4. Prior or Everyday Experiences are important in learning process (Understanding requires time and evolves continuously)

As Hannafin stated, personal beliefs, experiences and conceptual schema support the current, as well as provide the foundation for new understanding.  Contemporary researchers and theorists suggest that understanding is facilitated when derived from rich, hands-on experience (APA, 1992; Linn &Muilenburg, 1996; National Science Teachers’ Association, 1993; Perkins,1991).

Experience enables the learner to reshape and revise ongoing theories in-action based upon personal sense-making efforts. Background context influence the choices learners make in the environments,and the types of goals they set.

Understanding is viewed as a process that continuously and dynamically evolves, as ideas are generated, expanded, tested, and revised (Land & Hannafin, 1996, )

OLEs often utilize problem contexts related to learners’ everyday experiences. Personal understanding evolves through hands-on, concrete experiences involving realistic problem posed or induced through OLEs.

        *** The tool that I can think of  in Web 2.0  is blog, where I can track my own experiences. From the day I took this course, I began to write down the questions coming out during learning every day. Some questions appeared repeatedly while others were answered, revised, then new questions are raised as my understanging goes further. From my daily note, I  have a clear idea what I have achieved in the learning process.

         ***What kind of Web 2.0 tools can help students to connect prior experience with learning new knowledge and How to create contexts accessible to students' everyday experiences with a certain Web 2.0 are queations into which I need to explore.

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