EDUCATIONALTECHNOLOGY 1

The Cone of Experience

“The Cone is a visual analogy, and like all analogies, it does not bear an exact and detailed relationship to the complex elements it represents.”

-Edgar Dale

What is the Cone of Experience?

What are the sensory aids in the Cone of Experience?

What are its implication in teaching?

First introduced in Dale’s 1946 book, Audio-Visual Methods in Teaching.

Designed to “show the progression of learning experiences” (Dale

(1969) p. 108) from the concrete to the abstract

The Cone of Experience

Concrete Abstract

EARTH

Direct and Purposeful Experience

Direct, First hand Experience Have a direct participation in the outcome Use of all our senses

Contrived Experience

Models and mock-ups

“editing of reality” Necessary when

real experience cannot be used or are too complicated

Dramatized Experience

Reconstructed experiences

Can be used to simplify an event or idea to its most important parts

Divided into two categories Acting – actual participation

(more concrete) Observing – watching a

dramatization take place (more abstract)

Demonstration Visualized explanation

of an important fact, idea, or process

Shows how certain things are done

Watch people do things in real situations

Observe an event that is unavailable in the classroom

Field Trips

Something seen by a spectator

Two types Ready made Home-made

Exhibits

Bring immediate interaction with events from around the world

Edit an event to create clearer understanding than if experienced actual event first hand

Can omit unnecessary or unimportant material

Used to slow down a fast process

Viewing, seeing and hearing experience

Can re-create events with simplistic drama that even slower students can grasp

Educational Television and Motion PicturesTelevision Motion Picture

Recordings, Radio and Still Pictures

Can often be understood by those who cannot read

Helpful to students who cannot deal with the motion or pace of a real event or television

Visual Symbols

No longer involves reproducing real situations

Chalkboard and overhead projector the most widely used media

Help students see an idea, event, or process

Verbal Symbol

Two types Written words –

more abstract Spoken words –

less abstract

The Cone of Experience is a visual model, a pictorial device that presents bands of experience arranged according to degree of abstraction and not degree of difficulty. The farther you go from the bottom of the cone, the more abstract the experience becomes.

People always think differently. Some may think in concrete terms and some in abstract terms. Concrete thinking refers to the thinking on the surface whereas abstract thinking is related to thinking in depth.Read more: Difference Between Concrete and Abstract Thinking | Difference Between | Concrete vs Abstract Thinking http://www.differencebetween.net/language/difference-between-concrete-and-abstract-thinking/#ixzz3f5hiHSMx

Different kind of sensory aid often overlap and sometime blend into one another.One kind of sensory experience is not necessarily more educationally useful than another. Sensory experiences are mixed and interrelated

Too much reliance on concrete experience may actually obstruct the process of meaningful generalization.

The best will be striking a balance between concrete and abstract, direct participation and symbolic expression for the learning that will continue throughout the life

Do not use only one medium of communication in isolation.Rather use many instructional materials to help the learner conceptualize his/her experience

Avoid teaching directly at the symbolic level of thought without adequate foundation of the concrete. Learners’ concept will lack deep roots in direct experience.

When teaching, don’t get stuck in the concrete. Strive to bring our students to the symbolic or abstract level to develop their higher order thinking skills.

“These rootless experience will not have the generative power to produce additional concepts and will not enable the learner to deal with new situations that he/she faces” (Dale 1969)