparing this type of lesson planning and are provided little training in this field.