Essential Point Two

Essential Point Two:

Experiential Learning (CSILE, Wikis, & WebQuest)

Experiential learning involves reflecting on one’s experience to generate and continually update an action theory that guides the effectiveness of one’s actions. In contrast, procedural learning involves conceptually learning what a skill is and when it should be used, and then practicing the skill to eliminate errors in its execution until an automated level of mastery is attained. Both experiential learning and procedural learning can be enhanced through group collaboration using electronic communications. Experiential learning in the classroom that utilizes CSILE, Wikis and WebQuests allows students to literally experience instructional materials in ways that were not imagined twenty years ago. Students have moved from the realm of passive “recipients” of information to the active “creators” of information. They are writing and publishing their own textbooks, their own documentaries, their stories. Since students now have ownership of their education, it becomes an authentic and memorable experience. That ownership is reinforced in their educational communities, it promotes trust and becomes an empowering experience for individual students and develops group identity.