Module 5
Theories and Principles in the Use and Design of Technology- Driven Lessons
After going through the different components of
the Cone of Experience, we can use various materials
and mediums to maximize the learning experience.
One medium is not enough, so there’s nothing wrong
with combining several mediums for as long as it
could benefit the learners. Through the levels provided
by the Cone of Experience, it could be said that
concrete experiences must be offered first to support
abstract learning. Lastly, staying on the concrete
experiences is not ideal because providing abstract
experiences to the learner the more he will develop his
higher-order thinking skills which are essential for a
more complex way of thinking and for dealing with
more complex life situations. Through understanding
each component of the Cone of Experience, it could be
said that Educational Technology is not limited to the
modern gadgets we have right now. Still, it is a broad
concept that includes all the media we can use to attain
balance as we facilitate effective and meaningful
learning. To understand more about the Cone of
Experience, you may refer to this picture:
https://tinyurl.com/mr9bjxn6
Modes of learning in Cone of Experience
Edgar Dale introduced the Cone of Experience to
demonstrate a progression from direct, firsthand
experience to pictorial representation and purely
abstract, symbolic expression.
The Cone of Experience corresponds with three
significant modes of learning.
Enactive (direct experience) - Enactive or direct
experience involves practicing with objects (the
student ties a knot to learn knot-tying). The enactive
experience involves concrete, immediate action and
using the senses and body.
Iconic (pictorial experience) - Iconic experience
involves interpreting images and drawings (the student
looks at drawings, pictures, or films to learn to tie
knots). Iconic experience is once removed from the
physical realm and limited to two or three senses.
Symbolic (highly abstract experience)-
Symbolic experience involves reading or hearing
symbols (the student reads or hears the word “knot”
and forms an image in mind). In symbolic experience,
action is removed nearly altogether, and the
experience is limited to thoughts and ideas.
Some theorists prefer to be more specific and refer
to these possible modes of learning conditioned-
Conditioning refers to learning by pre-design or
control via a series of punishments and rewards.
Imitative – Imitation refers to learning tasks by
observation or modeling.
Trial and error – Trial and error refer to learning
via a series of successful and unsuccessful trials and
deliberations.
Investigative - Investigation refers to learning via
a series of informed hypotheses and inquiries into
problems.
Expansive learning - Refers to questioning the
validity of tasks and problems of a given context to the
transformation of the context itself.
Passive and Active Aspects of the Cone of
Experience
Although no experience is passive, iconic and
symbolic experiences are generally more tolerant than
direct experiences. Dale proposed that active and
passive modes of participation can be contrasted by
assigning a percentage of what we tend to remember
after two weeks after our experience.
The concrete and abstract aspects in the Cone of
Experience
The Cone of Experience invokes a bi-directional
movement from the concrete to the abstract and from
the abstract to the concrete. Dale’s theory suggests that
objects and the material culture of technology are mere
augmentations or media to be used in the learning
process. To fully empower teachers with a view of
practice in technology studies, technologies and
physical settings have to play a more active role in
cognition, emotion, and action.
Learning and Experiences: A Step model based on
Dale Cone of Experience
When Dale researched learning and teaching
methods, he found that much of what we found to be
true of direct and indirect (and of concrete and
abstract) experience could be summarized in a
pyramid or ‘pictorial device’ Dales called ‘the Cone of
Experience. In his book ‘Audiovisual methods in
teaching’ – 1957, he stated that the cone was not
offered as a perfect or mechanically flawless picture to
be taken literally. It was merely designed as a visual
aid to help explain the interrelationships of the various
audio-visual materials and their individual ‘positions’
in the learning process.
Dale points out that it would be a dangerous
mistake to regard the bands on the cone as rigid,
inflexible divisions. He said, “The cone device is a
visual metaphor of learning experiences, in which the
various audio-visual materials are arranged to increase
abstractness as one proceeds from direct experiences.”
In a true sense, the bands of the (Edgar Dale’s) cone
are not only the types of audiovisual materials, but the
different experiences are also included. The upper four
bands, verbal symbols, visual symbols, Radio,
Recordings, still pictures, and motion pictures, are
more related to Audiovisual materials. Still, the later
six bands of cone-like Exhibits, Field Trips,
Demonstrations, and Dramatic Participation, are
teaching-learning strategies.
Contrived Experiences and Direct, Purposeful
Experiences are related to the term Experiences. Each
division represents a stage between two extremes-
direct experience and pure abstraction as we move
from the base of the cone to the up in order of
decreasing directness. Similarly, if we move down
from the pinnacle of the cone in the order of reducing
abstraction. Based on my experience of teaching at
different levels, it was felt that there are many
experiences and audiovisual materials which are
missing in dale’s cone and to be included by making a
new model of experiences presented in the following
Step Learning Experiences model.
The base of the step learning experiences model is
a direct and purposeful experience that is always
preferable for any new learner and any learning
concept that gives firsthand experience, which leads to
permanent learning. At the top of the cone is verbal or
text. These are the least effective ways to introduce
new content to students. The step learning experience
model includes 17 different experiences.
Verbal Symbols
Verbal symbols are words, sentences, sounds, or
other utterances that are said aloud to convey some
meaning. The verbal symbol may be a word, an idea, a
concept, a scientific principle, a formula, a
philosophical aphorism, or any other representation of
the experience that has been classified in some verbal
symbolism.
Olfactory Experience
It is also called Aroma Experience; Aroma is a
quality that the olfactory sense can perceive. It is a
type of Experience where the learner can have a
concrete idea of an abstract thing through the sense of
smell.
Gustatory Experience
Gustatory is an adjective that refers to tasting or
the sense of taste; Gustatory has its roots in the Latin
Gustare, meaning “to taste,” It is a type of Experience
where the learner can have a concrete idea of the thing
or object or concept through the sense of taste. We can
taste real things, which may be in different forms
(sizes, shapes, and colors).
Tactile-kinesthetic Experience:
It is a type of Experience where the learner
can have the idea or the concept of the thing or object
through the sense of touch and feel; it is learning
through a hands-on approach, and learners will be
physically involved. The kinesthetic Learning
Experience is one of the modalities learners use to
approach and absorb new information. Kinesthetic-
tactile refers to a pupil who learns by movement and
by touching. This experience can be gained through
hands-on activities, manipulating objects or flashcards,
working problems, or re-typing notes.
Visual symbols
The visual symbol may be a picture or shape with
a particular meaning or representing a specific process
or idea. Something visible that by association or
convention represents something else that is invisible,
and something that represents or stands for something
else, usually by association or used to describe
something abstract. Visual experience has a rich
predictive structure.
Still Pictures, Radio, and Recordings:
This stage includes several devices that might be
classified roughly as “one-dimensional aid” because
they use only one sense organ, that is, either eye
(seeing) or ear (hearing). All these materials are less
direct than the audio-visual experiences.
Motion pictures, Television, and computers
These can eliminate unnecessary and unimportant
material and concentrate upon only selected points.
The critical processes can be watched in slow motion,
and vital content and issues can be repeated several
times. The pupils are mere spectators and are distant
from the experiences like touching, tasting, handling,
and feeling directly experiencing. Television’s
influence on language habits, vocabulary, consumer
patterns, cultural values, and behavior patterns should
not be underestimated. Research suggests that
television learning can enhance or improve the
learning pace. Present-day computers are compact,
extremely powerful and versatile, commonly
accessible, and easy to use. The computer has become
an integral part of our teaching process and daily life.
Students then simulate the lab experience using the
CAI, which saves time, and resources.
Exhibits:
In education, arranged working models are usually
exhibited in a meaningful way. Sometimes they may
be a series of photographs or photographs mixed with
models and charts. The opportunity to handle the
materials by the participant makes the way to use more
sense organs, and Learning by doing is always helpful
for meaningful or concrete learning.
Field trip (Educational Excursion)
It is a trip by the students to gain firsthand
knowledge from the classroom to a museum, factory,
geological area, or environment of certain plants and
animals. A field trip allows students to study
something naturally rather than in a classroom or
laboratory. On field trips, students usually see and note
certain essential things. Sometimes they get a chance
to interview and discuss stuff with officials or local
people to clarify their doubts with supportive
observation.
Demonstrations
A demonstration is another way pupils can see
how certain things are done. The rally may require
nothing more than an observation on the part of the
pupil or observer. It is the act of showing or making
evident or circumstance of proving or being proved by
reasoning. It may be a description or explanation of a
process illustrated by examples and specimens. It also
includes exhibiting the operation or use of a device,
machine, process, or product.
Dramatization
There are many things we cannot possibly
experience firsthand, and we cannot share directly
something that has already happened. Furthermore,
some matters cannot be reduced to contrived
experience, and some ideas must necessarily be
somewhat abstract and symbolic. Dramatic
participation can help us get as close to certain realities
as we cannot reach firsthand. As students re-create
images, pictures, visual details, staging, movement,
location, and direction with drama, their spatial
learning skills are developed. Logical learning follows
from rational patterns, cause-and-effect relationships,
and other believable concepts involved with drama.
Sometimes music, or even the music of language, is
also used in working with drama.
Contrived Experiences (Artificial Experience)
A contrived experience is the editing of reality,
which makes existence easier to grasp. The working
model may illustrate it and differs from the original in
size or complexity; contrived experiences lead to a
suspension of disbelief. In other words, during the
incident, the learner believes in the reality of the
experience. We use contrived experiences to overcome
the limitation of space and time, to edit reality to focus
on parts or a system process that we intend to study to
overcome size difficulties, and finally, to understand
quickly and effectively.
Virtual learning experience
Though the virtual experience can be called a
contrived experience but the pupils level of experience
may differ, and the kind of joy and level of
understanding may be high at virtual than the
contrived experiences, which include model mock-ups
and cut-away as we can consider them as hardware. A
virtual learning experience involves a set of teaching
and learning tools designed to enhance a student’s
learning experience by including computers and the
Internet in the learning process. The representation of
the learning environment ranges from text-based
interfaces to the most complex 3D graphical output.
Smart boards are the best examples of virtual
experience where students can conduct science
experiments in a simulated way. In virtual experience,
pupils can see and hear but not use the senses of touch
and smell. We can bring reality into the classroom,
which is more than a contrived experience and as near
as the experience.
Four-Dimensional Experiences
Four-Dimensional Experiences describe a
presentation system combining a Three Dimensional
film with Physical effects in the theater, which occurs
in synchronization with the film. Because physical
products can be expensive to install, 4-D movies are
usually presented only at particular venues, such as
theme parks and amusement parks. Due to the fast
growth of technology, 3-D Theatres have been
enhanced by adding specific simulations. In
Education, some abstract concepts of literature,
history, and science can be taught with Four-
dimensional effects. Pupils may enjoy the conceptual
content concretely with the same product as the poets
in the poems, even at science issues and concepts as if
they are experiencing an actual situation.
Ubiquitous learning Experience
Ubiquitous means “pervasive, omnipresent, ever-
present, and everywhere.” A universal learning
experience is any setting or environment in which
students can become immersed in the learning process.
It is a kind of experience where learning is happening
all around the student, but the student may not even be
conscious of the learning process. The Ubiquitous
Learning Environment includes a ubiquitous
computing technology-equipped system that supplies
users with timely information and relevant services by
automatically sensing users’ various context data and
smartly generating good results. So the characteristics
of a pervasive computing environment can be mainly
concluded as the following: User mobility, Resource
and location discovery, Context awareness
(user/time/location), Collaborative interaction,
Ambient information, Calm technology, Event
notification, Adaptive interfaces, Invisibility object
augmentation, and Any time/anywhere.
Direct Real Experience
Technological gadgets can observe these
experiences in life or in real-time. The same can be
used effectively to the student’s understanding of the
processes, specific particular environments, and
sometimes the special actions. Direct real experience
can give students a more significant learning
experience than virtual or contrived experiences. The
pupil will have an opportunity to observe and study
directly. Hence its impact may be high on learning
than the other earlier experiences. It is also an
alternative experience to the direct, purposeful
experience. When teachers cannot provide direct,
intentional experience, they may only have the best
option of real direct experience.
Direct Purposeful Experience
The Base of the Step Learning Experiences Model
represents direct reality as we experience it firsthand.
It is the rich, full-bodied experience that is the base of
education. It is the purposeful experience that is seen,
handled, tasted, felt, touched, and smelled. It is the
experience of life, and we get it by living. Some of our
most prosperous, vivid sense impressions involve our
feelings and perceptions in an eager exploration of the
world.
Critical Appraisal
The cone of experience given by Edgar dale has
rightly said that it is not offered as a perfect or
mechanically flawless picture to be taken with
absolute literalness in its simplified form. It is merely
a visual aid to explain the interrelationships of various
types of audiovisual materials and their positions in
the learning process. The Cone should be considered a
continuum rather than a hierarchy. Learning occurs
through all of the experiences present in the Cone, and
all backgrounds may be appropriate at different stages
in the learning process or for different audiences.
Does the Cone need to demonstrate which is the
best method of learning? One can conclude that many
different kinds of instruction should be used in the
classroom. Since no single approach is superior to
another, instructors must analyze the audience and the
content. Some content may fit into one teaching
method, while others may be better suited to another.
The use of audio-visual materials in teaching does not
depend primarily upon reading to convey their
meaning. It is based upon the principle that all learning
can be significantly improved by using such materials
because they can help make the learning experience
memorable. We mean that sensory materials must be
introduced into only some teaching situations.
Mathematics is a subject of abstract concepts and
can be learned better through verbal and visual
symbols and contrived and virtual experiences. It may
not be possible to give direct experiences to pupils in
subjects like mathematics and statistics. Verbal and
visual experiences are suitable only for Language
learning. Experiences are meant to be experienced, not
to evaluate or compare them. Experiences are purely
individualized; with the same kind of experience,
one’s perception may differ. One can learn better than
another; some pupils can learn better with direct
experiences, and others can learn quickly with virtual
experience, some through contrived, one-dimensional,
and two-dimensional aids.
 John Dewey says, “Direct experience had the
disadvantage of being limited in range and fatally
restricted” (1946. P-51). Indeed, we learn many things
indirectly, even better than the direct experience.
Direct experience is not necessary or suitable for
learning all kinds of concepts. James P. Lalley and
Robert H. Miller have examined many different
studies about learning and retention. They have
concluded that most learning and retention occur when
many other teaching methods are used in the
classroom. They found that direct instruction, or
lecture, is most commonly used in the school and has
“a significant effect on retention.” Although it appears
to have little value based on Dale’s Cone, reading will
influence students’ learning ability throughout their
lives.
When Dale researched learning and teaching
methods, he found that much of what we found to be
true of direct and indirect (and of concrete and
abstract) experience could be summarized in a
pyramid or ‘pictorial device.’ He stated that the cone
was not offered as a perfect or mechanically flawless
picture to be taken literally. It was merely designed as
a visual aid to help explain the interrelationships of the
various audio-visual materials and their individual
‘positions’ in the learning process. It is important to
note that Dale never intended the Cone to depict a
value judgment of experiences; in other words, his
argument was not that more concrete experiences were
better than more abstract ones. Dale believed that any
of the approaches could and should be used, depending
on the learner’s needs.
The practicability of Learning Pyramid
For students to develop meaningful knowledge,
feelings, and skills, their direct experiences must be
“associated with abstractions,” as Dale noted.
Language and expression are essential to skill
acquisition. Beyond its sketchy background, the
learning pyramid should raise concerns: What kind of
research results end up in such tidy percentages, all
multiples of 10? How would one even develop a
method for testing such broad claims? Do we believe a
learner can remember 90% of anything? Can an
activity be separated from its content and be given
credit for learning?
Many distinguished authors have gutted the
pyramid’s claims. Educational expert Daniel
Willingham was against the pyramid related to
oversimplification; providing an optimal learning
experience does not boil down to the instruction
method. Many different variables impact learning. In
her book Char Booth explains another danger of the
pyramid, that relying too heavily on the idea of mode
strips away designing instruction for differences in
context and content. Booth’s anecdote about how she
embraced the pyramid because of its implications for
student engagement illustrates another flaw. The
pyramid is a visual sighting. If we only remember 30%
of what we see, then a picture of the pyramid should
not have a dramatic memory impact on so many
people.
Looking at Dale’s cone of Experience, one can
realize that there can be several models that the teacher
can use to reach the learner depending on the learner’s
need. Despite the pyramid having been debunked in
many venues for decades, it continues to show up in
educational presentations and literature.
To conclude, the Cone of Experience is essentially
a visual metaphor for the idea that learning activities
can be placed in broad categories based on the extent
to which they convey the concrete referents of real-life
experiences. Many have also interpreted it as a
prescriptive formula for selecting instructional media.
Dale’s explanations are nebulous enough to enable
various interpretations to find support. Finally, the fact
that the Cone has been taken seriously enough to be
used in so many ways testifies to the robustness and
attractiveness of Dale’s visual metaphor.
In preparing to become a teacher, some elements
should be considered. One way of putting it is the
8M’s of teaching; each aspect contributes to ensuring
effective instruction.
The Eight M’s of Teaching
Milieu- the learning environment
Matter – the content
Method – teaching and learning activities
Material – the resources for learning
Media – communication system
Motivation – arousing and sustaining interest in
learning
Mastery- internalization of learning
Measurement- evidence that education took place
Concerning the 8 M’s of instruction, one element
is media. Another is material. These two M’s (media,
material) are the elements of the Cone of Experience.
Edgar Dale’s Cone of Experience relates well with
various instructional media, which form part of the
system’s approach to instruction.
The Cone of experience is a visual model that
shows a continuum of learning: a pictorial device that
presents bands of experience. It does not strictly define
the bands as mutually exclusive but allows fluid
movement across the levels. The sensory aids may
overlap and even blend into one another. For example,
viewing a play differs from being part of it. It is far
different from listening to somebody explain the
architectural design from executing the plan.
The version of Dale’s Cone of Experience with
percentages as to which band will hone higher-order
thinking skills and engage learners more may be
confusing because it may not necessarily mean that
learning better takes place when materials or activities
belong to the upper level of the cone or that the nature
of the involvement is more active if it is in the bottom.
For all the descriptive categorization of learning
experiences, other elements, such as students’
motivation to be engaged and learn, must also be
factored in.
Dales (1969) asserts that:
The pattern of arrangement of the band experience
is not difficult, but the degree of abstraction – the
amount of immediate sensory participation involved.
A still photograph of a tree is not more difficult to
understand than a dramatization of Hamlet. It is
simply in itself a less concrete teaching material than a
dramatization. In our teaching, we only sometimes
begin with direct experience at the base of the Cone.
Instead, we start with the kind of experience most
appropriate to the needs and abilities of a particular
learning situation. Then, of course, we vary this
experience with many other types of learning
activities. (Dale, 1969 as cited in B. Corpuz& P.
Lucido, 2012).
The Band in Dale’s Cone of Experience
Direct, purposeful experiences– These refer to
the foundation of experiencing learning. Using the
senses, meaningful knowledge and understanding are
established. This is experiential learning, where one
learns by doing.
Contrived experiences – It is in this category that
representations such as models, miniatures, or mock-
ups are used. Some things or events may be beyond
the learner’s grasp, so contrived experiences can
provide a substitute.
Dramatized experiences are commonly used as
activities that allow students to participate in actively
constructed experiences through role-playing or
dramatization actively.
Demonstration – when one decides how things
are done, a demonstration is the most appropriate
experience. It is an actual execution of a procedure or
a process. Demonstrating how to bake a cake or
execute the dance step is a proper way of making the
learning experience meaningful.
Study trips– These are visits to specific locations
to observe a situation or a case that may not be
available inside the classroom.
Exhibits – These are displays of models such as
pictures, artifacts, and posters, among others, that
provide the message or information. These are viewed.
However, there are currently exhibits that allow the
viewers to manipulate or interact with the display, and
as a result, the exhibit becomes more engaging and
fun.
Television and motion pictures – This
technology provides a two-dimensional reconstruction
of reality. These allow learners to experience the
situation being communicated through the mediated
tools. They provide a feeling of realism as viewers try
to understand the message portrayed by actors in the
films.
Still, pictures, Recordings, Radio– Still are
pictures or images. Together in this category are the
audio-recorded materials or information broadcast
through the radio.
Visual symbols- are more abstract representations
of the concept or the information. Examples of these
are information presented through a graph or a chart.
For example, a process can be presented using a flow
chart.
The verbal symbols-This category appears to be
the most abstract because they may not exactly look
like the concept or object they represent but are
symbols, words, codes, or formulae.
In addition, Brunner’s three-tiered learning model
points out that every area of knowledge can be
presented and learned in three distinct steps.
 Enactive- a series of actions
 Iconic – a series of illustrations or icons
 Symbolic – a series of symbols.
It is highly recommended that young learners
proceed from the ENACTIVE to the ICONIC and the
SYMBOLIC. A young learner could move immediate
abstraction at the highest level with the benefit of a
gradual unfolding. However, when the learner is
mature and capable of directing his own learning, it
may move fluidly across the cone of experience.
Dale’s Cone of Experience is a tool help
instructors make decisions about resources and
activities. As you prepare to become a teacher, you can
use the concept of Dale’s Cone of Experience and ask
the following questions:
 Where will the student’s experience with this
instructional resource fit in the cone?
 What kind of learning experience will you choose
for your students?
 How will you use the ideas in the cone to enrich
your textbooks?
 What instructional material (digital or non-
digital) will you use to enrich your students’
learning experiences?
 How many senses will your students employ
when you use instructional material taken from a
bond of a cone?
  With these guide questions to reflect on, there are
pitfalls that you should avoid about the use of the
Cone of Experience:
 Using one medium in isolation.
 Moving to the abstract without an adequate
foundation of concrete experience.
 Getting stuck in the concrete without moving to
the abstract hampering development of our
students higher thinking skills.

Source:
Bilbao et al., (2019) Technology for Teaching and Learning 1. LORIMAR
PUBLISHING, INC. 776 Aurora Blvd., cor. Boston Street, Cubao,
Quezon City, Manila.

Prepared by: ROSMAR B. PINAGA, LPT, MAED

Assistant Professor 1