Neuromyths
The neuromyth that learners can be categorized as either left-brained or right-brained was really interesting. I had also previously heard about this concept both during school and from friends and relatives. It is true that this idea is being highly recognized in public and even being treated as fact to describe different types of students/learners. It is surprising to see that although the two brain hemispheres serve distinct functions, there is no evidence suggesting that a thinking style is completely dependent on one of the two hemispheres (OECD, n.d.). In fact, they function together to perform the tasks we encounter in our daily lives.
PowerPoint Activity
When preparing for the PowerPoint activity, I decided on choosing a topic that is interesting and hopefully attractive. To ensure that the content is informative, centralized, and following the best practices as mentioned in the PowerPoint TED talk, I chose to focus on one particular branch of Asian food culture. Through building the PowerPoint, I had the opportunity to experience the application of multimedia principles (i.e., the segmenting principle and the dual coding theory) and how different types of media work together to form valuable and effective content. I also faced some challenges during the process, which includes trying to keep content precise, clean and deliver key messages as well as finding the right balance between different types of multimedia. Feel free to visit the following file for the PowerPoint.
Non-digital Multimedia
Apart from the commonly seen digital multimedia tools, I also had the chance to experience non-digital multimedia in previous primary and secondary academic/learning facilities. This usually takes place in traditional forms such as poster making to visualize ideas or design and conducting in-person group discussions. Some benefits I find with the traditional materials include higher engagement with other learners and more focused participation on the learning subjects. Some apparent drawbacks of this would be a limited visualization ability and less flexibility than portable digital tools.
References
Free licensed images taken from https://unsplash.com/
OECD Neuromyth 6 http://www.oecd.org/education/ceri/neuromyth6.htm
2021-05-22 at 11:06 pm
Hi Leo, cheers for sharing your thoughts on this weeks blog topic! Your image of choice to depict the two parts of our brain is quite illustrative of how the two sides of our brain can function, so thank your for sharing. Encountering digital media tools has also been part of my early education experiences, and one I believe to be an important one. Early learning of how and why these tools can be used has certainly helped with my use of them in post-secondary experiences. In our ever-changing world being prepared to use technology, be they traditional or novel, in learning, professional, and any other context is important to communicate in effective and accustomed fashions. I also enjoyed going through your PowerPoint on Asian Hotpot, though it made me consider the last time I was able to enjoy it… probably well over a year ago. I liked the dark background and lighter text, which made the whole presentation visually easy to go through.
2021-05-23 at 9:35 pm
Great to see you working in some multi-media into your posts. Really like including Non-digital Multimedia too. Such a huge part of especially primary grades but all the way remains important.
2021-05-25 at 7:37 pm
Hi Leo, thank you for sharing your thoughts on Neuromyths, PowerPoint creation, and other non-digital multimedia! The neuromyth of left-brained and right-brained learners brought people wondering what types of learner they are, but I agree with your idea that the whole brain function together to deal with our daily tasks. I like the PowerPoint you created, which is clear, concise, and easy to follow (seeing you applied some of the learning theories). I love Asian Hotpot as well. It is great to see that you mentioned non-digital multimedia as well, which reminds me of creating posters in my elementary school.