CHAPTER 5: DALE'S CONE OF EXPERIENCE

REFLECTIONS

Dale’s Cone of Experience is a visual model that is composed of eleven stages starting from concrete experiences at the bottom of the cone then it becomes more and more abstract as it reach the peak of the cone. Also, according to Dale, the arrangement in the cone is not based on its difficulty but rather based on abstraction and on the number of senses involved. The experiences in each stages can be mixed and are interrelated that fosters more meaningful learning.

After going through the different components of the Cone of Experience, it could be said that in facilitating learning, we can use variety of materials and medium in order to maximize the learning experience. One medium is not enough thus if we can take advantage of the other media. There’s nothing wrong with trying to combine several medium for as long as it could benefit the learners. Also, through the levels provided by the Cone of Experience, it could be said that concrete experiences must be provided first in order to support abstract learning.

Lastly, staying on the concrete experiences is not even ideal because through providing abstract experiences to the learner, the more he/she will develop his/her higher order thinking skills which is important for more complex way of thinking and for dealing with more complex life situations. Through understanding each component of the Cone of Experience, it could be said that Educational Technology is not limited to the modern gadgets that we have right now but rather it is a broad concept that includes all the media that we can use to attain balance as we facilitate effective and meaningful learning.

ILLUSTRATION

DALE'S CONE OF EXPERIENCE