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Week 3: Effective Learning Strategies Enhanced by Digital Tools

Keisha Morris

Southeastern Oklahoma State University

EDUC 5103: Intro Learning Technologies

Dr. Kate Shannon

May 23, 2024

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Week 3: Effective Learning Strategies Enhanced by Digital Tools

The goal of educators has long been to elicit knowledge and learning from students.

While teaching may not imply learning, learning is the desired outcome of teaching. In the digital

age and in the face of asynchronous learning, the desired outcome has not changed. Instead of

looking at the rise of technology as a hindrance to education, it is essential that it be looked to

as having the transformative potential of combining effective learning strategies with life skills

necessary in this current age of technology. By combining the five effective learning strategies

discussed in How People Learn II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures (2018) with inspiration from

Mark Gura’s article Fostering Student Creativity (2020) educators can align their pedagogy with

the Triple-E Framework (Kolb, 2011) to ensure that the outcome of teaching is the acquisition of

knowledge.

Five Effective Learning Strategies

According to How People Learn II, there are five strategies that have shown promising

effects on enhancing learning and the acquisition of knowledge. They are:

 Retrieval Practice

 Spaced Practice

 Interleaved and varied practice

 Summarizing and drawing

 Explanations: elaborative interrogation, self-explanation, and teaching

These five learning strategies have been widely recognized for their effectiveness in

enhancing student learning. Retrieval practice involves actively recalling information, which

strengthens memory and helps promote long-term retention. Spaced practice, which spreads

learning over time, combats the tendency to forget newly learned information and promotes

sustained learning. Interleaved and varied practice mix different types of problems or materials

to help students practice skills and concepts in a variety of ways to promote retention.
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Summarization and drawing encourage students to condense and visualize information.

Explanations, whether through elaborative interrogation, self-explanation, or teaching require

learners to process and express their knowledge and strengthen their comprehension.

Application to Fostering Student Creativity and Triple-E Framework

Integrating the five promising learning strategies with educational technology, as

highlighted in Gura’s article “Fostering Student Creativity,” not only enhances learning outcomes

but also nurtures creativity by providing dynamic and interactive ways for students to engage

with content. Gura states that “creativity is a quality that successful individuals will need” (Gura,

2020, p. 7). Implementing technology in the classroom with emphasis on the five learning

strategies will not only promote creativity and learning, but it will address the Triple-E framework

by enhancing lessons, engaging students, and extending skills to beyond the classroom (Kolb,

2011).

In “A Whole New Class of Art,” Victor Rivero discusses the transformative potential of

technology in arts education—a concept that can promote the learning strategy of drawing by

combining it with technology and design (Rivero, 2020, p. 12) Rivero mentions programs that

can foster creativity, such as “Book Creator,” a tool students can use to create original works or

produce summarizations of longer texts. The programs mentioned by Rivero can easily be

paired with many of the learning strategies to create an environment where students can

express creativity and synthesize their knowledge while continuing to learn valuable skills

(Rivero, 2020, p. 14).

Connections to ISTE Standards

Fostering student creativity with learning technology and implementing the five learning

strategies aligns with the ISTE Standard for Students 1.1: Empowered Learner. This standard

stresses the importance of students taking ownership in their learning process by using

technology to effectively demonstrate their understanding and creativity. This standard paired

with retrieval practice, spaced practice, interleaved and varied practice, summarizing and
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drawing, and explanations in a technology-rich environment will cause students to become

empowered to initiate their learning experience. They will learn to leverage digital tools to

access, evaluate, and utilize information effectively which will enhance their critical thinking

skills and problem-solving abilities. Not only does this support acquisition of knowledge, but it

also cultivates students’ capacity to adapt to new challenges.

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References

Gura, M. (2020). Fostering Student Creativity. EdTech Digest the State of the Arts, 7.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2018. How People

Learn II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures. Washington, DC: The National

Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/24783.

Rivero, V. (2020). A Whole New Class of Art. EdTech Digest the State of the Arts, 12-20.

ISTE (2024, January 1). ISTE Standards: For Students. Iste.org. Retrieved May 22, 2024, from

https://iste.org/standards/students