This quote is attributed to the Chinese philosopher Confucius (551 BC – 479 BC). More than 2500 years later, it illustrates a fundamental idea still relevant in education today: Learning needs exchange, and learning needs applicability.
Learning by doing is a term frequently and casually used in everyday life. For example, a child learns to ride a bicycle by simply practicing, or an office workers improves at using their word processing software by exploring previously unused features.
While it’s clear that some skills can be learned through practice, others have natural limits. For instance, no one would agree to train future pilots by simply letting them fly a plane without sound initial preparation.
On the other hand, learning by doing depends heavily on previously acquired skills, including the ability to self-observe, self-correct, and have a clear goal in mind.
This module from the Remoking self-training material for teachers focuses on ‘Learning by Doing’ in remote settings. Can ‘Learning by Doing,’ particularly in vocational training, be effectively facilitated without the physical presence of learners in a classroom or workshop?
Let’s find out!”
With the following self-learning material for teachers you will work through:
In the following self-learning material for teachers, you will work through:
Reflection on Learning by Doing
Think of a Class (Learning Group) You Currently Teach
Integrating Learning by Doing into remote training requires, above all, creativity when designing tasks. The “doing” can range from learners reproducing simple routines to independently completing complex projects without teacher guidance. What follows are descriptions of various Learning by Doing environments in remote settings. These examples come from different fields of vocational training and aim to inspire creative approaches to offering Learning by Doing activities in your remote classes.
To provide structure, we present and discuss these cases along three dimensions:
Extremely simple:
Reproducing predefined processes
Generally / in the classroom
In remote settings
Extremely complex:
Work out complex processes independently
Generally / in the classroom
In remote settings
Thinking of the subject you teach:
Please formulate one simple and one complex task for your learners.
Use the structure “Preparation/Implementation/Follow-up”.
Thinking of your typical learners
What level of complexity should the task have for your learners?
Why?
Simulation only:
Role play & simulation environments
Generally / in the classroom
In remote settings
Doing real work:
Work in practice
Generally / in the classroom
In remote settings
Thinking of the subject you teach:
Low level
Using equipment commonly available
Generally / in the classroom
In remote settings
High level
Using specialised equipment of the trade
Generally / in the classroom
In remote settings
Thinking of the subject you teach:
Thinking of your typical learners:
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them. Project number: 2022-1-SE01-KA220-VET-000087462