Realia (education)
Encyclopedia
In education
, realia (pronunciation reel-ee-ah) are objects from real life used in classroom instruction by educators to improve students' understanding of other cultures and real life situations. A teacher of a foreign language
often employs realia to strengthen students' associations between words for everyday objects and the objects themselves. In many cases, these objects are part of an instructional kit which includes a manual and is thus considered as being part of a documentary whole by librarians. Realia are increasingly being utilized in new and interesting ways (see http://busyteacher.org/)
Realia are also used to connect learners with the key focal point of a lesson by allowing tactile and multidimensional connection between learned material and the object of the lesson. They are best utilized for simple objects lending themselves to classroom settings and ease of control with minimum risk of accident throughout the student object interaction.
Technology has begun to impact the use of realia by adding the virtual realia option, whereby three-dimensional models can be displayed through projection or on computer screens, allowing the learner to see detail otherwise difficult to acquire and to manipulate the object within the medium on which it is displayed. The option of zooming and looking within objects makes virtual realia an important learning tool in technical environments where it may be difficult or impractical to examine an object in as much detail manually, such as the workings of living organs or machinery containing hazardous parts, such as combustion engines.
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, realia (pronunciation reel-ee-ah) are objects from real life used in classroom instruction by educators to improve students' understanding of other cultures and real life situations. A teacher of a foreign language
Language acquisition
Language acquisition is the process by which humans acquire the capacity to perceive, produce and use words to understand and communicate. This capacity involves the picking up of diverse capacities including syntax, phonetics, and an extensive vocabulary. This language might be vocal as with...
often employs realia to strengthen students' associations between words for everyday objects and the objects themselves. In many cases, these objects are part of an instructional kit which includes a manual and is thus considered as being part of a documentary whole by librarians. Realia are increasingly being utilized in new and interesting ways (see http://busyteacher.org/)
Realia are also used to connect learners with the key focal point of a lesson by allowing tactile and multidimensional connection between learned material and the object of the lesson. They are best utilized for simple objects lending themselves to classroom settings and ease of control with minimum risk of accident throughout the student object interaction.
Technology has begun to impact the use of realia by adding the virtual realia option, whereby three-dimensional models can be displayed through projection or on computer screens, allowing the learner to see detail otherwise difficult to acquire and to manipulate the object within the medium on which it is displayed. The option of zooming and looking within objects makes virtual realia an important learning tool in technical environments where it may be difficult or impractical to examine an object in as much detail manually, such as the workings of living organs or machinery containing hazardous parts, such as combustion engines.