In reading Grainne Conole (2008), Describing Learning activities: Tools and Resources to Guide Practice, Routeledge, I began to reflect more critically on the aspects of the nature and way that we put e-technology to the students and the ways in which we expect them to interact with it and with others while using it (technology).
It is clear to see that the similarity of the concept of the Laurillard taxonomy are essential and beneficial for both educators and students. The Laurillard Taxonomy and that devised by Conole is defined as six clear areas:
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assimilative tasks
(essentially given in nature such as reading, viewing or listening)
-
information handling
(such as getting students to gather and classify resources from the Web or manipulate data in a spreadsheet)
-
adapative
(where students are engaged in using modelling or simulation software)
-
communicative
(in terms of engaging in a range of dialogic activities, such as pair dialogue group based disucssions);
-
productive
(where the students actively construct an artefact such as a written essay, roduction of a new chemical compound or creation of a sculpture);
-
experiental
(such as practicing skills in a particulr context or undertaking an investigation)
This taxonomy does provide a useful checklist which, in turn allows us, to identify individual componenets invovled in the ctreation of learning activities. However, Conole also states that to create the learning activities necessary to stimulate students the “practitioner have to make complex decisions about which tools adn theories to use”. Although the aobve gives a good outline of how to acheive and the tasks requried, it does fall short in that most of the criteria could be described as compnent based approach. Therefore, a holistic methodology still has to be identified and integrated into the six idea taxonomy.
The above steps could be utilised fairly well in relation to emerging and takign those baby-steps within the Musicworks Department. The above would allow for integration of the children from satellite centres throughout Scotland on a wider scale which could be enhanced and adopted to suit the needs of the children and the centre in which they learn. I am emerged in thought about this and the potential that this offers for each satellite site.
However, my affinity with Musicworks may end should I continue to be down heartened on other fronts within the management frontline.
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