Advantages of Authentic Activities
There are many advantages to using Authentic Activities but most of them center around the concepts that these activities ENHANCE learning -
1. These activities give learners an opportunity to use what they know, build upon it, test their own potential and achieve successes that improve confidence.
2. These activities help learners create meaning for the knowledge they obtain, and that meaning helps with assimilation of that knowledge as well as improving retention.
3. These activities help develop additional skills beyond just knowing about the world, in general - these activities often require skills higher up on Bloom's Taxonomy.
4. These activities allow learners to practice life skills - things that will benefit them long after the learning experience has ended.
5. These activities encourage learners to generalize what they know into new situations, using information they have to seek out solutions for new challenges.
6. These activities encourage innovative thought and collaborative spirit (Billings & Halstead, 2012, p 235).