Reinventing My Wheel?

Over the past eight weeks I have participated in a course that has allowed me to question my overall approach to teaching. It emphasized the use of technology with regards to instruction and personal learning theories and instructional strategies. When the class began, I naively wrote a personal philosophy that broke my personal approach into two or three exact learning theories. However, the more time I spent with the materials in this course, the more I began to understand that true educators should not approach teaching as "this is how I do it," but to accept that although learning theories can approach learning in extremely different ways the important step is to use all learning theories to help the educator reach the student and maximize their potential for learning. I am not saying to turn your own personal theory away and start again. I am simply stating that open-minded educators are more likely to access student engagement in a positive way by probing all the possible strategies.

For my own part, I will be making a couple of immediate adjustments in my classroom due to this course. First, I will not attempt to label students anymore, but to merely recognize their connections with material and certain strategies and assess the best mode to reach their individual potential. Secondly, I will be attempting to improve communication between myself and the students so I am able to recognize their level of engagement. I feel that I should respond more to what my class is telling me works, than simple going off my own judgements. Most students will openly respond to your questions and as a teacher I need to continue to respond with what is working. It is important to note that each class is different and you cannot continue to use the same techniques every year. We must adapt to our groups and continue to be open-minded in our approaches.

This process will include two long-term goals for my classroom. First, I will continue to accumulate a wide range of technologies that I implement in the classroom. I am very thankful to have found a group (donarschoose.org), that allows teachers to seek personal grants for needed things within their classroom. Last year I was able to attain new books and furniture, as well as Leap Pad Readers for my students through this online group. I plan to continue to use this group and other potential means to gain even more access to technologies that will benefit my students. Secondly, I am planning to better develop the use of my new smart board with my class through more student interaction. I am hoping to move away from using it mostly as an instructional tool and create its use to being mostly used as a learning tool. This will entail many hours of creating flip charts that harness the ability of the board to be used as a learning tool, it will require my participation in more classes and seminars that expose me to more uses and approaches with the smart board, and I will also continue to collaborate with my fellow educators on information and products already available to me that I can use to create an actively engaged, learning tool centered, classroom.

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Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

Dr. Michael Orey classified social learning theories as "learning when actively engaged in constructing artifacts along with others while interacting" (Laureate Education, 2009). In today's society of "everything must happen now" attitudes, the use of collaborating and cooperating through learning is a major contributor to success. George Siemens discussed Connectivism as a theory in which you find "information in abundance and our cognitive capacities must be transferred onto a network, thus allowing networks to be rich in ability, opportunity, and overall content" (Laureate Education, 2009). Connectivism allows us to reach each other and bring about multiple learning stances and knowledge, combining information and growing from each other's experiences and ideas. Social Learning and Connectivism harness the power of Web 2.0 and the world's constantly changing technological progression.
With the use of technology we can find many opportunities to support these styles of learning. The book, Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, offers many technological outlets for cooperative learning. In this post we will discuss a couple and how they embody the spirit of social learning and connectivism.
"To be prepared for the fast paced, virtual workplace that they will inherit, today's students need to be able to learn and produce cooperatively" (Pitler et al, 2007). If we are to examine today's technology in relationship to our learning styles we can examine the idea of "keypals," or the use of applications such as email, facebook, twitter, and others that offer students the ability to exchange ideas and communicate quickly and from far away places. This is an exceptionally efficient way for students to communicate ideas over long distances: from other cities, states, or even countries.
Another form of these learning theories is through the use of WebQuests, or projects that are inquiry-based in origin and allow multiple students, across many different areas to work together towards a common goal. The authors state, "A well-designed WebQuest task is practical, engaging, and elicits student thinking. It provides a goal to channel student energies and also clarifies the teacher's learning objectives" (Pitler et al, 2007). This is well suited for the social learning theory and to the benefit of all students in that it is fully engaging them and can be used in whole-group, small group or even individual participation who connect via other means in order to discuss the outcome of the WebQuest.
Finally, Web site creation can be connectivism learning on a grand scale. In their book, Pitler and the other authors discuss a teacher who has her students create a website based on a city of their choice. The groups of students combine efforts to develop a multi-paged website based on the research of that city and then ultimately ask the city's chamber of commerce to look over the site and offer feedback. It is ideal for learning a lot about a set goal and incorporating the ideas and communication of all students involved.
Overall, with the large number of workplaces that are adding technology almost daily, our students, more than ever, need to at least experiences the ideas of connectivism and social learning if they are to accept their future in the workplace. Students will benefit from the ideas and experiences of such teaching styles.

Resources

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Social learning theories. [Motion Picture]. Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. Baltimore: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Connectivism as a learning theory [Educational Video]. Baltimore: Author.

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

Constructivism in Practice

According to the views of Seymour Papert, a key theorist in the area of Constructivist technology practices, "technology should help children experience knowledge and construct meanings" (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2008). It is the view of the constructivist learning theory that people learn better when they have built or created an external product while they have learned and this experience raises the level of understanding and the student's ability to make connections and gain long-term memories of those experiences.



By creating these artifacts students gain an on-the-job type of insight into the workings of lessons and assignments. These artifacts allow them to make predictions, analyze materials, and see different views of the finished products. Papert believed that the use of technology could be used not to help teachers teach, but to help student's learn. The book, Using Technology with Classroom Instruction the Works (Pitler et al, 2007), offers many ideas on how teachers can implement materials for all learning styles, including a constructivist theory (Chapter 11).



This blog focuses mainly on primary education so I will give a few of the ideas from the book and how I am choosing to implement them within my classroom.



The first technology is the use of Data Collection Tools. "Collecting date usually answers some questions and generates new ones. Using data collection tools enables students to see the bigger picture and recognize patterns" (Pitler et al, 2007). Using tools such as digital thermometers and probes would be ideal in primary classrooms when teaching about weather. I would use this to record data on temperature levels throughout the year to discuss how it changes from season to season. You could also measure rainfall and snowfall in your area. After recording the students can create graphs to show the rise and fall of whatever you decide to measure and gain a better understanding of how weather fluctuates and make connections between the seasons and weather. I also plan to use the Internet as another source for comparing the area we live with different countries and cities to show how weather is not the same throughout the world. "Sharing and comparing data from other localities gives students enough information to generate and test hypotheses concerning the nation and other parts of the world" (Pitler et al, 2007).



Our second technology is that of online web resources, such as virtual situations or simulation software. The use of these resources will help to create ideal learning environments that are "incredibly engaging, resulting in increased motivation and retention in learning" (Pitler et al, 2007). The use of simulation software can help students to make connections and develop a belief and understanding of the material. In my classroom I use a simple shapes simulator to create everyday objects with shapes. You take a triangle and a square and put them together and then a house appears, transposed over the top of the shapes. A circle, with two triangles and a cat appears transposed. It is a great way to develop connections between shapes and how they can fit together. In the same simulator you can connect multiple shapes to create new shapes, like a pair of triangles can be connected to create a square or three can be connected to create a trapezoid. Such simulations can be very beneficial especially to young students who are just beginning to create knowledge or schema.



Overall, the use of technologies within your classroom can be ultimately beneficial to your students and their ability to learn material and maintain it throughout the year and beyond.



Resources:



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



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

Cognitivism in Practice

In a classroom setting, the theory of cognitive thought is based around the idea that while a person learns by watching what others do they also are developed around the ideas that the human thought process is central to what one can and will learn. Dr. Michael Orey (Laureate Education, 2009), informs us that cognitive learning is a three step process started through sensory input, moving to short term memory, and ultimately becoming a part of our long-term memory by becoming a part of our minds many networks, be they, episodic memory, declarative, or procedural. Cognitive Learning Processes are formatted around the idea that making as many connections as possible is the best way to create long-term memories. In your classroom the best approach to this learning theory is large amounts of organizers and connecting materials to each other in as many ways as possible.

In the book, Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works (Pitler et al, 2007), we are exposed to the use of cues, questions, and advanced organizers as an approach to creating multiple connections to our curriculum. The authors list many examples of technology that are positively used, however, we will cover just a few. First, the use of multimedia is explained as "an engaging advance organizer and a tool for practice" (Pitler et al, 2007). Using a video a teacher can show a more in depth view of a subject area and produce short quizzes or discussions afterwards to further increase the potential for learning. Also, it is suggested that teachers send home URL's for the videos and websites as a way for parents and students to connect knowledge at home. Secondly, the book (Pitler et al, 2007) also discusses the use of summarizing and note taking in one chapter as ways to connection and network information for your students. Although note taking with primary grades is very difficult the book does show a chart that you may find interesting discussing Rule-Based Summarizing (p.121, figure 6.1). The chart reveals ideas such as removing all the but the most important material, replacing an entire list with a broader name, and using topic sentences. In the book this chart is used in regards to word processing but I believe the ideals behind it can be used within any classroom process. Simply do your best to connect the material in ways the students can gain insight and understanding of the concepts.

The best use of cognitive learning that I personally have used that was also covered in our resources for this week was that of the Spotlight on Technology: Virtual Field Trip (Laureate Education, 2009). Within this video a teacher uses a virtual field trip to teach the class about the Ford Theatre where Lincoln was shot. With this they were able to make connections to all kinds of information that surrounded the civil war and the presidency of Lincoln. This is a direct link to the use of episodic memories, or life events, and how impactful these types of technology can be on our students. Virtual field trips create another source of knowledge that produces endless connections with other texts, previous memories, and is close to being as good as truly visiting a real-life spot as you can get without leaving the classroom or having to raise the funds to enjoy the original.

One example that I have used in my own classroom is that of virtual life through antarctic animals. National Geographic used a site where you could see an environment from the eyes of an antarctic animal and move around through their environment. It was so memorable for students that even though we used it in January I had students asking to go back and use it in June. For anyone who teachers primary, especially first grade, knows that is a long time to hold a memory without revisiting it periodically. Create opportunities to directly produce lasting memories and your students will make the connections.

Resources:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Program 4. Cognitive learning theories [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Program 5. Spotlight on technology: virtual field trips [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.

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

Behaviorism in Practice

In an effort to recognize the use of behaviorism in classrooms today we will look at two important instructional strategies that embed both the use of technology and the theory of behaviorism. The idea of reinforcing effort in your classroom is a major factor in creating strong independent learners. Also, the use of homework and practice,although not nearly as obvious, also allows the student and teachers the opportunity to enhance the potential of learning and success.

With the idea of reinforcing effort we establish the simple approach of behaviorism, that students will understand the positive gains of good effort and continue to approach their work in a similar fashion or they will see the negative effects of poor effort and choose to change their approach in order to reverse the effects. It is fairly east to recognize and prove the effort of your students through the use of simple spreadsheets that track everything from attendance to returned homework to test scores and even the amount of times they acted out in class. Using this data you can easily show a student or parent an resourceful use of information and the efforts the student is putting forth. Perhaps use of information will not always make the difference but the use of incentives to change the direction of their effort may lead to changes in the information and then, when revisited you con compare how effort, even based on rewards, leads to a much more productive and successful learning experience.

"Homework and Practice give students a chance to review and apply what they have learned" (Pitler et al., 2007). With the use of basic drill and practice techniques we find that many students gain understanding (with the use of effort) quicker than simply getting a single dose of information from a lesson. Many students require the use of repeated of information in order to maintain their levels of understanding in a subject area. Although many theories on homework and practice maintain numerous uses of technology that can further the strategy we will concentrate on the use of multimedia as our technological facet. Multimedia Software allows teachers to instill the use of technology as a reward, thus creating a behaviorist approach using a simple drill and practice technique. Along with this use an educator in present-day education has the ability to supply their students with websites and applications through their own school/personal websites to focus on certain areas at home as many of today's students have personal computers available. The gains from such websites as www.starfall.com, www.primarygames.com, or even www.sesamestreet.org supply many games that students can use at home to further the use of this strategy and create a positive view of education.

In short, the next time you hear that behaviorism is dead in education or you tell someone you don't believe in the theory, remember that not only is it alive and well, it could be that little something your own classroom or home needs to increase the desire for your student's to learn.

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

Mr. Z's Corner

Although this blog is used primarily as a discussion/sounding board for educational issues I would openly discuss other topics as you bring them to my attention. I am open to any thoughts, questions, or paths of discussion. However, I will point out that my favorite things to disucss, aside from education, of course, include all sports and travel. Please feel free to post any topic your mind needs to release and I will do my best to respond in kind. Enjoy.