Advance Organizer

There are many advantages as well as disadvantages of using Advance Organizers.

It facilitates them make connections and/or the relationship between pieces of information. Also helps students to allocate time for a particular lesson.
We can use it interactive lessons in classroom lectures and for elearning courses.

For example you can ask a question about what is an amphitheatre before teaching about Greek or Roman architecture. Or for instance you need to teach about guidelines for a healthy diet. So you can start the topic by giving a build up like this:

Build up: “We all know that we should eat healthy food. For most of us, healthy food means no pizza, no fries, no colas, and no burgers. Healthy food is boring and tasteless. But no that’s not so. We can make food choices. Food can be healthy and tasty”.

Scholars and educational psychologists have divided opinion about the use of Advance Organizers.

Carol Story (1998), a research scholar concluded that “Instructional designers can feel confident that Advanced organizer are important part of their instructional designs, that the organizers are needed whatever the media of instruction, and that organizers themselves can be delivered by a variety of media.”
Some researchers believe that Advance Organizers helps students to recall information and make connection between already known concepts and the forthcoming learning materials.

However, researcher scholars like McEneany (1990) suggested that it serves no purpose or have limited effect in promoting learning or recall of learning.
Whereas Lawton and Johnson (1992) believe that Advance Organizers are effective.

According to Ausubel, the Advanced organizer provides the “hierarchical framework” for students so that they can move information into long-term memory efficiently and effectively and in a connected manner.

To conclude, we can say that:

• It is an educational strategy.

• Teachers have been using it for classroom lectures.

• It helps learners to build a cognitive structure.

• Instructional designers are using it for elearning courses.

• Depending on the content, the subject matter, on the pre-existing knowledge of the learners.

However, some questions like why this teaching strategy is called as Advance Organizer and not simply Organizer is still unknown.

References:
http://tip.psychology.org/ausubel.html
http://web.cortland.edu/frieda/ID/IDtheories/10.html

Advance Organizers

In this article we are going to look at what is an advance organizer. Where can we make use of it, its forms and phases?

Advance Organizer is a cognitive instructional strategy used to promote the learning and retention of new information (Ausubel, 1960).

According to Joyce et al. (2000), the Advance Organizer model has three phases of activity.

Let’s look at the three phases:

Phase-1

• includes presentation of the Advanced Organizer

• clarifies the aim of the lesson

• creates an awareness of the info

Phase- 2

• sequencing the content

• presenting the material

Phase- 3

• strengthening of the cognitive organization

• “integrative reconciliation” (ability to make interconnections between concepts)

For eg: teacher can ask students to summarize the info

Now let’s look at the four types of Advance Organizers.

Expository

• provides new content

• provide basic concepts of the material

• provides a background of unknown material

Comparative

• Highlight difference between old and new concepts.

• Helps to mark out the differences and similarity between old and new concepts.

Graphic

• A graphic organizer is a visual display.

• Helps depict the relationship between terms, ideas, or concepts.

• Uses pictographs, graphs, charts, or concept maps

Narrative

• oral presentation, stories, and handouts are used

• helps recall and retain info

Though you may find that we use the above advance organizer as instructional tools, they might have been derived from some educational theory.

To be continued......

How Fast is Your Internet?

Well few days back I got internet connection. I had applied for a plan that promised to provide around 440Kbps. Isn't that amazing? But lo! the internet connection was damn slow. I was reveling in the fact that at last I got hi-speed net connection. But when I came across this site http://us.mcafee.com/root/speedometer/default.asp, I was surprised to see the actual speed of the internet connection. The speed promised as per the plan was 440Kbps, but in reality it was actually some 43Kbps.

So if you want to check the internet speed, visit http://us.mcafee.com.

Should IDs Acquire the Knowledge of GDs

I have been thinking this for a long time whether instructional designers should learn to use software tools like captivate files and flash? I've come across many blogs where it has been debated that the role of instructional designers (ID) should not overlap the role of the graphic designers (GD).

But I strongly believe that if an ID has the knowledge of software programs like Flash, Captivate, SnagIT, Photoshop and such technical writing software tools, it can double the productivity of an ID.

But the question that arises here is that one needs to spend dedicated time in order to master these tools. If you are really keen on honing these skills then am sure you need to spend time, money, and energy and join an institute offering training on these tools.

Another way is to download the trial version and practice on your own. Recently, I had to edit some videos for a certain project, using captivate. And I really enjoyed doing it because that gave me an opportunity to learn something new. But I wonder whether training on these software tools should be made mandatory as part of OJT or whether one needs to take formal training for the same altogether?

Cell Phone - Synonym for Memory!

Have you ever realized what will happen if you forget your cell phone when you venture out? Well, it happened to me a couple of times. And I remember I felt so crippled. I didn't remember anybody's cell phone number. I not only feed phone numbers in my cell, but I store the dates that I need to remember. For instance, the date when I got my internet connection, the date when I filled in and submitted my passport form and numerous other dates.

Imagine if you are stuck somewhere and you need to call somebody urgently, how you will do that without your cell phone. Also the growing use of computers and cell phones has replaced the habit of putting down everything on a piece of paper. I think of the day when cell phone and laptops will completely take over the habit of using writing pads.

Day in and day out we keep on creating documents, and store them in our computer and laptops. We take back up so as to ensure that we don't lose any important data. But I think a time is not too far when we won't be able to remember anything else other than our names.

Human memory has three phases, working memory, short term memory (STM) and long term memory (LTM). It is theorized that things that we read, hear or come across is stored for a brief amount of time in our working memory, after a point of time we filter things and store the information that we require in out STM. And only after constant drilling it moves into our LTM. But if we don't attempt to remember even a 10 digit cell phone number, how on earth are we going to remember anything else. I am skeptical about the fact whether technological advancement is doing only good or it has a down side to it as well!

Comic Strips: Fun Way to Put your Message Across

I came across this interesting site http://www.bitstrips.com, where you can create comic characters, and comic strips of your own. I guess it gives you ample opportunity to even teach children through comic strips.

You can also use it to put your message across in an interesting and funny way. It need not be related to academics, but it can range from a variety of topics like humor, politics, drama, news, pop culture, and so on.

Take a look at the one I created!

ToonDoo- Creating Animation of Your Own

I came across this site http://www.toondoo.com in one of the blogs that I read. I found it quite interesting. This site gives us a platform to create, modify the existing animations to suit according to our needs. All you need to do is to create an account and go on adding images to your gallery. Just try it out, explore, and have fun.

History of Instructional Design

This article would look at the emergence of Instructional Design as a discipline. To know about this we need to go back to its history. Let’s look at the chronological events that happened in the field of education.

1905- The educators saw the importance of visual instruction.

1913- Thomas Edison proclaimed that “books will soon obsolete in schools. It is possible to teach every branch of human knowledge with the motion picture.”

1930- Educators proposed the importance of objectives for a curriculum according to student behavior. Also formative evaluation was used for the first time during this time.

1940- This was a period when the role of the instructional technologist emerged. This period was marked by military training needs. The idea for an instructional development team was conceived during this period.

1950- Programmed instruction was started.
Skinner propounded that human learning can be conditioned.
Benjamin Bloom (1956) came up with the taxonomy of educational objectives.
Behaviorism also emerged as a learning theory.

1960- Robert Gagne introduced the concept of task analysis and came up with nine events of instructions.
Norman Crowder developed intrinsic programming.
Cognitive theories of learning also emerged during this time.

1970- This period was marked by the emergence of instructional strategies and instructional theories in the full swing.

1980- During this period CBI (Computer Based Instruction) flourished. Also focus was on designing interactivity.

1990- This period marked a shift from cognitive theory to constructivist theories.
This article would look at the emergence of Instructional Design as a discipline. To know about this we need to go back to its history. Let’s look at the chronological events that happened in the field of education.

1905- The educators saw the importance of visual instruction.

1913- Thomas Edison proclaimed that “books will soon obsolete in schools. It is possible to teach every branch of human knowledge with the motion picture.”

1930- Educators proposed the importance of objectives for a curriculum according to student behavior. Also formative evaluation was used for the first time during this time.

1940- This was a period when the role of the instructional technologist emerged. This period was marked by military training needs. The idea for an instructional development team was conceived during this period.

1950- Programmed instruction was started.
Skinner propounded that human learning can be conditioned.
Benjamin Bloom (1956) came up with the taxonomy of educational objectives.
Behaviorism also emerged as a learning theory.

1960- Robert Gagne introduced the concept of task analysis and came up with nine events of instructions.
Norman Crowder developed intrinsic programming.
Cognitive theories of learning also emerged during this time.

1970- This period was marked by the emergence of instructional strategies and instructional theories in the full swing.

1980- During this period CBI (Computer Based Instruction) flourished. Also focus was on designing interactivity.

1990- This period marked a shift from cognitive theory to constructivist theories.

Virtual World

I came across this article in the newspaper where teenagers in America spend real money to get things done in the virtual world called Gaia. Now that's sounds a little weird. Now I would love to create an avatar and make a space for myself in the virtual world if it’s free of cost. But why would I spend money just to use virtual world as a platform for social networking.

Well I agree that online education and V-education have a long way to go. But some where I feel that it takes a lot of your time to get familiar with the whole interface. So if getting familiar with the interface is not included within the learning curve then it’s fine. But say I’m asked to spend not more than 3 hours on a certain section or course material, how am I to justify that I got stuck somewhere and I was lost. Well these are some of the issues that need to be highlighted or made clear before we actually join the bandwagon of V-education.

Blog Readability Test

I was reading a blog called the writer's gateway and I came across this interesting article where the author had mentioned that we can check the readability of our blog. Isn't that interesting?

If it serves the same purpose like the readability statistics in a word processor, then it is quite interesting to know the readability level of our blog articles. But as far as I know the grade level in the readability statistics should not exceed K-8 level. If the same holds good for blog readability test then I wonder whether being rated as a "genius" is a good thing or is it a disgrace in disguise. Well so much for it, if you guys want to try out and check the readability of your blog articles, just click http://www.criticsrant.com/bb/reading_level.aspx. Enter your blog's URL and see for your self. :-)