You Mean You Like To Read?

Olson and Bruner (1974) claim that learning involves two distinct aspects: acquiring knowledge of facts, principles, ideas, concepts, events, relationships, rules and laws; and using or working on that knowledge to develop skills. – Tony Bates

When I think of anything related to learning, this quote encompasses a large portion of it. Learning definitely involves acquiring knowledge and then applying said knowledge to different situations. Of course there are elements of critical thinking and analysis, but this could also be considered the development of skills with the use of the acquired knowledge, which is represented in part in this quote. But how does one acquire this knowledge?

Photo Credit: imagenesalviento Flickr via Compfight cc

All teachers during their training learn about the multiple intelligences of learning, and most have completed quizzes themselves to determine their learning strengths and weaknesses. Although these have been debated recently about their validity in teaching, as we see in Tony Bates’ book chapter, there are different types of digital resources (including print, audio, and video), and we all have our own learning preferences when it comes to these resources.

Out of the digital resources Bates’ suggests, and reflecting on my own learning experiences, I would personally place audio as my least favourite, similar to Logan. I agree with Bates when he says that “audio is often best used in conjunction with other media such as text or graphics thus adding complexity to the design of teaching“. Alone, I find it difficult to remain focused when I simply hear audio – for my personal learning preferences, I have always preferred when sound has been an enhancement to videos or text. This is why radio shows, podcasts, and even music have all been difficult for me to delve into because of my learning preferences. I understand Bates’ advantages, in that audio clips are easier to make than video ones and that they require less bandwidth, but in the end, if I don’t learn with them, these advantages can’t win me over to the audio side.

Just like Chalyn, I enjoy videos and I use them often in my teaching. Videos such as Crash Course History, This Day in History, or BBC documentaries find themselves in my history classes often as I find they engage students in learning with the combination of comedy (when it comes to Crash Course), picture, audio, and, oftentimes, as Bates says, real world issues. I also agree with Bates in that videos are helpful that they can be repeated over and over again. I attach all videos I use in my classroom to my Google classroom so students can re-watch them however many times they need to, or simply replay certain areas or stop at a specific time in the video to gather more information. For my personal learning needs, it is often the video accompanied by the sound that help me understand all the concepts on a deeper level. Of course, there are disadvantages, as Bates notes. The fact that there aren’t many “high quality educational video[s] free for downloading” and that it is difficult to create original videos makes this digital resource not always practical for the classroom.

Photo Credit: Gerard Van der Leun Flickr via Compfight cc

So this leaves me with good old fashioned text. This is actually my preferred method for learning (personally) as I particularly appreciate “manipulating” the information I am acquiring. I tend to write all over my texts, highlight key words, and write links between paragraphs, and ideas. It has always helped me to learn something when I write it over and over again myself – the repeated behaviour helps me to understand things that I did not know before. This could perhaps be traced back to my schooling, which was mostly done with textbooks, note taking, and other forms of “text” learning, just like Jessica. It is what I am used to, what I have gotten used to, and what I have most practice doing. My mind works well with the “linear sequencing of information in a structured format”, and I believe the function of text presentation “abstraction and generalization” does also help students acquire information. I do understand that text can be outdated – even as early as it is printed – and therefore does not always present the more recent information. As well, it does require high literacy skills, as Bates’ has noted, which is not always the case with all of our students. Therefore, although it may have been the “go-to” when I was learning, times are changing, and so I should perhaps as well.

So, in the end, I think a mixture of all these digital resources is best for our classes, seeing as everyone learns differently and has different preferences. In my own experience, I prefer text and video compared to audio, and most of my students seem to be particularly engaged with short videos. That being said, all of these resources have a place in educational settings, and should be used to target different skill development and strengths amongst our students.

What are your thoughts on the digital resources described by Bates? Are you an auditory learner, or more interested in video and text resources like I am? Please let me know in the comments below!