Short description

Experts are interviewed by a group about a certain topic, a municipal issue, a project, or something similar.

Process description

1. The moderator welcomes the participants and the experts and opens the event with a few words. He/she also gives a brief overview of the process and procedures.

2. Now the experts get to speak, introduce themselves and briefly introduce the subject (about 5-10 minutes) from their perspective.

3. Thereafter, the participants ask the experts questions. They can ask questions prepared earlier but can also form new questions on the spot. Each question is answered immediately. The moderator ensures that the experts respond to the question asked and don't wander from the subject. Participants have the right to ask follow-up questions until they get a satisfactory answer.

4. The moderator (clearly) writes keywords from questions and answers on a wall paper or on index/prompt cards (long cards for questions, rectangular cards for answers). Written cards are hung on a pinboard for all to see. This creates a parallel shared log, which all can see and which makes it easier to stay with the central theme of the discussion. In addition, this ensures that no valuable tidbits or ideas are lost.

5. After the questioning round, a discussion often develops. This should be scheduled accordingly.

Required resources

• Large sheets of paper for wall

• Three to five pinboards and pins (or scotch tape)

• Rectangular and elongated index/prompt cards

• Thick felt-tip pens

Comments

Without prior preparation, an expert questioning activity makes little sense, and it should thus be carried out only after appropriate preparation (e.g. literature review or internet research).

PSI: https://psi.methopedia.eu/learning-activity/expert-questioning

Kurzbeschreibung

Mit dieser Methode wird die Beantwortung von Fragen im Stile einer Reportage oder Befragung geübt.

Ablauf

1. Jeder Teilnehmer erhält oder erarbeitet einen Fragebogen zum gestellten Thema.

2. In der anschliessenden Fragerunde sucht sich jeder einen Interviewpartner und sammelt Antworten zu den Fragen.

3. Auswertung zu den Interviews und den thematischen Inhalten.

Benötigte Tools und Materialien

Offline:

• Fragebogen

• Stifte

Online:

• Webkonferenzsystem

• Telefon

Kommentare

Falls es möglich ist, schaffen Sie etwas Platz zum Herumlaufen. Die Befragung könnte auch im Freien durchgeführt werden, wenn es das Wetter erlaubt. Die Auswertung kann im ersten Schritt in kleinen Gruppen erfolgen.

Quellen

• www.aktivierendes-lehren.de

PSI: https://psi.methopedia.eu/learning-activity/roving-reporter

Short description

In role reversal participants have a chance to facilitate group discussions by taking up the role of a course facilitator. At the same time, the facilitator participates in all of discussions in the role of a learner (commenting, asking questions, answering, etc).

Process description

1. Learners are divided into groups (8 - 15 people).

2. To each of the groups, a leader is assigned (one of the given group members).

3. The facilitator creates either disscussion forum or chat room for the activity.

4. The facilitator emails each of the participants with the information about the activity, expectations of the facilitator and a list of learners from a group a given learner has been assigned to.

5. The course facilitator informs the learners that their peers will facilitate the activity.

6. The chosen facilitators have one or two days to prepare.

7. When they are ready, synchronous or asynchronous discussions on a given subject(s) begin. The "real" course facilitator also takes part in discussions.

8. At the end of the activity, each of the chosen group facilitators post at least three things they learned due to the experience of being the online course facilitator.

Required resources

• discussion forum or chat

Comments

In this activity, also pairs or groups can play the role of a facilitator.

PSI: https://psi.methopedia.eu/learning-activity/role-reversal

Short description

The roleplaying method can be used in preschool, school, and adult education. An issue relevant for the group (possibly conflict-creating) is presented by having participants play relevant roles. This method should be used mainly when it goes about fostering facets of actions and taking live-action observer positions. This method can especially develop the perception, empathy, flexibility, openness, cooperation, communication, and problem-solving skills.

Process description

Preparation:

• Set the subject.

• Clarify the roles. Check whether each player is clear about their role.

• Set observation criteria and assign the monitoring tasks.

Playtime:

• Identify yourself with your role.

• Perform the play without interruption. Evaluation phase

• Finish your role.

• Evaluate the play thoroughly.

Examples of evaluation points:

• How did the players feel?

• Were the roles adhered to?

• Which behaviors and sentiments of the players appeared pleasing or displeasing?

• Were the arguments to the point?

• How were the language, facial expressions, gestures used?

• Have you become aware of your own attitudes or views?

• Which denouements were relevant to decision making? What quality had the decision making?

• What are the implications for the future behaviour of the players?

Required resources

• Text with description of the setting

• Role cards

• Observation sheets

Examples

This method can be utilized, for example, when forming a company. Let's assume that four friends want to start a business. They have options to create a limited partnership, general partnership, public limited company, or corporation. After students acquire enough information about the different types of business entities, they discuss the matter with each other while playing different roles. The discussion should cover respective advantages and disadvantages of each types of business entity.

At the end, a decision is made, if possible, what legal form the company should use. Finally, a the groups reflects about the roleplaying and does a repeat using different members of the group.

Comments

The roleplaying is not about the solution that ultimately emerges but about the way of arriving at that solution. Therefore, the evaluation of the roleplaying is as important as the roleplaying itself.

PSI: https://psi.methopedia.eu/learning-activity/role-playing

Short description

A guided activity for getting to know members of a group.

Process description

At the beginning of a session, all participants introduce each other with the help of their key chain. They say their name, show their keys, explain what they are for and tell some stories about themselves or the significance of the keys. They may also explain in which way the key is related to the topic of the seminar.

Required resources

• key chains

Examples

"My name is Uwe. This is the key to my bicycle chain, which is very important to me because I am an avid cyclist. I ride my bicycle to improve my fitness."

Sample 1:

Sample 2:

Comments

If participants do not have a key chain, they can refer to their keys from memory or use other objects to describe. For example you can ask your students to describe the clothes they are wearing at the moment or the content of their bags or pockets.

For on-line: you can ask your students on forum, chat or videoconference to describe ojects on their desks or in the room they are sitting. Facilitator should encourage participants to talk about the personal significance of the objects rather than just naming or describing them.

PSI: https://psi.methopedia.eu/learning-activity/round-of-keys

Short description

RSS (Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary) is an Internet tool, which allows you to send out summaries of what’s new on a website in the form of headlines and summaries.

Process description

Using this you can send out information from your website and have the recipients see it, even if they haven’t visited your website today. A series of RSS publications from the same source is called an "RSS feed". RSS feeds are commonly seen on websites that update often, like news sites or blogs. To read an RSS feed, you will need an RSS reader of some kind. It can be a standalone program, or a part of an internet browser or email program.

If you use RSS for learning, it is useful to have access to a website that updates on a somewhat frequent basis and with an RSS set up. The students will need an internet connection and an RSS reader to be able to subscribe to your website. When the RSS is set up, the updates on the website can automatically be sent out to the RSS subscribers who will be able to see the updates without needed to keep an eye on your website. This is extremely useful when it comes to sudden updates, like rescheduling of classes or similar urgent administrative messages.

It is also possible to use RSS as a news collector, by setting up a subscription to several different RSS feeds and collecting information from these. This allows both teacher and student to gain an overview of the field covered by the RSS feeds. It is important to choose the relevant RSS feeds that match the course and materials that the students could want to use.

RSS can also be used to make the students into the RSS authors. By having each student create their own RSS feed and have them subscribe to each other, to form a collaborative network where both students and teacher share RSS updates about the subject at hand. This is similar to using social bookmarks, but with RSS, the students are not just finding material to share, but actively creating it. Some blogs have a built in RSS feed generator, which can help with the technical parts of it.

Required resources

You need computers and an internet connection. An internet server with RSS enabled is also helpful to have, or some kind of blog software with RSS built in.

Comments

The image on this page is provided as an illustration only, and is not an actual active RSS feed.

This example is developed in relation to the two EU projects COMBLE (https://www.comble-project.eu/)

PSI: https://psi.methopedia.eu/learning-activity/rss

Short description

The Internet is an enormous collection of answers. The challenge is to find them. Scavenger hunts help students discover how diverse this information resource truly is. Through scavenger hunts students also gain experience harnessing the Internet and strengthening Internet browsing skills. Developing a scavenger hunt is one method teachers can use to teach academic concepts and teach navigation skills to students.

Process description

1. The teacher develops a series of questions and gives the student a link to the URL that will answer the question.

2. The teacher may take the following steps:

   1. Identify an idea/concept that he/she would like to reinforce or introduce.

   2. Search for web sites that reinforce/introduce the concept.

   3. Develop questions that may be answered at the site.

   4. Save it to a web site, put it on the computer, or give students a paper handout.

3. The students use the information found at the web sites.

Required resources

Computer, Internet

PSI: https://psi.methopedia.eu/learning-activity/scavenger-hunts

Short description

Simulations are a useful teaching strategy for illustrating a complex and changing situation.

Process description

Simulations are used to put the student in a "real" situation without taking the risks. Simulations are meant to be as realistic as possible where students are able to experience consequences of their behavior and decisions. Simulations are commonly used in social studies and science but can be used in other curriculum areas.

Computer simulations are quite common in today"s virtual world.

Simulations are a useful teaching strategy for illustrating a complex and changing situation. Simulations are (necessarily) less complex than the situations they represent. In a simulation, the learner acts, the simulation reacts, the learner learns from this feedback. For the students to learn what you intend for them to learn from the simulation, you must hold a discussion during and/or after the game. This is integral to the students" learning. Practicalities have to be explained before the simulation and outcomes debriefed afterwards.

PSI: https://psi.methopedia.eu/learning-activity/simulation

Short description

Based on the 6 Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono this activity helps people see a problem from different angles with the idea to take a good decision to solve a situation. Each hat is a different style of thinking.

Process description

The members of a group will wear at same time the same hat. All of them will look at the problem from the same perspective.

Wearing the hats in turns, each member will give their opinion from the thinking had perspective:

• White hat: they will focus on the data available

• Red hat: they will look at the decision using emotions. Trying to guess how people will react emotionally.

• Black hat: this is pessimistic thinking, why ideas might not work

• Yellow hat: this is the optimistic point of view. At this time all the participants will think about the possible benefits, opportunities and value of the decision.

• Green hat: this is the hat for creativity, all the creativity solutions are welcome during this thinking time.

• Blue hat: this is more related to control and planning.

Required resources

The facilitator could bring the hat or he or she could ask participants to build the hats in this case they will need materials for that.

Examples

A general manager of a company has the idea to build a new building for the office. The financial situation is good in the company and they really need more space. So he could use the 6 Thinking Hats to chose the best course of action.

PSI: https://psi.methopedia.eu/learning-activity/thinking-hats

Short description

Social bookmarking is a way to share internet bookmarks with others. They work more or less like the bookmarks in a web browser, except you share them for others to see and use.

Process description

Like standard web bookmarks, the social bookmark is only a link to the content, not the content itself. To create a social bookmark you create an account on a social bookmarking website, and start adding links to your profile. Usually, these social bookmarking sites will have a plugin for your web browser to make this easier to do.

Social bookmarking for learning can be used in a setting where all the students subscribe to the teacher’s bookmarks and get all the links and references that the teacher adds. That way, everyone has the same links and online materials. Expanding on that, the students can make bookmarks of their own and share them with each other, creating a social bookmarking network. This network can be used to find many websites relating to the subject and can become a solid collection of information.

By subscribing to each other, you can share interesting sites with each other and help each other catch useful web links that you might otherwise have missed. This can also be useful in an administrative fashion where if you find something that would be useful to someone else, you can social bookmark it.

You can also add so-called "tags" to you links. With the tags, your bookmarks become easy to find both for you and the people you share it with as it’s possible to search for these tags, both on your own and others’ profiles. It is also possible to subscribe to other people’s bookmarks, allowing you to instantly see when they add a new link to their profile.

Required resources

You will need an internet connection and an account on at least one social bookmarking website.

Comments

This example is developed in relation to the two EU projects COMBLE (https://www.comble-project.eu/).

PSI: https://psi.methopedia.eu/learning-activity/social-bookmarking