EXISTENTIAL learners can use this ICT to help them understand the big picture and overall course content. This ICT could be implemented as a good cognitive tool through use as a visual timeline so the student can put the text, film, poem, visual reference etc into an historical, social, cultural context.
VISUAL learners can use this ICT to "see" ideas. They are able to understand / contextualise the content by "seeing it in action". This ICT encourages the student to imaging the possibilies of litarary relationships. The visual display is aesthetically appealing and sympathetic to the student's mode of learning. In the case of the visual learner this ICT could be used as a screen saver on class computers (if available) or alternatively the teacher's computer. This is a step on from putting pictures on the wall of the classroom. Students in schools today are digital natives and as such expect to use ICT. DUe to the fact that digital natives are natural multi-taskers it stands to reason that the more stimulus we, as teachers, can supply the more information has the potential to be internalised.
LOGICAL learners will find this ICT a useful way of presenting course content. As an alternative to the timeline, the viusal stimuli could be arranged to visually display the order in which the 'texts' are to be studied. THe slideshow would therefore become a constant visual reminder to the students about where they've come from, where they are and where they're heading in the course.
Howard Gardner reiterates the importance of recognising and supporting different learning styles with ICT. He also states theat schools often focus on the logical and mathematical learner - perhaps a result of the 'sage on the stage' teaching method coupled with time restraints. In the past it has been assumed that students would learn by building on previous information and progressing in a linear fashion. Hattie and Vygotsky recognise the existance of more convergent forms of learning and place an emphsis on collective and social learning - a move away from the 'sage on the stage' routine. One of the great benefits of ICT is its ability to be interactive and fluid.
The possibilities of this ICT range from it being a stagnant display, its purpose dictated by the teacher (and in this sense it would sit on the knowledge level of the Bloom's Taxonomy heirarchy) to an online resource that can be manipulated by the students. It could be used as a social, historical, litarary timeline, or a course structure timeline or alternatively a front page for notes on each 'text' (Naturalist learners might prefer to manipulate it in this way).
To use this ICT to further the students comprehension in relation to Bloom's Taxonomy the slideshow could develop the student's comprehension of where these texts fit into an historical context. It could also be used as part of the student's analysis of an idea; for example the timeline might be used to explain Charles Dickens statement on class in Great Expectations in relation to other writers of his time.
This ICT could also support social learning as per Vygotsky. The images could be the beginning of a collaborative blog, to be used at the end of each unit for group presentations; for example; students could work in groups and present to the class using the blog to save, collate and share information. In this way students are active in the learning process and the collection of resouces. This develops self efficacy and opens up this ICT to support other learning styles.
Resources:
Blooms Taxonomy http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/researchskills/dalton.htm
Gardner Multiple Intelligences http://surfaquarium.com/MI/
Hattie, J (2005) What is the Nature of Evidence that makes a Difference to Learning? www.acer.edu.au/workshop/documents/HattieSlides.pdf
Prensky, M (2001) Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf
Vygotsky Social Learning Theory http://chd.gmu.edu/immersion/knowledgebase/theorists/constructivism/vygotsky.htm
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