formatting

Task instructions: Purpose: To investigate some commonly referred to learning styles and consider their significance in terms of online activities and behaviours.

Task: For this task, you will work as a group.

You are going to do some research for each other using the Internet as a resource. As usual, the way in which you organise your group is entirely up to you.

Your group will look into a set of commonly described learning styles. Your task is to:


 * produce a paragraph which gives __ a practical description __ of each learning style
 * explain the __ relevance of this learning style in terms of online activities __ which may be appealing to somebody with a preference for this learning style
 * outline any __behaviour or responses__ wh ich may be attributable to this particular learning style
 * state the __ sources __ you have used at the end of your paragraph

CERI: I'M GOING TO BE ADDING IN COMMENTS ON THE PROCESS BETWEEN THE LINES - IN CAPS SO IT'S EASY TO DIFFERENTIATE FROM THE TEXT

1 I'M GOING TO USE THE PHRASES UNDERLINED ABOVE TO STRUCTURE EACH PARAGRAPH AND MAKE SURE WE'RE COVERING ALL THE NECESSARY INFORMATION IN EACH PARAGRAPH

Although there is no need for one person to summarise this task, you may want to appoint somebody to format the paragraphs so that they are similar in style and appearance.

Group 2: You will research learning theory relating to the following styles:

Converger Diverger Assimilator Accommodator

CERI: 2 I'M GOING TO FOLLOW THE ORDER GIVEN IN THE TASK

You may find it useful to begin your search with the following names:

Kolb Honey and Mumford

Group B

CERI: HERE ARE THE ORIGINAL TEXTS (I'LL CUT THEM FROM THE HOME PAGE ONCE I'VE FINISHED THE FORMATTING AND ADD THE FINAL TEXT THERE)

Hi everyone, my idea was to paste in the original drafts here, and then on a separate page I'll format them and everybody can have access to both.

Here's Brian's text (thanks Brian). If you're pasting in a new text, can you choose a new colour? (to do this highlight the text then click on the icon that shows a capital T and a painting palette - click on the text colour box and you should get a range of colours to choose from).

A converger (Kolb) or a pragmatist (Honey and Mumford) is someone who can solve problems and use their learning to find solutions to practical issues. They prefer technical tasks and are less concerned with people and interpersonal aspects of communication. They like to experiment and work with practical applications and are adept at using technology. They tend to be down-to-earth people who enjoy problem-solving and making decisions quickly. However they do get bored with long discussions. They prefer doing rather than watching and are good at analysing and planning.

This kind of learning style should relish an online course due to their technical capabilities, although with the current course they may struggle with the amount of group work involved as they seem to prefer technology to people. They shouldn’t be overawed by tasks/workload as they are organised and plan ahead, and they like to experiment with things, meaning that if they aren’t sure how something works, they’ll probably play around with it until they can work it out.

One thing they may find difficult about this course is that they don’t enjoy long discussions, meaning that reading through other people’s posts could potentially cause problems. I imagine though that they’ll be the first to post on the discussion as they prefer doing rather than watching, so I can’t see them lurking in the background, waiting to see what other people have to say. They’ll probably post their ideas and then not come back to the discussion.

[|www.businessballs.com/kolblearningstyles.htm]

I posted this on the discussion board yesterday, but here it is. Cheers - Craig

Those people with a learning style described as //divergers// are likely to enjoy trying things out and then thinking about what they have done. In Kolb’s terms, they enjoy learning modes that involve concrete experience and reflective observation. The great strength of //divergers// is their ability to view experiences creatively from a variety of perspectives. This means they are very good at generating different ideas and are invaluable in brainstorming sessions. //Divergers// are likely to enjoy VLEs because they are new experiences for them and an opportunity for them to come up with lots of new practical ideas. They are likely to enjoy problem-solving scenarios posted on discussion boards and will be able to provide a range of creative solutions. However, they may not post frequently because //divergers// like to observe and reflect before they act. It’s likely that they will spend some time lurking in the VLE. They are also likely to enjoy reflection tasks where they are able to consider activities and tasks they have carried out online. The nature of this reflection will be practical rather than deeply theoretical.

__References__

[|http://casa.colorado.edu/~dduncan/teachingseminar/KolbLearningStyleInventoryInfo.pdf] accessed 8 Nov 2011 Kolb, D. 2005 //The Kolb Learning Style Inventory//.Boston: Hay Resources Direct

The **//assimilator//** as the name suggests looks at information as it is presented and puts it all together (or assimilates it) to form a theory. They therefore need to take some time to analyse new information in a logical and rational manner before reflecting upon their findings. Only then will they put it these facts/theories into practice. According to Kolb, this style of learning is a combination of those who score highly in abstract conceptualisation and reflective observation. The style is summed up nicely thus: ‘assimilators will take what they have concluded and __watch__ it to see if it works’. The **//assimilator//** would seem to enjoy VLEs due to their asynchoronous nature – the possibility of reading around a subject, reading what others have posted and having the luxury of time to give a considered response due to the asynchronous nature of the VLE. However, as Kolb states those who score highly on abstract conceptualisation, as **//assimilators//** do, are likely not to enjoy ‘discovery’ learning approaches on which VLEs will rely heavily. The **//assimilator//** will tend to be more introverted and while will enjoy the more impersonal feel of a VLE may get frustrated at others’ attempts to integrate them in a more social setting such as that of the café on IHCOLT. Activities which assimilators would seem to benefit from most which are probable in VLEs are: using logs and journals, online discussions and developing analogies.

[|www.washington.edu/doit/Team/learn.html]

[|http://casacolorado.edu/~dduncan/teachingseminar/KolbLearningStyleInventgoryInfo.pdf]

[]

Those with an accommodating learning style like to “feel “and “do”: a combination of concrete experience and active experimentation. They act on intuition rather than logic and rely on others for information rather than independent analysis. They learn well by trial and error. Accommodators are attracted to action oriented professions such as teaching and nursing. Accommodators will not be lurkers. They may be the first people to post completed tasks. They will enjoy working together on the group tasks and may enjoy being the group leader as this role requires quick decisions, making a plan and carrying it out. However, they will need to take care to be sensitive to those who take longer to reflect on tasks (assimilators). Accommodators will enjoy the tasks of the first module which ask users to jump around the VLE to discover how it works. Since they are risk-takers by nature, they will push all the buttons and going into the café to post and just to see what’s there. They will try to start a wiki and embed videos. They may not be eager to do the reflection tasks; their reflections will be based on their instinctive reactions to tasks. They will prefer to attack new tasks than reflect on past ones. They might also need encouragement to read and reflect on the contributions of other participants. [|__http://casa.colorado.edu/~dduncan/teachingseminar/KolbLearningStyleInventoryInfo.pdf__] [|__http://www.businessballs.com/kolblearningstyles.htm__]

CERI: 4 THIS IS WHERE I START FORMATTING BY PASTING IN THE PARAGRAPHS IN THE ORDER DECIDED ABOVE AND ADDING SUBHEADING

Converger


 * initial description

A //converger// (Kolb) or a //pragmatist// (Honey and Mumford) is someone who can solve problems and use their learning to find solutions to practical issues. They prefer technical tasks and are less concerned with people and interpersonal aspects of communication. They like to experiment and work with practical applications and are adept at using technology. They tend to be down-to-earth people who enjoy problem-solving and making decisions quickly. However they do get bored with long discussions. They prefer doing rather than watching and are good at analysing and planning.


 * online learning preferences and typical behaviour

//Convergers// should relish an online course due to their technical capabilities, although with the current course they may struggle with the amount of group work involved as they seem to prefer technology to people. They shouldn’t be overawed by tasks/workload as they are organised and plan ahead, and they like to experiment with things, meaning that if they aren’t sure how something works, they’ll probably play around with it until they can work it out.


 * typical behaviour

One thing //convergers// may find difficult about onlines courses is that they don’t enjoy long discussions, meaning that reading through other people’s posts could potentially cause problems. I imagine though that they’ll be the first to post on the discussion as they prefer doing rather than watching, so I can’t see them lurking in the background, waiting to see what other people have to say. They’ll probably post their ideas and then not come back to the discussion.


 * references

[|www.businessballs.com/kolblearningstyles.htm]

Diverger Initial decription Those people with a learning style described as //divergers// are likely to enjoy trying things out and then thinking about what they have done. In Kolb’s terms, they enjoy learning modes that involve concrete experience and reflective observation. The great strength of //divergers// is their ability to view experiences creatively from a variety of perspectives. This means they are very good at generating different ideas and are invaluable in brainstorming sessions.

Online learning preferences and typical behaviour //Divergers// are likely to enjoy VLEs because they are new experiences for them and an opportunity for them to come up with lots of new practical ideas. They are likely to enjoy problem-solving scenarios posted on discussion boards and will be able to provide a range of creative solutions. However, they may not post frequently because //divergers// like to observe and reflect before they act. It’s likely that they will spend some time lurking in the VLE. They are also likely to enjoy reflection tasks where they are able to consider activities and tasks they have carried out online. The nature of this reflection will be practical rather than deeply theoretical.

__References__

[|http://casa.colorado.edu/~dduncan/teachingseminar/KolbLearningStyleInventoryInfo.pdf]

accessed 8 Nov 2011

Kolb, D. 2005 //The Kolb Learning Style Inventory//.Boston: Hay Resources Direct

Assimilator initial description The //assimilator//, as the name suggests, looks at information as it is presented and puts it all together (or assimilates it) to form a theory. //Assimiliators// therefore need to take some time to analyse new information in a logical and rational manner before reflecting upon their findings. Only then will they put these facts/theories into practice. According to Kolb, this style of learning is a combination of those who score highly in abstract conceptualisation and reflective observation. The style is summed up nicely thus: ‘assimilators will take what they have concluded and __watch__ it to see if it works’.

online learning preferences and typical behaviour. The **//assimilator//** would seem to enjoy VLEs due to their asynchoronous nature – the possibility of reading around a subject, reading what others have posted and having the luxury of time to give a considered. However, as Kolb states, those learners who score highly on abstract conceptualisation, as //assimilators// do, are likely not to enjoy ‘discovery’ learning approaches. The //assimilator// will tend to be more introverted and while enjoying the more impersonal feel of a VLE may get frustrated at others’ attempts to integrate them in a more social setting such as that of the café on IHCOLT. Online activitiesfrom which //assimilators// would seem to benefit most include: using logs and journals, online discussions and developing analogies. references: [|www.washington.edu/doit/Team/learn.html] [|http://casacolorado.edu/~dduncan/teachingseminar/KolbLearningStyleInventgoryInfo.pdf] []

Accomodator initial description Those with an accommodating learning style like to “feel “and “do”: a combination of concrete experience and active experimentation. They act on intuition rather than logic and rely on others for information rather than independent analysis. //Accommodators// learn well by trial and error and are attracted to action oriented professions such as teaching and nursing.

online learning preferences and typical behaviour //Accommodators// will not be lurkers. They may be the first people to post completed tasks. They will enjoy working together on the group tasks and may enjoy being the group leader as this role requires quick decisions, making a plan and carrying it out. However, they will need to take care to be sensitive to those who take longer to reflect on tasks (assimilators).

//Accommodators// will enjoy the tasks of the first module which ask users to jump around the VLE to discover how it works. Since they are risk-takers by nature, they will push all the buttons and going into the café to post and just to see what’s there. They will try to start a wiki and embed videos. They may not be eager to do the reflection tasks; their reflections will be based on their instinctive reactions to tasks. They will prefer to attack new tasks than reflect on past ones. They might also need encouragement to read and reflect on the contributions of other participants.

references:

[|__http://casa.colorado.edu/~dduncan/teachingseminar/KolbLearningStyleInventoryInfo.pdf__]

[|__http://www.businessballs.com/kolblearningstyles.htm__]

CERI: AT THIS POINT I GOT REALLY FRUSTRATED WITH THE LIMITED EDITING TOOLS ON THE WIKI AND COPIED AND PASTED EVERYTHING INTO A WORD DOC WHERE I WAS MORE AT HOME AND COULD MAKE CHANGES TO FONTS, FONT SIZE, COLOUR ETC MUCH QUICKER AND EASIER - I'LL PASTE THE FINAL VERSION IN THE HOME PAGE

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #404040; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">I MADE VERY SLIGHT CHANGES TO WORDING MOVING TOWARDS A SINGLE VOICE, BUT DIDN'T WANT TO CHANGE YOUR WORDING TOO MUCH SO THERE MAYBE SLIGHT SHIFTS AND CHANGES IN TONE AND STYLE