Reflection

At the completion of this course, I have learned a lot and am looking forward to implementing many new ideas in my classroom in the fall. In week one, I described that the learning theory which was closely aligned to my beliefs was the constructivist approach. I can say that I still believe this theory is the closest aligned to my beliefs, but I do feel that the other theories are sprinkled in as well. There is not one theory that I can say fulfills all my beliefs, but a combination of them all is more appropriate.

The cognitive theory of learning is definitely an addition to my personal learning theory. In learning about this theory, I can agree that all of our ideas and learning are linked together and learning new ideas will only “stick” if a connection can be made. In addition, I agree with the visual idea of this approach. Students can learn a lot by making a visual connection with something. If I am doing a presentation, my students will remember the pictures I included more than the text. I need to start taking my picture choice into greater consideration and be sure they support the learning that I am targeting.

This course has provided me with many new ideas and many new tools that I am looking forward to using in my classroom. The first tool that I will incorporate is Edmodo. I plan on exploring this site more over the summer and introduce it to my 8th graders in the fall. I have high hopes for using this in the classroom. I feel that the students will be intrigued by the site since it is very similar to Facebook (something they know all too well) and the minimal learning curve involved in using it. I foresee this being a place to hold out of classroom discussions, post interesting links and homework assignments. I am anxious to see how the students accept this addition and how I can incorporate it into my classroom.

The second tool that I will be using from the beginning of the year will be Voice Thread. This site is incredible; it is just what I have been looking for in the recent years. I truly enjoy how I can include videos (that would be blocked by our firewall, but still school appropriate) and the personal touches that I can make. I am also looking forward to the students using this program to make presentations and comments on Voice Threads of their own. I am going to be purchasing webcams and microphones for the computers in my room so the commenting and production of the Voice Threads will be easier and more seamless.

In the long term, I would like to plan more real-life projects that mirror situations that my students might experience as they get older. I plan to do this through virtual field trips and webquests, along with cooperative groups. I plan to complete a project each quarter so I can focus on 4 big projects a year and not get too overwhelmed by planning them. I will take this summer to identify 4 main topics that will be aligned with the topics for 8th grade math and hopefully identify some appropriate online sites and field trips using resources from this course.

In addition to more real-life projects, I also want to escape from the mundane smartboard lessons that I have been using the past couple of years. I need to focus on making my technology use more exciting and more relevant to the students. I will try to do this with making a change in the classroom activities and homework. I am going to do attempt to do more online work and escape from the paper and pencil that we are used to. The students will need to find some time to use computers on their own, but hopefully that is a hurdle we can overcome.

At the completion of this course, I feel revived with fresh ideas and am looking forward to the fall to implement them!

Voice Thread Application

The following Voice Thread and Xtranormal video are ones that I would use to introduce a mini-project to my 7th grade math class... the students will be applying the idea of surface area to find the amount of paint needed to paint the interior of a garage.





TOBY:

Social Learning Theory

The very basic idea behind cooperative learning is the backbone of social learning theory.  The idea that students work in groups to enhance their learning experience and to further their understanding correlates strongly to the general premise that supports social learning theory. 

Webquests are a way to incorporate social learning theory that might link together students that are not even in the same class, school, state, or even country.  I like the idea of how webquests can be conducted as partners and groups that are working together in cyberspace.  The students can be paired together, complete the project and not even meet face to face.  There is a lot of learning that can happen when the distractions of the classroom and peers are taken out of the equation.

Cooperative group projects have been in the classroom for eons, but incorporating the use of technology takes them to a new level.  Each student brings personal strength to the classroom and their understanding for technology is no different.  The programs that are available on the web are endless and I really feel that the students would learn a lot creating videos and presentations using programs like Xtranormal and Prezi.

The last strategy I want to touch base on is Keypals.  When I was reading this section, I was anxious to get to this portion because I had never heard of this before.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that this is the modern day pen pals.  A pen pal was a great experience growing up and I learned a lot from the person that I was assigned to.  The key idea of pen pals is social learning… one can learn a lot from another in just letters back and forth.

The strategies that were presented in our text this week exemplified the ideas of social learning theory to a tee.  Any of these activities got students working together in a rich experience which in turn supports learning from others.

Resources:

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD

Constructivist/Constructionist Learning Theories

Learning about constructivist/constructionist learning theories is very interesting because I can see some real validity in its points.  The basis behind the theory is that one learns through experiences and not all people leave the same experience with same understanding.  Watching the video this week, the chair example really helped me to understand this idea.  When I think of a chair, it is not the same chair that someone else pictures.  I have a picture of a chair in my mind based on my experiences, where as someone else’s picture of a chair is based on their experiences.  This supports the idea that learning has to happen through experience.  If I were to tell someone that blue and yellow make green, they might believe me, but they are more apt to remember it if they experience the change through an experiment. 

When reading through the “Generating and Testing Hypotheses” section in the course text, the spreadsheet section drew my attention.  Being a math teacher, I can see this as a great tool to use for teaching budgets.  The students can be told about bills and finances in the future, but will they really understand saving, withdrawing, debt, etc?  If the students live through an experience in the classroom utilizing a spreadsheet program that practices real-life budgeting, wouldn’t they learn a lot more?  I can see this experience being one that sticks with them and when they are an adult using some of the skills we talked about in the classroom. 

The key idea that I took away from all the resources is that of experiences.  In order for a person to learn something new this component is vital.  Not just any experience will do either; it needs to be an experience that is authentic and valid to the students.

Cognitive Learning Theory Tools

After reading about Cognitive Learning theories and their implications in present day education it became apparent that these two things are closely related.  Since cognitive learning theory is based on the assumption that we learn from making connections with previous knowledge and in essence build a “map” in our brain, we as educators have an important role of constructing those connections in our student’s “maps”.  There are many educators who believe that a teacher’s effectiveness is correlated to the method of instruction and the types of resources they bring to a lesson to help their students make connections with pervious learning.         

From reading our text, Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, it is apparent that there are some great organization tools that will aide in making learning effective and clear.  The first of these is Cues.  I found it enlightening when the authors clearly stated that cues should not be ambiguous, but they should be straightforward.  I have always lived under the assumption that cues were to be vague enough to not give the answer, but to guide in the right direction, but now I know that I was not helping my students learn this way.  Using the method of straightforward cues, the students will get to the information faster and start to make the connections and build their “map” like we want to occur. 

The next tool that I feel lends itself nicely to cognitive learning theory is using advanced organizers.  Since our brain is a map, so to speak, doesn’t it make sense that we would learn best by having information neatly organized for us to learn from?  I am a person that likes to have things a certain way and I can see the validity in this, but it also makes me wonder if everyone will learn with the information organized in the fashion that the teacher created?  I know from my experience, I tend to organize worksheets and handouts in my classroom different than the other Math teachers, not that anyone is right or wrong, but I like how using technology to organize thoughts lets that students have some freedom in the type of layout they feel is best.

Last but not least, I was intrigued by the summarizing piece.  I was unaware of some of the features that word processing software has that would make teaching summarizing a lot easier.  Since the computer can easily cross out redundant information and highlight important parts, it is a great learning tool that can be projected in the classroom for the whole class to discuss.  In addition, the students can use this feature to help summarize text in all kinds of classes.

In closing, I was impressed with all the types of learning tools that are available to us, as teachers, that do not cost anything out of pocket.  There are so many learning tools that are based upon learning theories that try to convince us that we need to purchase additional items to be effective.  I appreciate all the useful information using tools that are at our fingertips.

Resources:

Ormrod, J.E. (1999). Human learning (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall retrieved from http://teachnet.edb.utexas.edu/~Lynda_abbot/Cognitive.html

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Behaviorism in Practice

Behaviorism is a learning theory that has been developed and modified by many theorists such as Skinner and Pavlov.  Each originator of this theory based their ideas and modifications of the theory on the idea that everyone starts with a clean slate when they are born and over time we learn and grow through stimuli in the environment (Learning Theories Knowledgebase, 2011).  The developers of this theory also determined that growth is observable through behavior and not through any mental process like other learning theories (Smith, 1999).

One instructional theory that can be adapted to behaviorism is reinforcing effort.  Effort is sometimes overlooked by many students since it is not an immediate reinforcement situation.  Effort, however, is key to learning and if we can find a way for it to be rewarded and encouraged, then students might see the relevance and importance of it.  To find success in this strategy, a teacher needs to teach students the importance of effort and have the students track their effort (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007).  Using technology to track the effort and achievements can paint a picture that is clear for the students and they can see how their effort is improving their achievement.  By using technology to track progress, the teacher has an easy and quick method to track all students.  In addition to its ease of use, many programs allow the user to quickly print graphs that can be easily interpreted and visually influence students. 

If effort is reinforced and rewarded, then the students will continue to put forth the effort, just like other behaviors.  If students do not see the relevance and connection between their effort and their success, then they are likely to not continue the behavior.

Another instructional theory that can be adapted to behaviorism theory is homework and practice.  Homework provides multiple exposures to a concept and skill which is the basis behind developing new behaviors.  If a student is exposed to the experiences, then they have the opportunity to learn a new skill, but the students need to see the purpose of the assignments they are given (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007).  Many students see homework as just busy work, but if the teacher can help the students see the importance of it through clearly articulating it to the class, then the students are more likely to take the homework seriously.  Not only do students need to see the importance of the assignment, they need to receive feedback in some fashion for the work they completed (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007).  Since behaviorism is based on learning through exposures and reinforcement, it is easy to see how homework is connected to this theory. 

References:

Learning Theories Knowledgebase (2011). Behaviorism at Learning-Theories.com. Retrieved

from http://www.learning-theories.com/behaviorism.html

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom

instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Smith, K. (1999). The behaviourist orientation to learning. In The encyclopedia of informal

education. Retrieved from http://www.infed.org/biblio/learning-behavourist.htm

Reflection of course: Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society

Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society has opened my eyes to new options in the classroom.  I have always heard about blogs, wikis and podcasts, but was unsure of how I could incorporate them into my classroom until now.  After learning to utilize these tools, I can see the validity and usability of these options.  I feel that these classroom options open the door to develop more project-based learning activities in my classroom and let the students drive the process of learning.  I look forward to a classroom that is more student motivated than teacher motivated.  I have a good feeling that the students will take the opportunity to run their own wikis and blogs with great success and change the way of classroom discussions.  This change will open up classroom instruction time and in the long run, I will be able to cover more content standards than I am doing now. I plan to use the knowledge that I have learned thus far to help me implement these tools in the classroom, but I know I will come across obstacles in using them and I will trouble shoot as I proceed like I did while completing the course projects.  I do not hesitate to “Google” questions and seek out helpful sites and programs when I come across a tough situation, by doing so, I will get my tough questions answered.

I have two goals that I am going to be working towards implementing in the next couple school years. The first of these goals is to begin a classroom blog that is up to date and utilized on a daily basis.  This blog will be a place that students can go to and post questions from assignments, comments about a lesson, or links to helpful/cool sites they found that tie into our classroom lessons.  This blog will be a sounding board for all students so discussions can happen between students that are not in the same class period, but are taking the same course.  This blog will be used daily and bookmarked on the classroom computers.  I anticipate the students will resist the use of the blog at first because everyone resists change.  If I diligently keep the blog up to date and respond quickly to posts and questions, then the students will buy in to the idea and use it more.  I will also allow the students to access the blog in my classroom, since some students do not have internet access at home.

The second goal that I would like to implement is posting podcasts on my blog.  I will use these podcasts as a way for absent students to get the lesson they missed.  I will record one of the lessons from each day and then post that to the blog, so students can listen to the class discussions again at home or absent students can hear what we discussed in class when they were out.  I see the obstacle for this goal being me more than anything else.  It will take a large effort on my part to keep up with recording and posting podcasts daily.  I will attempt to make this part of my routine during my planning period and once it enters my daily routine for a while, I should be good at keeping up with my posts. 

I look forward to making these classroom changes and am anxious to see how they impact the learning of my students… and me.