Immersive Learning: Creating "an" Experience
I found the Dewayan perspective to be very fascinating and as I read the article it made me really question why I do different things in my classroom.
According the Deway, there are two types of experiences: ordinary experiences and "an" experience. Ordinary experiences are ones that occur continuously, they are part of the process of living, not composed into an experience and are often stopped because of some type of interruption. In your daily life these are things that occur but don't really affect your daily routine and perhaps are things that you didn't really learn anything from. In your classroom these would be considered assignments which are just done to be done. Students may not find a purpose to these types of assignments, or they may not find the connection between the assignment and an overall learning objective.
"An" experiences, on the otherhand, are those that are learned through experience not memorization. These experiences run their course to fulfillment and have a satisfactory solution. They are rounded in their process and they leave no blanks for the student. Think of a lesson that leads a student to a new a new revelation or a connection to a previously learned topic, this would be "an" experience. I think this is the idea behind something like Connected Math. You introduce a unit and through experiences students figure out something much bigger.
Technology can definitely have a great impact on "an" experience. Virtual reality can bring closure to an idea that is presented to a student that might have before left open doors in their mind. Technology will continue to enhance "an" experiences. We are moving so far away from the typical textbooks and paper and pencil assessments. Students can prove that they have learned a topic and come full circle in their learning using a technology assessment.
According the Deway, there are two types of experiences: ordinary experiences and "an" experience. Ordinary experiences are ones that occur continuously, they are part of the process of living, not composed into an experience and are often stopped because of some type of interruption. In your daily life these are things that occur but don't really affect your daily routine and perhaps are things that you didn't really learn anything from. In your classroom these would be considered assignments which are just done to be done. Students may not find a purpose to these types of assignments, or they may not find the connection between the assignment and an overall learning objective.
"An" experiences, on the otherhand, are those that are learned through experience not memorization. These experiences run their course to fulfillment and have a satisfactory solution. They are rounded in their process and they leave no blanks for the student. Think of a lesson that leads a student to a new a new revelation or a connection to a previously learned topic, this would be "an" experience. I think this is the idea behind something like Connected Math. You introduce a unit and through experiences students figure out something much bigger.
Technology can definitely have a great impact on "an" experience. Virtual reality can bring closure to an idea that is presented to a student that might have before left open doors in their mind. Technology will continue to enhance "an" experiences. We are moving so far away from the typical textbooks and paper and pencil assessments. Students can prove that they have learned a topic and come full circle in their learning using a technology assessment.
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