WEEK 9: MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES AND LEARNING STYLES

         

           This week, I have read Learning and teaching styles in foreign and second language education . I have also read Technology and MultipleIntelligences. I discovered through both articles that Howard Gardner of Harvard university identified different types of intelligences. I have also learned that these different types of intelligences in the class can be addressed through technology. Never before these articles have I heard about different types of intelligences. Not even at the teacher’s training college. My attitude towards my learners is changing since I have read these articles. I am now observing them very closely to see if I can identify their favorites learning styles. However, I am more interested in how to address these different learning styles in my class. Therefore, I have based my final project on technologies which can allow me to address different learning styles.

          My project aims at using technology for finding quality web resources for teaching economic theories. Eslprintables.com allowed me to design flash cards for demonstrating barter in a role play. This warm up activity is aimed at raising the interest of “picture smart” learners in the class at the start of the course in the project. Then I found, with the help of Delicious.com, a printable version of “a new coat for Anna” which I shared to students. Learners who are more sensitive to text based resources will thus understand the concept of barter by associating it with the real life situation presented in the story. The worksheet which accompanies the text has been produced with and has been downloaded from Google Docs Form. It is there for helping  logical learners understand barter through activities which require reasoning and problem solving skills. Finally, in the post reading activity, instead of asking students to write about the difficulties of barter, I will ask them to dramatize in groups the sequence of events which led to the production of Anna’s coat. In this role play project, students will be required to record their own performances with their mobile phones for peer assessment during project preparation. The role play will eventually be performed in front of the class. This will not only reinforce students autonomy, but also engage kinesthetic learners in the class.