Questions to be Addressed:

● Who is Edgar Dale?

● What is the Cone of Experience?
● Is the Cone of Experienced based on
previous theories?

● What are mis-conceptions of the

Cone of Experience?

● How can the Cone help instruction?

 Verbal Symbols

Edgar Dale (1900-1985) served on The Ohio ● Two types

State University faculty from 1929 until 1970. Written words – more abstract
He was an internationally renowned pioneer Spoken words – less abstract
in the utilization of audio-visual materials in
instruction. He also made major research ● Examples:
contributions in the teaching of vocabulary and
testing readability of texts. Jeanne S. Chall, Discussion
an OSU Ph.D. graduate who went on to become
a leading innovator in reading research. Perhaps
Professor Dale's most famous concept was called
the "cone of experience," a graphic depiction of
the relationship between how information is
presented in instruction and the outcomes for
learners.

- Take from the Ohio State University Website Explanation/lecture

http://ehe.osu.edu/edtl/about/tradition.cfm#dale
 Visual Symbols

● No longer involves reproducing real situations

● Chalkboard and overhead projector the most widely Edgar Dale was born in a small rural town in North
used media Dakot on April 27, 1900. He received a Bachelor’s and
● Help students see an idea, event, or process Master’s degree from the University of North Dakota through
● Examples: correspondence courses. In 1920, he graduated with a Ph. D.
from the University of Chicago. Dale has always worked in
Diagrams Chalkboard some facet of education. He has worked as a public school
teacher and as a superintendent of schools in Webster, North
Dakota. As an educational, Dale developed the Cone of
Experience and made many contributions to audio and visual
instructions. Consequently, writing three books dealing with
Audio-Visual Methods in Teaching.

Dale was an active and participating member of many

organizations. He had a strong profession presence with the
Division of Audiovisual Instruction of the National Education
Association, the Educational Film Library Association, and
the National Society fer the Study of Educational and a
number of others. He has also received many awards for his
work and accomplishments. Edgar Dale was a leader in the
areas of reading, journalism, and the field of instructional
Chart technology. When Dale passed he was a professor of
education at Ohio State University where he worked in
communication
 Symbolic Experiences

● Very little immediate physical action

● Difficult only if one doesn’t have enough direct

experience to support the symbol

● Used at all levels of the Cone in varying

importance
“Our experiences vary
according to the degree in ● Involves

which they involve us physical ▪Visual symbols

or in thought” ▪Verbal symbols

 What is the Cone of Experience? Recordings, Radio, and Still Pictures

 First introduced in Dale’s 1946 book, Audio-
Visual Methods in Teaching
 Designed to “show the progression of learning
experiences” from the concrete to the abstract
(Dale (1969) p. 108)
▪Can often be understood by those who cannot
read
▪Helpful to students who cannot deal with the
motion or pace of a real event or television
 Examples:

Time Life Magazine Listening to old radio broadcasts

 Principles of the Cone Motion Pictures

• The cone is based on the relationships of various
educational experiences to reality
• The opportunity for a learner to use a variety or
several senses
● Can omit unnecessary or unimportant material
● Used to slow down a fast process
● Viewing, seeing and hearing experience
● Can re-create events with simplistic drama that
even slower students can grasp

• Each level of the cone above its base moves

learner a step further away from real-life experiences

Importance of the Cone

• Determines the resources how far it is from real-

life situation

• Determines what kind of experiences you want to

provide your learners

• Determines how many senses can learners use in

interacting the resources

• Dertermines how can this resources augment verbal

& symbolic representation
 Educational Television and Concrete vs Abstract Learning
Motion Pictures
Concrete Learning Abstract Learning

Television • First-hand experiences • Difficulty when not enough

previous experience or exposure
to a concept

● Bring immediate interaction with events from • Learner has some control
around the world over the outcome
● Edit an event to create clearer understanding than • Every level of the Cone uses
if experienced actual event first hand abstract thinking in come way

• Incorporates the use

● Examples: of all five sens
 TV coverage of 9/11
Mis-Conceptions of the Cone

• All teaching/learning must move from the bottom to the

top of the Cone.
• One kind of experience on the Cone is more useful than
another
• More emphasis should be put on the bottom levels of the
Cone
• The upper level of the Cone is for older students while the
lower levels are for younger students
• It overemphasizes the use of instructional media
Influence on the Exhibits
 Cone of Experience

• Hoban, Hoban & Zisman’s Visual Media Graph ● Something seen by a spectator
● Value of educational technology is ● Two types
based on their degree of realism
• Jerome Bruner’s Theory of Instruction
• Three levels in the learning process
 Enactive-direct experience
 Iconic-representation of experience ● Ready made ● Home-made
 Symbolic-words or visual symbols
● The process of learning must begin in concrete • Museum • Classroom project
experience and move toward the abstract if • Career fair • National History
mastery is to be obtained. Day competition

Intentions of the Cone of Experience

• Dale (1969) wrote that

 May lead to a more useful way of thinking
about audio visual materials and their
application in the classroom
 The levels of the Cone are interactive
 As one moves up the Cone there is not
necessarily an increase in difficulty but
rather an increase in abstract thought

Study Trips Misrepresentations of the Cone

  Watch people do things in real situations
 Observe an event that is unavailable in the
classroom
 Examples:

Class trip to Washington D.C. Study trip to Fort Santiago in

Philippines

Levels of the Cone of Experience Demonstration

 • Visualized explanation of an important fact, idea, or
process
• Shows how certain things are done
• Examples:

How to play the piano How to lift a fingerprint

 Enactive – direct experiences

 Direct, Purposeful
 Contrived
 Dramatized
 Iconic – pictorial experiences
 Demonstrations
 Study trips
 Exhibits
 Educational television
 Motion pictures
 Recordings, radio, still pictures
 Symbolic – highly abstract experiences
 Visual symbols
 Verbal symbols
Iconic Experience on the Cone Direct and Purposeful Experience

● Direct, first hand experiences

● Progressively moving toward greater use ● Have direct participation in the outcome
of imagination

● Successful use in a classroom depends on ● Use of all our senses

how much imaginative involvement the
method can illicit from students ● Examples:

 Involves:
Working in a homeless shelter Tutoring younger children
 Demonstrations
 Study trips
 Exhibits
 Motion pictures
 Educational television
 Radio, recordings, and still pictures
 Contrieved Experiences Dramatized Experiences

 Models and mock-ups ● Reconstructed experiences

 “editing of reality” ● Can be used to simplify an event or idea to its
 Necessary when real experience cannot be used most important parts
 or are too complicated ● Divided into two categories
 Examples ● Acting – actual participation
(more concrete)
● Observing – watching a dramatization
take place (more abstract)

Mock up of an globe to show the Skeleton as a mock up it ● Dramatized Expeiences can range from the
maps and the different countries the different joints and formal plas, pageants to less formal tableau,
bones pantomime, puppets and role-playing