Lesson 1

Edgar Dale’s
Cone of Experience
Reported by:Ansing, MEldon

7/15/2020 4
 LEVELS OF THE
CONE OF EXPERIENCE

7/15/2020 17
 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

7/15/2020 18
7/15/2020 19
 Direct and Purposeful Experiences
 Direct, first hand
experiences
 Have direct participation
in the outcome
 Use of all our senses
 Examples:
 Working in a homeless
shelter
 Tutoring younger children

7/15/2020 20
 Models and mock-ups
 “Editing of reality”
 Necessary when real
experience cannot be
used or are too
complicated

7/15/2020 21
 Reconstructed experiences
 Can be used to simplify an event
or idea to its most important
parts
 Divided into two categories
 Acting – actual participation
(more concrete)
 Observing – watching a
dramatization take place (more
abstract)

Monticello7/S1 5t/u2d0e20nts engaged in a mock trial

7/15/2020 23
 7/15/2020

ICONIC EXPERIENCES ON THE CONE

 Progressively moving toward greater use of imagination
 Successful use in a classroom depends on how much
imaginative involvement the method can illicit from
students
 Involves:
 Demonstrations
 Study trips
 Exhibits
 Motion pictures
 Educational television
 Radio, recordings, and still pictures

24
 25

7/15/2020

• Visualized explanation of Demonstrations

an important fact, idea, or
process
• Shows how certain things
are done
• Examples:
▫ How to make a peanut
butter and jelly sandwich
▫ How to play the piano
▫ How to lift a fingerprint

Flame Salt Test Demonstration-

You Tube
 26

DNA Crude Extraction

7/15/2020
 27
Study Trips
 Watch people do things in
real situations
 Observe an event that is
unavailable in the
classroom
 Examples:
 Civil War Re-enactment
 Old World Wisconsin

 Class trip to other place

7/15/2020
28

7/15/2020
 Exhibits
 Something seen by a
spectator
 Tw o types
 Ready made
○ Museum
○ Career fair
 Home-made
○ Classroom project
○ National History Day
competition

7/15/2020 29
 Educational Television and
Motion Pictures
Television Motion Pictures
 Bring immediate interaction  Can omit unnecessary or
with events from around unimportant material
the world  Used to slow down a fast
 Edit an event to create process
clearer understanding than  Viewing, seeing and hearing
if experienced actual event
experience
first hand
 Can re-create events with
 Example:
simplistic drama that even
 TV coverage of 9/11 slower students can grasp

30 7/15/2020
31 7/15/2020
 Recordings, Radio, and Still Pictures
. 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
 Listening to period music

copyservices.tamu.edu/clipart/clip09/index.html

7/15/2020 32
SYMBOLIC
7/15/2020 33
 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
 Involves:
• Visual symbols
• Verbal symbols

7/15/2020
34
 7/15/2020

VISUAL SYMBOLS
 No longer involves
reproducing real situations
 Chalkboard and overhead
projector the most widely
used media
 Help students see an idea
event, or process
 Examples:
 Chalkboard

 Flat maps

35
 Two types
 Written words – more
abstract
 Spoken words – less
abstract
 Examples:
 Discussion
 Explanation/lecture

7/15/2020 36
7/15/2020 37
 38

 Dale (1938) taught teachers that

they should help their students
learn how the media effects us,
and to critically evaluate it.
 Teachers must evaluate the
benefit of the learning vs. the
amount of time required in the
lesson
 How to effectively use
instructional media to helping
students move from concrete to
abstract thought
http://elzeeyed.com/ydome/wpcontent/uploads/2007/08/teacher_cartoon.gif

7/15/2020
 How do you use technology in your instruction?
 Does the use of technology enhance learning?
 Do today’s technology savvy students require
greater usage of technology than in the past?
 How can you use technology to create learning
experiences?

7/15/2020
39
Conclusion:
40

•The Cone of Experience is a

visual device to aid teachers in
the selection of instructional
media
•The Cone is based on the
movement from concrete
experiences to abstract
experiences
•The literal interpretation of the
Cone has resulted in
misconceptions of its use
•The Cone has practical
applications in classroom
instruction 7/15/2020