The Cone of Experience by Edgar Dale

What is Dale's Cone of Experience?

• The Cone of Experience is a pictorial device used to explain interrelationships of the various types of audio-visual media, as well as their individual "positions" in the learning process.
• The cone's utility is selecting instructional anj activities is a practical today as when Dale created it.
  

Principles of the Cone of Experience

• The cone is based on the relationship of various educational experiences to reality (real life), and the bottom level of the cone, "direct-purposeful experiences", represents reality or the closest thing to real in everyday life.

• The opportunity for a learner to use a variety or several senses (sight, smell, hearing, touching, movement) is considered in the cone.

• Direct experiences allow us to use all senses.

• The more sensory channels possible in interacting with a resource, the better the chance that many students can learn from it.
  

1. Verbal Symbols
• Principal medium of communication.
• Bear no physical resemblance to the object or ideas for which they stand.
• May be a word for concretion, idea, scientific principle, formula or philosophic aphorism.
• Disadvantage: highly abstract.
  
2. Visual Symbols
• Fits the tempo pf presentation of ideas, topic or situation.
• very easy to procure and prepare.
• Limitations: lack of ability to use  the media size of visuals simplification leads to misconceptions.
  
  
  
3. Recordings, Radio, Still Pictures
• Attention-getting, particularly projected views.
• Concertized verbal abstract
• Limitations: size of pictures or illustrations expensiveness of projected materials and equipment timing difficulties between radio shows and classroom lessons.
  
  
4. Television and Motion Pictures
• can reconstruct the reality of the past that we are made to feel that we are there.
  
  
  
  
5. Exhibits
• these are displays to be seen by spectators. they may consists of working models arranged meaningfully or photographs with models, charts, and posters.
  
6. Study Trips
• these are excursions, educational trips and visits conducted to observed an event that is unavailable within the classroom.
  
7. Demonstrations
• it is a visualized explanation of an important fact, idea or process by the use of graphs, drawings, films, displays, or guided motions.
  
8. Dramatized Experience
• through dramatization we can participate in reconstructed experience through the original event is far removed from us in time.
  
9. Contrived Experience
• we make use of representative models mock-ups of reality for practical reasons.
  
10. Direct-Purposeful Experience
• it is the first hand experience which serves as the foundation of our learning.