Unit 3 lessons share several strategies and theories
concerning a context-rich learning environment.
Motivation is the common principle used in the theories. Goal-Based Scenarios, Anchored Instruction,
STAR model, and MOST all used motivation to promote interest in the
context. Goal-based Scenarios, Anchored
Instruction, and STAR model all begin by presenting the students with an
initial challenge or goal that creates interest. The challenge can be presented using a video
or multimedia tool. Students use prior
knowledge or resources provided to apply to meaningful problems. The theories all require students to consider
all options and explore different perspectives to the problem. I believe, Goal based scenarios and MOST
environments are more for individualized learning and Anchored and Star Model
could be used for cooperative learning.
MOST environments model is designed differently than the
others. MOST is using multimedia to
accelerate learning. The multimedia
tools or videos should be set up throughout the lesson to reiterate the
context. Studies show that the students
can better retell the story and understand vocabulary once they hear it used
orally.
I really like the multimedia program acting like a kiosk for
learning as shown in the examples for Goal Based scenarios. The multimedia programs provide videos and
graphics that will spark student interest.
They make it easy for kids to navigate and make them WANT to take on the
challenge without thinking about learning.
The students probably don’t think of it as learning skills or “school”
and that’s an advantage. The major
barrier to using these theories regularly is the time required and resources to
create and set up the model. As I was
reading about these different theories I was continuously thinking about how
much I would love to create projects using multimedia sites and follow the
various models. The easy part is
providing an eye opener or challenging introduction to motivate learning. But when you are also providing several
solutions (Goal Based scenario) or “Operations” (Anchored Instruction) for the
student to consider… that becomes time consuming. So, I find it very discouraging that I may
actually have time to create a context learning environment like
presented. I WISH I did, but I don’t see
it being possible when teaching a pre-set curriculum and the time constraints
as a high school CTE teacher.
MOST environments remind me of how this class is set
up. I also understand that if used
appropriately for at –risk, young age groups it could be a positive learning opportunity.
As a CTE teacher, my classes are a blend
of all grades and different learning styles and abilities. I try to show videos and incorporate them
through-out lessons because of the importance of differentiated instruction in
my classes. But one thing I don’t do and
probably should is attach those videos to my web page or create resource links
for each essential standard so students can refer to them individually as
needed. I have my notes on my web page
but not the videos.
Weebly… not just for this graduate class, but Weebly could be
used to design any context learning environments using the models from this
unit (and the others as well) for my classroom.
Create one web page that follows all steps to the theory that’s creative
and appropriately designed for students to solve meaningful problems and better
understand the content objectives. It
provides one single resource for student motivation (challenge and graphics)
and simple navigation to help students explore solutions, take assessments, and
provide opportunities for scaffolding and feedback. Multimedia tools can be linked to tell
stories (YouTube, Voki), a tool for discussion, support learning and recall
prior knowledge (Post-it, Google Drive) and also to present or wrap-up the
problem (VoiceThread, Animoto, Prezi).
