| microLESSONS are IT-based
instructional materials that are used to teach specific objectives. They are
small and specific units of instruction for teachers to use within lessons.
The microLESSONS developed span many curricular content areas, and are suitable
for supporting a wide variety of learning outcomes. The majority of the microLESSONS
are student-centered materials that incorporate various computer features
(e.g. animation, graphics, sound, interactivity) that will enhance the teaching-learning
process. |
|
We can now classify these microLESSONS
into five types:
1) Resource-based
In this approach, various links to the WWW can be established and students will
access the web sites to collect information, facts, opinions and then synthesize
them or compare the different viewpoints.
2) Problem-based
microLESSONS can now be used to present "instructional problems" in a multimedia
fashion through which activities can be formulated and where students can be engaged
in the process of investigation and problem-solving. For example, a video-clip
of a water shortage problem in Singapore can be presented and students would be
made to undergo a scientifically sound investigative process where possible causes
and solutions found.
3) Case-based
Another more generic approach besides the problem-based method is for a "case"
or scenario to be presented to students through the microLESSONS. Through such
an approach, students would have to consider the learning situations and the problems
associated with it. From the considerations of problem-identification, students
can then be made to determine the possible solutions and alternatives. Through
the process, students need to access other resources most possibly from the WWW.
4) Collaborative-based
In this approach, students can be asked to work collaboratively or in pairs to
undergo an instructional activity presented intentionally in the microLESSONS
to be jointly worked through. For example, tasks can be assigned to different
individuals and they work on different pieces of the "puzzle" and later come together
to co-construct the entire "jig-saw puzzle". Because microLESSONS can be linked
to other applications, the possibilities of different kinds of co-construction
tasks can be varied and many-fold.
5) Simulation-based
Finally, microLESSONS can also be used to create simulations where students can
observe particular phenomena and learn from the processes and the variables that
will affect the simulated actions. Again, because microLESSONS can be linked to
Java applets (for example) and other applications such as the geo-meter sketchpad,
simulations become a reality.
|
| In the second generation
microLESSONS, the learning paradigm has shifted from knowledge transmission (as
in the 1st Generation lessons) to one which allows students to explore, construct
and create knowledge through various computer-based learning activities. Generally,
these microLESSONS consist of two parts. In the first part, students are presented
with some multimedia instructional materials and these could be in the form of
an ill-defined problem, a case study, a scenario, or a situation. In the second
part, the students may access some linked documents that requires them to be involved
in some form of higher order activities such as generating possible solutions,
solving complex problems, accessing the web to collect information, exploring
a simulation or to collaborate on a piece of work. |
