Technology and Multiple Intelligences
Nine intelligences (Howard Gardner)
Students learn through…..
• Verbal-Linguistic (word smart): speaking, reading, writing, and listening
• Logical/Mathematical (number smart): numbers, reasoning, and problem solving
• Visual/Spatial (picture smart): visually and tend to organize their thinking spatially
• Bodily/Kinesthetic (body smart): physical activity and any kind of movement
• Musical/Rhythmic (music smart): sounds and other types of auditory expression
• Intrapersonal (self smart): metacognitive practices such as getting in touch with their feelings and self motivation
• Interpersonal (social smart): interaction with other people through discussions, cooperative work, or social activities
• Naturalist (nature people): interactions with the environment including outdoor activities, field trips, and involvement with plants and animals
• Existentialist (wondering people): seeing the “big picture” of human existence by asking philosophical questions about the world
Eight Intelligences (Richard M. Felder and Barbara A. Soloman)
• Active/Reflective
• Sensing/Intuitive
• Visual/Verbal
• Sequential/Global learners
“Technology can be used to facilitate learning in each intelligence area. There is no "right way" to integrate intelligences or technology into the classroom. The key is to provide the most effective learning environment for students.”
As many researches goes on, there must be various categories of multiple intelligences. Teachers try to find out the way to meet students’ needs based on multiple intelligences. As Robert asked above, while reading the articles, I wondered: Should we teach with one dominant learning style of each student, or should we expose students to other learning styles and make up for the weak areas?
In my opinion, teachers should try to find out the most effective learning style of each student and teach students with a teaching style suitable for each learning style. However, as Vinicius quoted above, teachers should strive for a balance of instructional methods. Teachers need to expose students to other learning styles, but they don’t need to force students to make up for the weakness.
In addition, although other ways or tools can help teachers and students, there is no doubt that technology must be powerful and intelligent tool which gives us various opportunities for education.
Sources:
-Tech tools that support multiple intelligenceshttp://eduscapes.com/tap/topic68.htm
-‘Learning styles and strategies’ By Richard M. Felder
http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm
-‘Do technology based lessons meet the needs students learning styles?’ By Dara Rosen
http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec596r/students/Rosen/Rosen.html
-Learning styles online quiz - learn about your own learning stylehttp://www.open2.net/survey/learningstyles/
-Sailing the 5 C's with Learning Strategies: http://www.nclrc.org/sailing/
Great post Alex, I could easily remember key points afoter reading your post, it serves as a nice summary for some of the discussions going on. I will stick with that idea that it is nice to leave the comfort zone sometimes so that we and students do not become"handicapped"in other areas. You have wisely pointed that it should not be forced but it is alwyas good to experiment with some novelty. Sometimes, by offering students different tasks that involve different abilities, they might even discover ways they did not believe they could learn. I like to use myself as an example because I had many pre-conceptions about distance learning but nowadays I think I can actually learn a lot through virtual interactions. I used to think I learned better by studying alone reading a book, but for some reason I guess I learn better when I have the chance to interact with other people and we share our ideas and reflections. This could be the case of many students and they will never discover their limitations if they are not given a challenge or variation in learning styles.
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