Cone’s Dale of Experience is a model that incorporates several theories related to instructional design and learning processes. The cone is based on the relationships of various educational experiences to reality (real life). The opportunity for a learner to use a variety or several senses (sight, smell, hearing, touching, movement) is considered in the cone. Direct experience allows us to use all senses.
Dale's Cone of Experience
CONE OF EXPERIENCE is a visual model meant to summarize Dale’s classification system for the varied types of mediated learning experiences.
People generally remember :
10% of what they read,
20% of what they hear,
30% of what they see,
50% of what they hear and see - video,
70% of what they say and write ,
90% of what they say as they do something.
Interpreting the Cone
The cone is based on the relationships of various educational experiences to reality (real life).
The bottom level of the cone, "direct purposeful experiences," represents reality or the closest things to real, everyday life.
The opportunity for a learner to use a variety or several senses (sight, smell, hearing, touching, movement) is considered in the cone.
Direct experience allows us to use all senses.
As you move up the cone, fewer senses are involved at each level.
The cone is based on the relationships of various educational experiences to reality (real life).
The bottom level of the cone, "direct purposeful experiences," represents reality or the closest things to real, everyday life.
The opportunity for a learner to use a variety or several senses (sight, smell, hearing, touching, movement) is considered in the cone.
Direct experience allows us to use all senses.
As you move up the cone, fewer senses are involved at each level.
Sensory channels possible in interacting with a resource, the better the chance that many students can learn from it.
The original labels for Dale's ten categories are: Direct, Purposeful Experiences; Contrived Experiences; Dramatic Participation; Demonstrations; Field Trips; Exhibits; Motion Pictures; Radio; Recordings; Still Pictures; Visual Symbols; and Verbal Symbols.
The experiences included in the cone are:
- Direct, purposeful experiences: An ounce of experience is better than a ton of theory
- Contrived (plan, invent) experience: Real thing cannot be perceived directly, its simplification becomes necessary. Working model which is an editing of reality, imitation is preferred for better and easier understanding.
- Dramatic participation: certain real events presented through play.(puppets)
My opinion:
Cone’s Dale Experience designed to show the progression of learning experiences from the concrete to abstract.
Concrete learning:
- First-hand experience
- Learner has some control over the outcome
- Incorporates the use of all five senses
Abstract learning:
- Difficulty when not enough previous experience or exposure to a concept.
- Every level of the cone uses abstract thinking.
- First-hand experience
- Learner has some control over the outcome
- Incorporates the use of all five senses
Abstract learning:
- Difficulty when not enough previous experience or exposure to a concept.
- Every level of the cone uses abstract thinking.
So, what does the cone mean for instruction?
- Dale taught teachers that they should help their students learn how the media effect us, and to critically evaluate it.
- Teachers must evaluate the benefit of the learning and the amount of time required in the lesson.
- How to effectively use instructional media to helping students move from concrete to abstract thought.
Cone’s Dale of Experience related to ICT:
As we know Cone’s Dale of Experience is a model that incorporates several theories related to instructional design and learning processes. We can use ICT in our teaching process. Because by using ICT, we can apply experiences to reality (real life). For example, we ask our students to design power point presentation. Automatically, our students can apply their experiences about it through reality (design power point presentation) and it will be presented by them in the classroom. Another example, we can ask our students to create a blog like we do now. By creating a blog, they can use it to interact with each other. So, they can build the experiences to reality. They don’t just learn the theories but they can practice it.
