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Technology That Enhances Kinesthetic Intelligence
by Dee Dickinson



Learning through technology is a highly active and interactive process when used appropriately. Computers rely mostly on eye-hand coordination for their operation--keyboarding and the use of the mouse or touch-screen. This kinesthetic activity reinforces learning and makes the student an active participant in the learning process.

The popularity of video games is due to the total engagement of the player and skillful physical response to the challenges. Games such as "Pong" and "Breakout" were among the first to demonstrate the appeal of this kind of technology. Later, "Tetris" was designed by Alexey Pajitnov, a Russian mathematician, researcher in artificial intelligence, and member of the USSR Academy of Sciences; it is now published in Apple software. It demands fast decision-making and hand-eye coordination, along with quick testing of hypotheses. Undoubtedly, it is these action-packed challenges which engage students who might otherwise be bored in conventional math classes even though they call for the same kind of spatial and logical thinking.

Programs such as "Lego Logo" offer ways to connect the computer to external manipulatives, such as Lego blocks with gears, wheels, and motors. Starting with these, students can invent innumerable kinds of machines to control through computer programs they develop themselves.

Other kinds of programs that combine kinesthetic activity with the development of analytical thinking are Broderbund's "Science Toolkit" and IBM's "Personal Science Lab." The student creates physical or scientific experiments, the results of which are analyzed and displayed on a computer screen. These are just the beginning of a whole new series of computer programs that are connected to physical activities.

Some computer simulations enable students to experience events seldom encountered in everyday life. Observing and responding to nuclear plant malfunctions, emergence of new life forms, operation of different vehicles or machines, or the passage of geological epochs provide students with enriched classroom experiences.

"Electronic field trips." may not involve the physical body, yet students feel as if they are actually exploring the depths of the sea or the inside of a volcano as they accompany researchers in areas where very few can go. Recently, classrooms of students, linked electronically to explorers investigating the tectonic plates in the depths of the Mediterranean, were able to communicate with the scientists, ask questions, or request the viewing of areas or objects more closely. The students were almost there.

For teachers interested in learning about microcomputer simulations, software reviews can be found in The Computing Teacher and Electronic Learning. Additionally, the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory located in Portland, Oregon publishes a review entitled Microsift that contains software ratings generated by teachers who have used the programs.

Multi-media technology also involves much actual physical activity as information is gathered from databanks, books, and photos, as new information is generated by camcorders, and finally as all of it is pieced together electronically through hypermedia programs such as HyperCard or LinkWay. Needless to say, the production of filmed plays or dance programs also involves and exercises kinesthetic intelligence.

Shirley Ririe and Joan Woodbury, co-directors of the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company in Salt Lake City, have found exciting uses of technology in teaching dance. They enhance dance with computer-generated slide images or have a camera operator videotape and instantly edit a performance) while projecting the edited version on screens behind the dancers. This kind of collaboration among choreographer, recorder, and dancers creates a whole new dance form. Dramatic productions are also making use of these combinations of technology and physical activity. For example, in a recent production of Macbeth a hologram (a laser-produced image which seems to hang in the air) of Banquo appeared with the live actors on-stage.

At a time when technology makes it very easy to become a passive observer or only a recipient of information, it is not only possible but also essential for students to become actively engaged in learning, as these foregoing examples demonstrate.



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© 1998 New Horizons for Learning and America Tomorrow, Inc. Permission for excerpt granted to America Tomorrow, Inc.

Page created April 2, 1998