Using Tools (Chapter 3)

In chapter 3, Wiburg talks about what kinds of tools educators can choose to enhance the design of opportunities for students to learn. With highly-developed technology, there are a variety of choices for teachers to present the same information. In recent years, in most educational settings, a myth has formed that students can learn better and faster through the use of technology. For example, in Taiwan, computer assisted language learning (CALL) has become popular for many years. Many educators, parents, and students think CALL not only helps students acquire new information efficiently but also makes courses more interesting. In order to meet the expectations, teachers apply as much technology as they can to the designed courses. For example, instead of books and blackboard, they make graphics, use power point, play videos, set up websites, or employ bulletin boards.

However, the learning result does not always improve and sometimes becomes worse because teachers do not really think about which tool works best for specified course, topic, context, and students. For instance, based on my teaching experiences, to teach English grammar, teachers can choose to explain with chalks on the blackboard or make power point with animation. Although using power point seems creative and stimulating for students, in fact there are some disadvantages teachers have to take into consideration. On the one hand, when power point is played and the light is turned off, it is hard for students to stay focus on the screen. Due to the darkness, students usually do something else instead of keeping paying attention to students. On the other hand, the fancy animation used to mark the change of sentence patterns might distract students’ attention. After the slideshow, learners may remember only what kind of animation is demonstrated instead of which sentence pattern is taught. In this case, the use of technology does not work at all. Therefore, in spite of many strong points of technology in educational settings, teachers cannot blindly employ different tools without considering their true effect.

Multiple Intelligence (Chapter 2)

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In chapter 2, a view of intelligence is taken into consideration when designing leaning opportunities for students. Nowadays most educators know that each student learns the same materials in different ways. Some students with linguistic intelligence learn better with words while some with spatial intelligence acquire better when pictures are used. Therefore, teachers have been trying hard to apply multiple intelligences to their teaching as much as possible. For example, when teaching numbers in the target language, teachers can read aloud (linguistic intelligence), ask math questions (logical-mathematical intelligence), sing a song of numbers (musical intelligence), or ask students to make hand gestures with numbers (bodily-kinesthetic intelligence). In this way, learners may have more chances to develop their distinct intelligences and access information better.

However, as a former teacher in a private school, I understand how difficult it is to teach a class of 50 students who have different levels and various intelligences. Because of limited class time, it is hard to apply so many intelligences to courses if they have to contain information prescribed by national or local standards. To control time and assure the efficiency, usually many educators still use the traditional way--- lectures -- for instruction. Although there are many difficulties practicing it in class, teachers can still make it after school. By designing different types of homework and assessments, students at home can choose the learning methods which work best for them. For instance, when learning historic events, such as civil war, students can select to write a report, produce a small play, make a time line, interview someone, or even visit a museum. Through these ways, students can cultivate their intelligences and find out the most appropriate and efficient ways of learning. Nevertheless, the only problem is how teachers can evaluate students' performance and understanding fairly and accurately through different assessments.