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November, 2007
Content:
- Qualification workshops "Visual Learning" within partnership in
Romania
- Focus group discussions with students/learners
- Recommendations and Implications for Second Language
1. Qualification
workshops "Visual Learning" within partnership in Romania
According to the objectives and the activities for the VisuaLearning project,
Fiatest organized 2 workshops in the period 22.09.07-28.09.07 (22.09.07
– first workshop and,
28.09.07 – second
workshop).
The main objective of the national workshops in Romania was to supply the
attendees with knowledge and tools needed for the adults teaching
– learning process.
Also, this information has been adapted so that they would answer to the
specific needs of the attendees (foreign languages and vocational adult trainers).
The product made for these workshops was a guide which was developed based on
the scheme established during the third transnational meeting organized in Bonn,
Germany. The guide comprises fives references to the history of visual in
education as well as the relevant theory for understanding the importance of
visual in education.
Within the workshops was presented the new media (software and programmes)
used in education. The feedback from the participants was that it is more
difficult to use the software as not all of them have the competence and the
technology needed.
Generally both workshops are regarded as relevant to practice and well
adapted for the target group. Some teachers remarked that the workshop showed
them a perspective used by them regarding the process of learning but, in the
same time was helpful because they weren’t very conscious about the utility of
these methods. The participants told that they preferred to use in the class the
method like brainstorming, mind maps, schemes (for synthesize the content of
learning).
2. Focus group discussions with students/learners
As part of the EU Project “visuaLearning” we hold focus group meetings with
students/learners. The purpose of these sessions was to collect knowledge about
learning individual needs of learners, taking into consideration the life course
of a learner.
Within the held discussions with the 4 groups the main subject was related to
the visual learning concept, the way in which the visual learning methodologies
facilitate the teaching/ learning process. Although the subject is not very
popular in Romania, the guide used for the discussions (guide which was
developed for facilitating the group discussions) was very useful because via
the questions oriented to the main subject – visual learning – allow the
responders to report their own experience.
The main findings results from these group discussions are:
Adults, due to their need for centralising the information, for quick learning,
due to the need for getting a high quantity of information need to use visual
methods in learning process.
Adults – regardless of the fact that they attend directly education – via
training courses – or they try to accumulate knowledge needed for their
socio-professional life, need that information to be structures and sent in a
schematic way
Adults based their learning process on previous experiences (When a new
information is received adults try to associate it with pre-existing
information. In this situation visual can have an extremely important role
because by visual learning the information can be synthesised/ highlighted by
schemes, symbols, images and maps.)
The learners considered that some” methods” used in the learning process, are
more useful for them than a concrete material which must be read and learnt.
These “methods” are: using video recordings, handling the learning objects,
visualizing the learning objects, making a scheme of the content of learning,
figuring different situation in a learning context, highlighting the text, using
maps.
3. Recommendations and Implications for Second Language
There has been a longstanding interest among second and foreign language
educators in research on language and the brain. Language learning is a natural
phenomenon; it occurs even without intervention. By understanding how the brain
learns naturally, language teachers may be better able to enhance their
effectiveness in the classroom.
Brain research confirms what we know from education research: that educators
must make provisions for individual differences in learning styles by providing
alternative grouping arrangements, instructional materials, time frames, and so
on. Instruction for beginning language learners, in particular, should take into
account their need for context-rich, meaningful environments. Individual
differences in learning style may not be a simple matter of personal preference,
but rather of individual differences in the hardwiring of the brain and, thus,
beyond individual control.
The understanding of the brain is continually evolving, thus the researchers’
interpretation of the implications of findings from brain-based research for
teaching and learning also continually evolve. Brain research cannot prescribe
what teachers should teach, how teachers should organize complex sequences of
teaching, nor how teachers should work with students with special needs.
Teachers should not abandon their traditional sources of insight and guidance
when it comes to planning effective instruction. They should continue to draw on
and develop their own insights about learning based on their classroom
experiences and classroom-based research to complement the insights that are
emerging from advances in brain research.
Source:
http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/0012brain.html
Compiled by Simona Gitu and Carmen Balaban, Fiatest, Romania
Contacts:
Project-coordinator:
Deutsches Institut für Erwachsenenbildung (DIE)
German Institute for Adult Education (DIE)
Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 38 53113 Bonn
Germany
T (+) 49 228 3294-306
F (+) 49 228 3294-399
Contact person: Monika Tröster
Website: www.die-bonn.de/visual
Partner:
FiaTest Bucharest
FiaTest Group
Str. Transilvaniei 24
Sector 1 Bucharest
Romania
T (+) 40 21 312-1347
F (+) 40 21 312-2106
Contact person: Simona Gitu
Website: www.fiatest.ro
Instytut Technologii Eksploatacji
Państwowy Instytut Badawczy (ITeE-PIB)
Institute for Sustainable Technologies
National Research Institute
ul. Pulaskiego 6/10
26-600 Radom
Poland
T (+) 48 48 3644-241 ext: -205
F (+) 48 48 3644-760, 36447-65
Contact person: Malgorzata Kacprzak
Website: www.itee.radom.pl
National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA)
76 Lower Gardiner Street
Dublin 1
Ireland
T (+) 353 1 8099-191
F (+) 353 1 8555-475
Contact person: Fergus Dolan
Website: www.nala.ie
www.literacytools.ie (adult literacy
learning and tuition website)
Atrium
Research & Innovation Ltd
The Reflexion Foundation
Hofdwarsweg 12
6161 DD Geleen
The Netherlands
T (+) 31 46 4106-374
F (+) 31 46 4106-375
Contact person: Joost Thissen
Website: http://www.atriumbv.nl
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