I have found it interesting that Chickering & Ehrmann were able to include a focus on e-learning practices, within the original work developed by Chickering and Gamzon (1987).
Chickering and Ehrmann's work (1997), shows that online teaching/learning is an important way to gain knowledge in the 21st century. From their list of effective knowledge, skills, I especially like the following areas emphasizing active participation and the use of life experiences in the learning process.
- Converting traditional lectures into learner-centered content and lessons that encourage students to be active participants.
- Creating open-ended application questions that require students to connect information to their life experiences.
In the True Colors system, there are four personality types. These are represented by colors and are directly related to teaching and learning styles. The teacher has to be able to blend in a teaching style that will be receptive to a Blue, Green, Gold or Orange.
It is important to know what the main motivating area of each is, Blues: Communicator, Green: Gaining Knowledge, Gold: Follows rules, and Orange: does not like routine.
Niskanen, J. True Colors and Teaching Styles. (http://www.geocities.com/jeniskanen/), 2004.
