3250 - Presentation Review: Learning from Mistakes

Learning from one's mistakes is such an exceptional tool for deeper learning. I have never thought about it as an instructional strategy, but I was so happy to see it in Jennifer Aarestad's Prezi presentation on learning strategies. Jennifer made some great points on learning from our mistakes, including the way it requires a change in mindset from problem to opportunity, and the way both learners and instructors have responsibilities in capitalizing on this technique.

Jennifer's presentation was interesting and engaging in its functionality -- having to switch between frames gave adequate time to read and process each point, and the lateral movement with zoom and wide angles was visually appealing. I liked the construction metaphor as well, as her topic was fundamentally about tearing down and rebuilding our thoughts and ideas around making mistakes.

There were some punctuation errors that stood out for me in this presentation -- apostrophes are for possessives and contractions! -- and this can be a bit distracting, though not everyone would notice.

I really enjoyed the video on the My Favourite No technique -- what a great way to teach and test a technical, finite subject like math in an engaging, creative way. Thanks for that recommendation. I could definitely see myself using this technique in some way, or at least using its essence to address errors and gauge overall learning and teaching progress.

Here is the video. Spend five minutes and take a peek!