Group 4 Technologies - Interactive Learning Object

This entry was an open ended response and after looking through the readings I found one technology that caught my eye. An Interactive Learning Object is a resource available online from a variety of sources that allows students and teachers to participate in learning experiences that may be otherwise too difficult or expensive to provide in the classroom. Being the nerd that I am the link to Froguts immediately drew my attention. Froguts is an Interactive Learning Object that provides virtual dissections on a variety of animals, insects and plants. The full version is available via subscription but a basic demonstration is provided on their website.

Let me just start by saying that even this basic demonstration was huge amounts of fun! I wasted a lot of valuable study time virtually dissecting a poor little frog and I don’t regret a single minute of it.

Now down to business. Aside from just feeding my curiosity I also chose to investigate this particular Learning Object because I feel that it, and other programs like it, help students follow Dimensions of Learning 2 – Acquire and Integrate Knowledge. DoL2 is primarily made up of two parts as we should all know; declarative and procedural knowledge. A Learning Object allows students to acquire information and concepts while also demonstrating processes and skills. For example; the Froguts program shows the theory information underneath the image of the frog, students must read and comprehend this information (declarative knowledge) in order to correctly follow the dissection steps (procedural knowledge). Students cannot advance to the procedural stage in the program without acquiring the declarative knowledge and this is where I feel that an Interactive Learning Object has an advantage over its real world counterpart. If students were performing dissections in the lab some could easily skip ahead without properly acquiring any declarative knowledge at all. Hopefully the screen shot below is clear enough to demonstrate my idea, if not, please follow the link at the end of this post and try out the demo. 

This Interactive Learning Object is clearly intended for use in a Science or Biology class but other programs of its kind are available for other subjects. The Moodle site lists another interesting Object called “Darfur is Dying” where students must perform tasks as a Darfur refugee living in a camp. This type of activity would have the most impact in a S.O.S.E or Civics class or used in conjunction with an English novel study about refugee life. In either subject area the Object can expose students to the realities of life for refugees and increase their understanding of those groups.  

Now that I have had my fun dissecting a frog, here is a SWOT table on the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of the Interactive Learning Object.

Strengths -       Students can engage in learning experiences with minimal cost or inconvenience. Distance or disadvantaged students would especially benefit from this. -       They are detailed and engaging. -       Activities can be conducted as part of a class or individually. -       Caters to a variety of learning types.	Weaknesses -       Most Objects are available through subscription only. -       Students may see the Object as a game rather than a learning experience and therefore not take the information seriously.
Opportunities -       Allows students to build skills and use knowledge meaningfully. -       Engages a variety of students. -       Promotes student/teacher relationships as students can view themselves as working ‘with’ the teacher instead of ‘for’ them.	Threats -       It may be difficult or expensive to find an Object specifically related to the topic being covered.

As always, stay wonderful!

Froguts - Dissection Demo