Personal Learning

Each evening, I open my iPad while sitting at the piano. I go to YouTube, and find videos of people who offer intermediate level lessons on how to play the piano. There are many excellent tutors who share their techniques on ways to play jazz, blues, waltzes, country, ballads, rock and roll styles and classical music. Each of the videos last between 10-20 minutes. I watch the demonstration and then play the music in a similar style, thereby using action learning.

Of course, I make errors. So, I return to the video and play it again. I stop the video at the place where I was making the mistake and play that section until I can repeat it. Within about thirty minutes, I can see considerable improvement.

The reason for sharing this personal experience is that there is an important lesson for teachers and students. The process I am using reduces the gap between learning and doing.

Formal Learning

It is very different from the traditional approach, which involves learning to read music, and to play scales.  Both are important, but there is invariably a long gap between the lesson and the application. Therefore, the learning is slower. The approach I use gains a quick reward. There is satisfaction when I play the song as demonstrated on the video, which encourages further effort.

In some education formats, I have found the gap between gaining information and applying it, is too wide. For example, I have sat in many lectures that last forty minutes and more. Afterwards, there was no opportunity to apply the points raised. Therefore, the information given, however good, was wasted.

Four Levels

For piano, and other skills development, I now use the following process:

• Observation – by watching an example.
• Imitation – by copying the method.
• Replication – by practicing on a regular basis to reinforce the learning.
• Application – by performing.

I have found this process very helpful in my musical skills development. It has improved my confidence to achieve, as the time between learning and doing is reduced. I improved my skills at a quicker rate and gained far more satisfaction.

It is an example of action learning. Instead of trying to understand all the theory, I take action and play a few bars. I convert inputs into outputs very quickly.

This is very similar to the process we use when learning to speak our native language. That is achieved by observing and listening to the words used by our family and friends. By repeating those words and phrases, we gain feedback and develop confidence in conversing. This leads to the fourth stage, where we explore and innovate through applying our words to problem-solving discussion. 

Classroom Applications

This four step approach can be used to help students develop many skills including writing, maths, art, sport, singing, and other areas.

I have also developed applications to help students study other curriculum topics.

History – a five minute video is shown to students on a topic. An example is one that I created with colleagues on The Roman Invasion of Britain. After the video, students are assigned to groups of five or six members. Each group is designated as either Roman soldiers or British villagers. In their groups, they discuss:

• Romans – How will they control the British?
• British – How will they defeat the Romans?

This produces animated conversation. Each group then presents their views to the whole class. These processes develop team problem-solving skills as well as communication skills.

By observing the video, students gain knowledge on the issues. By taking on the roles, they can imitate how they perceive the participants would have behaved. They gain feedback through their discussions and presentations. The simulation encourages students to learn through socio-emotional involvement, not just memorizing and logical reasoning.

Geography – These processes can also be used to help students understand countries and cultures. I have worked with colleagues to develop five-minute videos that provide students with information for discussions. These are based on a virtual music group called the Can Do Kids Band, whose travels enable students to gain information for discussion.

In small groups of between four and six, the students share what they learn for about 20 minutes. They discuss what they would like to explore as a travel itinerary when visiting the country depicted in the video. While doing so, they develop categories of interest, including the environment, the cuisine, the culture, the language, and other aspects of the country being studied.

The speed at which students learn by sharing views in discussion with each other is impressive. Also, they improve their listening and problem-solving skills via teamwork. They can then follow up with virtual travel via the website – www.candokidsband.com

Summary

This approach can be applied in other forms of learning. Some language teachers use the approach to help students develop their understanding of a foreign language. However, some traditional tuition, such as the exercise of memorizing verbs and grammar, can separate the learning from the doing application.

As technology increasingly provides information at the press of a finger, the role of teachers is changing. The focus is more on the process to motivate and to engage students rather than the centre of knowledge.

Developing action learning to improve skills is the key priority. Helping students to understand the model of Observation, Imitation, Replication and Application, enables them to take more control over their own learning.

In this way, teachers and students can reduce the period between learning and doing.