Chapter 18 Media Specifications: Four Approaches to Learning

After reading Ch. 18 of Lee & Owens, I never thought about how the senses could be used to determine learning. According to Lee & Owens, there are four approaches to learning, which are: (1) visual, or presenting anything learners can look at, including video, animation, or written text. (2) Auditory is anything that students can listen to including tapes, CBT, music, and sound effects. (3)Olfactory, presenting anything students can smell or taste. (4) Tactile or kinesthetic is anything that students can touch or manipulate such as models, equipment, role plays etc. The most interesting is the olfactory because, to me, the sense of smell is not something that we associate with learning; however, if you think about it how do we learn to cook? We can smell if a cake is done, or if our food is burning, and we know what to do about it. Another example would be smelling something coming out of your car engine and learning what it was so next time you smell it you know what to do. We use our sense of smell more often than we think for learning. One question I have is how do organizations provide supplemental training for those people with disabilities who can’t hear, or see, or smell? I would like to know more about the efforts businesses make to accommodate these people.