M3

VAK learning styles are different approaches or ways of learning. Psychologists have developed ideas and theories of how people learn.   Educationalists have used these theories and put them into 3 categories which are visual, auditory and kinaesthetic these are aimed at allowing people to be more effective and efficient learners.

Visual learners:   

Visual learners learn through seeing and through facial expressions and body language.  Seeing detailed examples helps them absorb and memorize information. They use methods like these to learn:

v  Visual materials such as pictures, charts, maps and graphs

v  They find it easier to be able to see the teacher so they can see their body language and facial expressions

v  Use colour to highlight the important parts in text

v  Take notes or asks the teacher for handouts

v  Illustrates ideas by using pictures or brainstorming before writing it down

v  Write a story and illustrate it

v  Use multi-media (e.g computers, videos, and filmstrips)

v  Study in a quiet place away from verbal disturbances

v  Read illustrated books

v  Visualise information as a picture aid to memorisation

Auditory learners:

Auditory learners learn best through verbal lessons, discussions, and talking things through and listening to what they have to say. They also interpret meanings of speech by listening to tone, of voice, pitch and speed. They find it hard to understand written information until it is read out to them. They benefit from reading text aloud.  They learn through:

v  Participating in discussions/ debates

v  Make speeches and presentations

v  Using a tape recorder during lectures instead of taking notes

v  Reading text aloud

v  Creating musical jingles and mnemonics to aid memorisation

v  Use verbal analogies and story telling to demonstrate their point of view.

Kinaesthetic learners:

Kinaesthetic learners learn best through the hands-on approach by exploring around them. They find it hard to sit still for long periods, as they loose concentration and work best by doing multiple activities. They learn by using:

v  Bright colours to highlight important text

v  Listening to music whilst they study

v  Skim through text to get a rough idea before reading in detail

v  Work standing

v  Moving around and muli-tasking

v  Taking frequent study breaks

I have mostly used visual learning as im usually on a computer and listen to what I have to do from teachers. I use auditory learning when asking for help, or in media when doing presentations of my work  and kinaesthetic learning when I get distracted so I move around to get back into focus.

I am a visual learner, I find it hard to work with noise and i block out voices with music. I highlight and use brainstorming when im planning and when im listening to someone speak I look at facial expressions to help me figure out whether its positive or negative.

D1 - report on effective communication

In this report I am going to be discussing the different types of effective communication I have been using. These are:

v  Verbal communication

v  Use of blogger

v  Use of google calendar

v  Use of gmail

v  Watching demonstrations

v  Using word, powerpoint and publisher

v  Publishing images (print screens)

Firstly I am going to be looking at how I have used verbal communication, I used this when asking for help, having one-to-one with teachers and discussing the work with friends.  It was good that I could ask friends because when the teacher was busy or with other people in the class I could move on quicker. Although, it could be bad because sometimes your friends don’t describe in as much detail.

I used blogger to allow teachers to see my work and give me back the feedback I need to improve. It is very helpful because the work is all together and wont get lost. Teachers can see where your at and it gives them an idea of how your doing. Its good because you can access your work anywhere as its on the internet. Its not so good that it takes a while to upload it and name it and write about it.

I used google calendars to make a schedule of when I would learn my skills audit. It helped me stay on  track and kept me on task as I knew what I was doing each lesson. It is an effective way of proving what you learnt each lesson and also it can help you organise your time. Its good as you can access it anywhere online. Its not so good having to prepare and write everything down beforehand as it takes a while.

Gmail was used to receive the comments I had on my blogger from my teachers and friends, as it notifies me when I need to check my blogger. I also used it to send emails if I was doing work at home and needed help.

The teacher demonstrations made it a lot easier for me to understand what I needed to do and gave me an idea of how it was supposed to look in the end. Also everyone in the class got teacher broadcasts which go through to everyone’s computer and makes it easier to watch as its right infront of you. These are good because teachers can watch the students computer and make sure that they are not being distracted by other sites or that they are not messing about.

Using word, PowerPoint and publisher was very useful.  It made it easier to make my work more interesting and add colour.  They are very easy to make, export and use on blogger as images. It was good because it allowed me to separate specific topics and is easy to use.

Using printscreens are an easy way to show your work and what you have learnt. It means that you can show everything on your screen that your looking out and your tabs. Its also evidence to prove your work and get a better grade.

In conclusion I think that using these ways of effective communication have helped me learn a lot.