User blog:Thenoblerook/Reflecting on the Module Task EDU 300

What worked well? What would you do differently next time?
I think that upon reflection of my activity, it worked fairly well for an activity that would work for a classroom of basically any age. The large takeaway from the activity is probably that I need to make sure that when using Memrise we incorporate good and effective formative assessments that work towards keeping all students on track. I talked a lot about using my project to tailor the learning to each individual learner, but I realize that sometimes there are requirements that are non-flexible and keeping all students within a reasonable scope of each other is a difficult task with such a broad and open-ended piece of technology as Memrise.

What, if anything, do I want to learn more about?
Time management! How much homework is good? How much is pushing the students to become better prepared for the next class, and how much is burdensome and unhelpful? How long is too long for an assignment, and should we rethink time management with our new technological tools? For example, since Memrise lets students move at their own pace, should we allow more leeway on how long students have to reach their own goals, or should we be pushing the students to complete goals together? Time management isn't something that usually comes up outside of a classroom, but I can imagine that it could become a huge nightmare if a teacher doesn't prepare enough material for all students.

How else could we use Memrise?
When it comes to Memrise, the biggest thing it has going for it is diversity in learning abilities. It can teach using sound, pictures, memorization, and speech. It allows students to set personal time goals, and a leaderboard to see where they are compared to other people worldwide. It allows certain words to be ignored that are already well known, and allows review of any words when needed. How else could we use Memrise?

I think the better question is when do we stop using Memrise? Although Memrise is a beautiful tool in the hands of a knowledgeable educator- we must also resist the temptation to rely too heavily on the tool in absence of other activities and formative assignments. Real social interaction is still a foundational part of any good lesson, and the real challenge with a tool as great as Memrise is being willing to take control of a classroom and give more traditional activates interspliced with the application. I know- pretty ironic when speaking about a technology class, but I think it's true. Every single student will approach learning in a different way, and some ways will be more successful than others. By allowing students to share ideas with each other, they are also sharing ways of solving problems of understanding which will hold them back over time.

But yeah, I'm totally going to use Memrise in my classroom when given the chance. Just try and stop me!