Learning styles and ICT

What is your learning style? What sorts of learning experiences would suit you best with your learning style?

My learning style is predominantly verbal and intuitive my learning styles results indicate that I am well balanced between active / reactive and sequential/global. From experience I know that this changes with a change in environment (learning or personal).

I am best suited to experience my learning visually, using a mixture of reflections about the learning and doing practical or group work. When learning I should ensure that I visually try to interpret the facts so that relationships between the learning’s can be discovered, thus ensuring that learning is both visual and intuitive. The best method to achieve this kind of learning for me is mind maps with pictures to solidify concepts.

Detail is always a problem for me and I should always take time to review the work that I have done to ensure that it is accurate.

In a traditional classroom of 25 students, how would you support the range of learning styles each lesson?

The best way to ensure that a range of learning styles is included in each lesson is to analyse the lesson plan to ensure that a varied approach has been used, putting a weighting against each of the learning styles will allow me to calculate where the strengths and weaknesses lie in terms of the lesson that has been planned.  

I would strive to have a teaching style as depicted in “Applications, reliability and validity of the Index of learning Styles” (http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/ILS_Validation(IJEE).pdf) . “The optimal teaching style is a balanced one in which all students are sometimes taught in a manner that matches their learning style preferences, so that they are not too uncomfortable to learn effectively, and sometimes in the opposite manner, so that they are forces to stretch and grow in directions they might be inclined to avoid given the option”

To support the learning styles it is also essential to know your own learning style as you may find that your default mode is to instruct to your own learning style.

With your current knowledge of ICT, how could your design and digital pedagogy support your learners better?

By understanding the different learning styles that each learner has, different activities can be generated for the same learning using technology, one learner may look at pictures of the learning whilst another is having a group discussion over a forum covering the same learning.

The important aspect to note here is that although a learner may have tested as one profile they may change profiles over time and towards different subjects. The educator should not put any learner in a box or label the learner as having one style. Access to a range of learning styles within one concept should be given to students.

What sorts of profiling questions would you be asking about your learners to ensure you cater for everyone's preferences?

The following are profiling questionnaires that can be done online:

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks1/ict/multiple_int/questions/questions.cfm

http://www.businessballs.com/howardgardnermultipleintelligences.htm#multiple%20intelligences%20tests - various free tests.

As a teacher I would do some fun profiles from the internet during the year, doing this every few months would mean that the students and myself get reminded often of what our own profiles are and what profiles other learners have.

How does ICT support differences in learning styles?

ICT makes it possible for one class of learners to be doing different activities concurrently, but having the same learning outcome in the end. An example of this may be that you have a few powerpoint presentations of the same lesson adapted to the different learning styles. (many diagrams and graphs for the visual learner and another presentation which is mainly word for the verbal learner).

In the table below the leaning styles have been matched with some of the ICT’s that we have experienced so far.

ICT	Learning Style
	Sensing	Intuitive	Visual	Verbal	Global	Sequential	Active	Reflective
Powerpoint Graphic / visual			X			X	If links to different learning and worksheets are inserted
Powerpoint – mostly written				X		X
WIKI		X		X			X	X
Video Clip			X	X
Blog							X	When reflecting on work learnt

I would like to explore further what element of each ICT appeals to which learning style.

Conclusion

In conclusion establishing and sharing of your own and the students styles with each other and themselves will ensure that you connect with the students in a way that keeps their attention.

Being focused on learning styles will also mean that you addend to all the learning needs of your students. As per “Applications, reliability and validity of the Index of learning Styles” (http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/ILS_Validation(IJEE).pdf) when students know their learning styles it gives them insights into their strengths and weaknesses.