Active Learning

What is active learning?

Active learning is an appropriate way for children to develop vital skills and knowledge and a positive attitude to learning. It engages and challenges children’s thinking using real-life and imaginary situations. Active learning supports learners' development. For example, they can develop as:

• Successful learners through using their imagination and creativity, tackling new experiences and learning from them, and developing important skills including literacy and numeracy through exploring and investigating.
• Confident individuals through succeeding in their activities and learning about bouncing back from setbacks.
• Responsible citizens through learning to share and give and take, learning to respect themselves and others, and taking part in making decisions.
• Effective contributors through tackling problems, extending communication skills, taking part in sustained talking and thinking, and respecting the opinions of others.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of active learning?

Active learning have pros and cons however as per my experience, active learning engage a greater range of students in effective learning and it positively affects the attitude of students toward self and peers in the learning process. It can build community within the classroom.

Advantages of Active Learning

• Children have more opportunity to be independent learners.
• Studies have shown that children’s attention fades fast after 15-20 minutes – getting them involved and talking to their peers reenergizes them and ‘resets’ the attention clock.
• Children get involved and engaged in activities that helps to keep them interested and focused.
• Children usually find such activities energising and are likely to engage in more.
• Peer support and peer learning: Collaborative activities (such as group work, pair work or triads) provide children with opportunities to learn from and support each other.
• By sharing knowledge and experiences, by being encouraged to take a different perspective on a particular topic children may learn to reflect critically on the things they do and say.

Disadvantages of active learning 

• These activities will take up class time.
• It takes time and effort to create good activities. 
• It is difficult to know if one student is doing all or none of the work in a group/pair work/triads. 
• May be difficult to organize active learning experiences.