Blog 6: Affordance Analysis & the 5th Design Principle
Blog 6: Affordance Analysis
& the 5th Design Principle
As I understand it, Affordance Analysis is like a comparison
chart where the Possibilities of a tool are compared to the Constraints (what
it can’t do). Fill in the blank, “I need
something that will ______.” This is a
direct reflection of the 5th design principle, “Good learning
designs reflect technologies chosen after mindful consideration…” Design, in and of itself, requires a lot of
reflection on what goal is hoped to be reached, what skills are needed, what
authentic activity would help students to learn in a meaningful way. Now we’re reflecting on the piece of
technology (or multiple pieces?) that would fit with the goal in mind.
I enjoyed the “play” activities from class! Although I didn’t find either tool/technology useful for my situation, it helped me to understand what the affordance analysis was about. Who would use this? In what situations? What limitations are there? Etc. I must say, if I had the money in the budget, the little Ozobots would be fun for students to use. The programming involved certainly uses problem-solving and creativity!
I feel that this principle, as with the others,
is reminding me that careful design is about thinking ahead. Really thinking through the process of lesson
design. I would like to have a week to
prepare, (with nothing else on my plate), then have students experience the
lesson/activity, and then reflect on that experience and plan the following
week. That would be ideal. In lieu of that, I am taking baby steps
toward adding some design to my plans!I enjoyed the “play” activities from class! Although I didn’t find either tool/technology useful for my situation, it helped me to understand what the affordance analysis was about. Who would use this? In what situations? What limitations are there? Etc. I must say, if I had the money in the budget, the little Ozobots would be fun for students to use. The programming involved certainly uses problem-solving and creativity!
Time is always the biggest struggle. It does seem like the Powers That Be are starting to listen to the constant feedback from teachers about wasteful professional development days. At least in my school, we've had fewer times where the PD was a long, extended, heard-this-before you're-wasting-my-time seminar. We are slowly getting more time to plan with the professionals that we actually work with, and it is such a huge help. The shift towards PBL and the culture of creating with technology really does require we spend much more time carefully thinking about what it is we need to accomplish, how we want to get there, and what tools will have the best positive affordances.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that finding time is the biggest challenge. With all of the standards and mandates, teachers simply cannot consider affordance analysis on a consistent basis. I think you are on the right track with the plan of thinking ahead. Effective design will certainly take some front loading in terms of considering tools as well as learning goals. Overall, we are certainly limited by the amount of time we have to carefully consider all of the affordances of a given tool.
ReplyDeleteIt seems time is a common thread that all of us keep coming back to. We have all of these wonderful ideas and we all know the power that these project based learning experiences have for our students. But, we're still strapped--lack of planning time, little time to collaborate inter-disciplinary, and strenuous pacing guides. With that said, my goal is to take bits and pieces where I can and incorporate these design strategies and keep building each year until I get projects that I love. Then, once those are created, I'm sure it'll be time to update and change again as new students and new technologies come about. :)
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