Puppetry Exercises With Musical Choral Speech Are a Tool to Enhance Memory and Learning Proficiency

Today, there are many brain exercise programs online that expect the client to have the motivation and interest to stay focused with an often tedious program. Many are random visual figure exercises to learn a series of images. The various types of visual and listening memory are not often over-viewed, and, what is presented are visual memory exercises that are difficult to complete for both the learner and instructor.

What is obviously missing from this paradigm is the crucial "listening-auditory memory" facet. Researchers have long written that auditory memory must couple with visual memory for the learner to understand or comprehend new information. Auditory/listening memory exercises must accompany the visual ones, and obtain effective results in the process.

This challenge becomes a complex measurement and evaluation process to discover what is effective and works with all learning levels and capabilities. Following years of test-train-testing iterations, puppets have been found to be an engaging, differentiating tool.

To teach rapid auditory-visual memory, and to make the training palatable and exciting, I engaged a family of historical vaudevillian ventriloquist puppets that taught sequential learning to children age 9, up to the adult learner, who appreciated "the Charlie McCarthy - Edgar Bergen retro Hollywood radio days".

Puppet characters must be carefully chosen as actors are for a play. Becoming an effective learning tool, we can learn from speaking puppets, but only when uniquely presented, are programmed effectively, and engage the learner. Students are taught how to interact and respond effectively.

Subsequently, it can not be "any puppet, with any instructional purpose, or with any filmed procedure", but should have a specific rationale and lesson objective in mind.

Puppet characters offer the following beneficial qualities:

1) They offer a non-threatening, stress free, fun-like presence, and can become a "family affair" for the learning process. The learner remains in an abstract "one-up" position. Although they can challenge your capabilities to the next level, they do not intimate. When they back-talk, you are not personally offended, as they have become your friend.

2) Their messages are rapidly understood. For example, they have been used in political cartoons and comic strips for decades.

3) Their vocal intonations penetrate the memory system for learning new material.

Always be selective when reviewing various memory exercise options. There must be a specific, time-and trial-tested inherent methodology, especially when engaging puppetry as a learning tool.

Specifically designed exercises, according to scientific cognitive theory practice, can improve our memory uniquely and easily. We can learn visual and auditory factual names, words, and sequential memories, as in learning technical procedures, having jumped past outdated, rote memory systems.

And, if we find that if we utilize puppet characters, and find that they give us "guff" as we learn new information, we really do not mind!

Can Mobile Earning Help to Enhance Student Motivation?

The mobile learning movement is gradually beginning to grow. Learning in educational institutions (and even studying at home) has the potential to be engaging with the integration of mobile resources. And as a result of this, mobile learning is becoming exceedingly popular. It was documented by Ambiant Insight that the US market for these goods had produced an amazing $958.7 million this season. Not only this, but they predicted the growth rate to be 13.7% for the next five-years, proving that the movement will continue to expand as more and more folks begin to understand its benefits.

A number of reports have suggested that mobile learning can help students to be a lot more motivated and consequently improve their efficiency. It introduces a new type of studying, different from the conventional tasks including producing paperwork, reading from your textbook, etc. This kind of variety within a learning course will increase the level of student motivation.

This prediction was tested by a State University in Ohio. Research was conducted into college student perceptions associated with mobile learning and it was found to have a beneficial effect. Pupils felt that it made the tasks set seem easier and 'more fun' which eventually resulted in an increase in quality of their work. However some folks still have reservations about how efficient it could be as a learning resource.

You will find there's is still a stigma around using phones in the classroom. Educators as well as parents have a bad assumption, reinforced by institution policy, that mobile devices are a distraction to learning as opposed to an aid. Nevertheless, this opinion is not universal. Diana Laurillard, the head of Education and learning believes that motivation is actually a key aspect of mobile learning. She went on to say 'It is clear that individuals working with mobile devices enjoy the process' which she put down to aspects like student control over their own ambitions. Not only this, but it is very easily obtainable. Students have the ability to complete tasks wherever they are. If students are aware that they can completed their work without being fixed to their desk, they would become more likely to do so.

A study by Tsinghua University in Beijing furthermore indicated an improved enthusiasm throughout students using mobile technology, but in this case the causes for the improved motivation were different. Because teachers submitted content on forums and sent e-mail to individual students, there was a more in-depth student-teacher relationship that was seen as the reason behind the increase in motivation. However, many cynics depict it to be a resources which too entertainment- based as opposed to educational: and these ideas will need to be addressed before mobile learning is able to reach each classroom.

Once more people realize the benefits, the trend of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) can move from only being applicable within the work place, to also being highly relevant to classrooms. This is already going on. For example, earlier this month the BBC reported of a school in Newport which lifted a prohibit on mobile phones as a way of 'embracing technology for learning'. The school documented that it had been 'working well' and that the time had come that schools caught up with the technological trend.

It is time for more educational institutions to follow the example set by this school and ensure they are keeping up with the most up-to-date technology to provide educational content thats relevant to our contemporary society. In doing so, student motivation will rapidly improve which would undoubtedly also help students overall learning progress.

Problems With Mobile Learning - And How They Can Be Overcome

One of the main difficulties with mobile learning apps is the possibility of pupils getting preoccupied. Mobile phones are generally banned in classrooms as they have the potential to divert students' attention. The number of apps along with games on mobile phones is constantly increasing. This causes concerns both for parents and teachers that if mobiles were allowed, they'd be abused. An article published by the Telegraph newspaper recently discussed Ofsted's plans to prohibit phones in classrooms altogether. Sir Eileen Wilshaw, chief inspector of the education watchdog described the 'low-level disruption' in sessions caused by mobile interruptions (cell phones ringing, college students texting, playing games etc.) as being the 'bigger issue' which stops effective studying. This was met by backlash from people who thought this idea was old-fashioned, considering how mobile learning might be beneficial and also complementary to classroom studying. What App builders need to give full attention to is making sure that content is interesting and engaging and so will sustain students' concentration and prevent use of their mobile phone for other purposes.

A great way to ensure student retention is by using badges and accomplishments for individuals to gain in order to keep these motivated. Moreover, you need to ensure hat the content is shown in an exciting format together with sounds and graphics. This assists to keep students interested, and so less likely to stray away from the content.

It is also seen by a lot of that people that the articles provided on the mobile devices are way too entertainment-based to actually end up being educational. This really is difficult for mobile app companies as they need to somehow get the right stability between the app staying fun and engaging (to prevent distraction) while keeping the target on learning.

The ideal set up would be to use images and sounds (as mentioned above) so the app is exciting but with the main basis being firmly instructional. This can be done by ensure that there are no gadgets, gimmicks or mini-games involved, keep it purely educational!

Another obstacle in the field of m-learning is ensuring that content is relevant. There's many internet test sites and e-learning apps available which people are able to use to learn, however a lot of the content on these sites and programs is irrelevant as well as too generalized. Learning with an app should be succinct and tied to what the student actually should know in accordance with the syllabus or an upcoming examination.

It would therefore be useful to have mobile learning apps where the content can be customized. For example, where the teacher/parent can produce and tailor-make their own learning content making it specific for their students, and thus avoid anything unnecessary as well as off-syllabus.

Generally fresh mobile understanding apps tend to be adapting to overcome the damaging myths around mobile studying. As the field develops, these challenges are becoming less relevant causing more people to view m-learning as a viable and effective learning device.