Reflection on My Personal Learning Theory

In the beginning of this course, I described my personal theory of learning as a recipe. Indeed I am still the chef, blending Cognitivism, Constructionism, and Social Constructionism to be an effective teacher. However, I will admit that Behaviorism has a larger role as a base ingredient than I initially admitted. In today's educational trends, Behaviorism has fallen out of favor but I believe it still plays a critical role. Another adjustment I have made is the use of the term Constructionism rather than Constructivism because I better understand that in this theory of learning "people learn best when they build an external artifact that they  can share with others" (Laureate, 2009). I believe this is key in education because building a product shows the highest level of learning.

My short term goal is to change the way I use technology is to aim to use it more as a learning tool rather than an instructional tool. In the past, I as the teacher used various programs to help me teach more than I used it to help students learn. I had one of our school's SMARTBoards in my room at the beginning of the year, but I let another teacher keep it at the end of the year because I knew I was not using it to its' full advantage where all students were actively involved in the learning process. I was using it mainly like my usual LCD cart and had only one or two students actually touching it; and admittedly, only when time allowed. Over the summer I plan to use other technology tools like my new favorite, Spin Scape concept mapping along with interactive websites to plan lessons that require all students to be involved in the use of technology for learning.

In the long term, I would like to extend the above goal to use technology as a learning tool more than an instructional one. I have already begun searching for sites that will allow the SMARTBoard and concept mapping to enhance the students' learning. By the end of the summer, I hope to have at least one lesson per chapter that uses the interactive whiteboard along with another learning tool. Secondly, I want to plan more cooperative lessons to allow social constructionism to occur. In these lessons I will design basic guidelines but will ask students to create an artifact that means something to them on a more personal basis. "Technology can play a unique and vital role in cooperative learning by facilitating group collaboration, providing structure for group tasks, and allowing members of groups to communicate even if they are not working face to face." (Pitler, et al, 2007). I will ask the students to use the various forms of technology we have used in class to help them in whatever ways they deem fit and will assess them according to the requirements of a teacher-created rubric which will be reviewed before beginning the lesson. Hopefully the students will enjoy using technology and therefore become engaged learners because their teacher knows how to use it more effectively! 

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009b). Constructionist and Constructivist Learning Theory. Baltimore

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

 Expediency, 7(14) 345-367. 

Social Studies?

In my social studies class, the students have many opportunities to interact while learning. I was fortunate to have a forward-thinking mentor teacher when I was student teaching who told me that the students should always work harder than the teacher. On the surface, one might think this means the teacher can kick back and let the students be completely responsible for their own education. But what he meant was that the teacher should instead function as the facilitator or the 'more knowledgeable other' (Laureate, 2009) and that students should have a certain degree of self-motivation and direction of learning. Cooperative learning activities certainly facilitate both.

Our county is very supportive of social interaction in the use of Kagan strategies. Some were mentioned in this week's resources such as jigsaws, base groups, and three-step interviews. As you might guess, not all teachers embrace these strategies because group work can take a bit of adjusting to because of diverse ability levels, clashing personalities, and there's always the noise but they are denying themselves and their students. These teachers would see that "cooperative learning is not so much learning to cooperate as it is cooperating to learn." (Pitler, et al, 2007). And gradually teachers will notice that they are not the sole 'more knowledgeable other', but students will rely upon their peers to help them learn what they are trying to find out. Also it will give students the chance to develop their own unique talents and give them recognition among their peers and boost their self-esteem so that everyone plays an important role in the classroom environment. 

These roles can then be extended into networks thanks to technology. Many of the suggested resources in our text would be appropriate for allowing the students to develop and share knowledge. Social networking sites, webquests, calendars, blogs, and simulated games enable students to reach out and develop their interests and help others who want to know more about a certain topic so they can essentially go from asking the experts to becoming an expert. I was amazed to learn that there are over fifty benefits for students who use cooperative learning in the classroom in the areas of social skills, psychological abilities, academics and assessments (Orey, 2001). Thanks to technology, teachers don't have an excuse not to use cooperative learning. 

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009b). Program ten Social Learning Theories [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
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VoiceThread

Hi Everyone, 

Check out my post on VoiceThread to weigh in on our school's absence policy and providing make-up work here: http://voicethread.com/share/525517/. I look forward to hearing from you! 

Caution: Woman Constructing

Why is it when men work, they need to put up a sign that says "Caution: Men at Work"? You don't see women doing that! I know, it's an old joke, but our real goal here is to get our students to do the work. Yes, we'll probably get plenty of moans and groans, but after a bit of experience with project based, inquiry, problem solving, investigating,  and hypothesizing, students will appreciate the hands-on nature of constructionist learning methods. 

While I don't necessarily believe that generating and testing hypothesis is the most effective constructionist learning activity for my content area of social studies, I do aspire for my students to be "engaging in complex mental processes, applying content knowledge like facts and vocabulary, and enhancing their overall understanding of the content." (Pitler, et al., 2007). However, I do see technology as a critical part in achieving this goal. 

So much has changed even since I was an undergraduate student five years ago in terms of completion and presentation of projects. Using spreadsheets and data collection software are helpful to students like me who don't feel the desire to tediously solve every problem. I always tell my students 'Work smarter, not harder!'. This is important because technology makes essential tasks more manageable. In the past, some students simply would not complete a project because of the sheet amount of work that can go into problem solving that can be completed by programs such as these. Now that this is eliminated, students will be able to better see the 'big picture' or major concept rather than get bogged down by details. Similarly, some of the projects that even middle school students create today are amazing! My colleague and I have had some mind blowing documentaries that have been produced for our National History Day historical investigation. It seems like making a poster is absurd when technologies like Movie Maker and IMovie are available today. 

This week's chapter did feature my favorite technology, web resources. Here is where the possibilities are endless for social studies! Especially in the case of simulation software, which "can provide incredibly engaging learning environments, resulting in increased motivation and retention in learning" (Pitler, et al., 2007). I have created several simulations in class such as immersion in Chinese philosophy activities and Life on the Feudal Manor, but they don't hold a candle to the websites such as the example given in our text, Practicing with the Catapult. Students love these types of programs and having access to a SMARTBoard makes it possible for the whole class to participate. Over the summer I plan to collect as many sites with simulations that fit my curriculum as possible in order to ensure that it is the students who are at work, learning and creating their own understanding, and artifacts throughout ancient history. 

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

Cognitivism in Practice

As a teacher of ancient history, I had heard the quote by Confucius that introduced the Cognitivist method of experiential learning: "Tell me, and I will forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand."(Orey, 2001). But reading about embedding technology in chapters four and six of Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works gave me a better understanding of what Confucius meant. Here I learned about how to integrate cues, questions, advance organizers, summarizing, and note taking while using technology to benefit students in the cognitive learning style. The goal of transferring information to long-term memory requires students to focus on main concepts, eliminate unnecessary information, and to organize it in a way that is meaningful to them so that they can build connections to their prior knowledge. In order to do this, teachers need to explicitly teach students how their brains work and model appropriate ways to manage the many pieces of information that they are required to learn. 

In giving cues, creating questions, and advanced organizers, teachers must recognize their role in helping students succeed. Higher level work will only be produced in the teachers create an expectation and environment that asks students to go beyond the basic facts and declarative information typical of rote learning. The students will probably have a tough time adjusting to this type of questioning and activities, but ultimately it will serve them well in helping them to make their own personal connections to material and will assist them in their careers in higher education. 

Technology can be applied in many ways to help teachers achieve this goal of student reflection and metacognition of learning. Some examples of specific programs that are helpful for teachers using the cognitive method include the various forms of Inspiration to organize information and multimedia sites like my personal favorite, United Streaming. If your district does not subscribe, urge them to do so before next year! "The technology, in turn, provides you with editable visual aids and multimedia resources that appeal ti a number of learning styles." (Pitler, et al, 2007). This is ideal for students since dual coding and elaboration can be delivered in this method. Additionally, this provides students with a specific episode of learning which can be drawn upon where no prior knowledge exists. 

As for summarizing and note taking, I recognized many of the problems that my students encounter as they worked on becoming better note takers from their limited elementary school skills in this area to the level that is expected of middle school students. When the students first begin taking notes in the beginning of the year they want to copy sentences directly from the book or power point presentation and they want to write down everything. If they were permitted to high light the text, the entire thing would be yellow! The authors of our text recommend that teachers do several things to prevent this from happening; teach students to eliminate anything that is not essential information, teach them to summarize, model various note taking formats, give teacher-prepared notes, and perhaps most importantly, to show students that information can be organized in a way to make it easier to understand. 

Again, the application of technology can make our job easier. Word can help to summarize student notes that are typed in a new document. They can also track changes, because as I learned, notes are not final. They should always be viewed as a work in progress. Infinitely more helpful could be the many available concept mapping softwares. Additionally, note taking can be a collaborative process- something I had my students dabble in by using blogs this year. But I plan to enhance the students ability for reciprocal teaching of our content by adding wiki projects and adding the steps of clarifying and predicting to their blogs. Mainly I had the students summarize and question one another about the material presented in class. I like the fact that blogs can take learning to the next level: "Blogs provide the means for students to use the strategy of reciprocal teaching be allow time for more in-depth conversation that can extend beyond the allotted time in the classroom." (Pitler, et al, 2007). Additionally, this kind of cognitive learning activity can help students review and assess their learning. 

In conclusion, technology can greatly aid teachers as they work to help their students learn. Cognitive tools can be applied for information seeking, information presentation, knowledge organization, and knowledge integration as teachers work to increase higher-order thinking in their classrooms.

Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

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

Behaviorism in Practice

Reading about the authors' ideas for embedding technology in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works was really exciting! I know that I am confident in using technology in the form of blogs, streaming videos, pod casts, and Internet research in the classroom myself but I recognize that there is a great deal more I can do to help my students use technology to their own educational advantage. Additionally I was surprised to find that many of these methods were actually behaviorist learning strategies, as I assumed most technology integration in the classroom would fall under the theory of social constructivism. "The entire rationale of behavior modification is that most behavior is learned." (Orey, 2001). So in theory, my struggling students can learn how to be effective students by changing the behaviors that don't work for them into ones that allow them to be successful by modeling, shaping, and cueing.

I had heard before that students respond well to data, but doubted the truth of this statement. The idea of tracking students' effort compared to results in terms of grades in spreadsheets and other data collection software seems like a good way to determine whether or not this will be useful to my students. Students often blame poor grades on outside factors and most annoyingly, on the teachers who 'gave them a bad grade or just doesn't like them'. "The research indicates, however, that students can change their beliefs and make a connection between effort and achievement." (Lever-Duffy, et al., 2001 p. 156). By setting clear expectations and grading requirements through rubrics and keeping track of effort and performance in a program like Excel, my students can chart the correlation between the two. If I can explicitly show my students in the beginning of the next school year that if they don't try their best, they won't perform to the best of their abilities, I might set up an attitude of self-efficacy and responsibility. What more could a teacher ask for?!?

Practice through homework is a prime example of behaviorism in action. Homework allows students to master skills and adjust what they have learned until they have achieved proficiency. Many of the ideas presented in the chapter Homework and Practice were great tips for teachers that many probably are unaware of. Even a simple program such as Microsoft Word can allow students to conducted focused research, identify the grade level of their writing, and summarize their work. The applications of these tools are really endless. When I teach my fledgeling researchers how to find out more about History Fair topics in the beginning of the year, I know I would appreciate this application. I could easily model how to do this using my SMARTBoard. Also after a recent class I took on the importance of teaching reading in the content areas, I know that I should ask students to self-assess written assignments with these tools as a part of pre-writing and I might even include them on my grading rubric for them. Shaping and cues could assist the students as they work to perfect the work they produce. 

Perhaps the most appropriate way to use technology in my content area of social studies though might be multimedia. As mentioned earlier, I am comfortable in using multimedia programs myself, but I know I can do more to assist my students. "In addition to learning from multimedia such as educational games and interactive simulations, students can learn with multimedia by creating their own projects at home or at school to develop their understanding and practice skills." (Lever-Duffy, et al., 2001 p. 194). Behaviorist theory has its place, but in order to meet my goals, I know I will need to combine these methods with other educational learning practices to succeed. And this is my goal as a teacher-to use technology to take learning to the next level. 

Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical Foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

The Integrator

There have been definite ups and downs as I learned about the impact of technology on education, work, and society. It has been helpful to understand the history of and the ways that technology has changed our lives. Since graduating from college five years ago, I know I have seen many changes in  my personal use of computers, cell phones, and especially the Internet. However, the disconnect in my use and my students' use of these same tools has been made more clear through information I have been exposed to such as the Thornburg Center and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. I am much more comfortable using blogs; so much so that I have incorporated them into my enrichment classes. Additionally, I am working toward becoming 'paper-free' at least in printing out articles of interest and emailed information. I will admit that podcasting is going to require more practice on my part before I will make it a regular part of my teaching tools. Figuring out how to convert files was one assignment that nearly caused a destroyed laptop and martial strife!

My understanding of the learning process has changed because I recognize that I and many of my colleagues use technology in very basic ways. Instead of asking students to learn from technology, they need to be taught to learn with technology. Assignments that I have designed in the past asked students to do very basic technological tasks; typing assignments in word processing programs, creating power points, and limited online research from sites like Proquest. However, I now know that these assignments don't necessarily engage students in those 21st Century Learning skills like critical thinking and complex communication. 

I am glad to be able to say that my lessons have always been more student-centered rather than teacher focused. Using technology will help me to continue to engage learners in meaningful ways that allows them to create projects through collaboration with their peers, allowing them to practice for the jobs they will one day hold. Employers want employes who are self-driven and can communicate with a team rather than mindless drones who take orders. Understanding how our workplace has changed helped me to see the significance in helping our students to be prepared for a wired workplace. I intend to continue to stay abreast of changes in technology by monitoring the technology blogs I subscribed to as part of this course. Also I will work with my media center coordinator to use new opportunities in my classroom. 

Though two years does not seem terribly long-term, in the world of technology, it is actually quite a long time! I would like to make my enrichment classes that I mentioned earlier work entirely on blogs that are set up in the beginning of the year. Here we would create an online community where the students can communicate about our content and collaborate on their assignments. In order for this to happen, I'm going to have to get our school board to pay for membership in a better blogging site. The free site I use has a limited number of student accounts with a small amount of storage that would not hold a year's worth of work. Also I am afraid that not all parents would embrace this idea, especially if they do not have Internet access at home. My second goal is to then use technology more in my grade level classes. I feel guilty denying these students the opportunity to use technology, especially since they are the ones who may benefit most. Potential problems in this venture are needing to monitor students more closely, behavior problems, and less experience with computers. I know that it will probably take longer to work with technology and I can't let our curriculum fall by the wayside. However, I consider it to be a worthwhile cause and will use our technology coordinator and lead teachers to help me overcome these issues. Wish me luck! :)