Reflection: My Personal Theory of Learning

After studying the many different academically accepted learning styles, I find that my personal theory of learning has undergone small procedural changes, but has basically remained the same: In order to effectively teach a classroom of students, a teacher must be able to utilize as many different learning styles as possible. No two students react to a prescribed teaching style in the same way, so why should teachers pigeon-hole themselves into one or two two variants of teaching? On the opposite end of the spectrum, students should be challenged by learning to cope with and overcoming learning styles that might not particularly fit their own learning pattern. Students need situations in which the behaviorist learning style applies, just as they need to be versed in cognitivist, social, and constructivist theories of learning. Helping students become more well rounded as students will prepare them to be well-rounded functioning parts of society, which in my view is one of the main goals of the public education system. The small changes that would accompany my newly understood theory of learning would be simple ones that reflect the use of technology in instructional strategies.

Prior to taking this course, I have used technology in my classroom as a teaching tool, and not as a learning one. The students rarely ever interacted with technology, which is a reflection of my understanding of the power of technology in daily activities. My assumption was that technology used as a learning tool had to be a web-quest or word processing. Now I know that technology can be used to help students in routine daily activities, and that technology can be used without the technology itself becoming the focus of the lesson. One tool that I have started working on in my classroom is the interactive white board. Our school does not have the funds to buy them, however in conjunction with the technology staff we have created a make-shift white board that will be available for student use. Just as children always want to push the buttons in the elevator, students always seem to want to operate the technology, no matter how mundane the task is. While this activity would not generate any brain-busting educational advances for the students, it's technological hook would serve as an attention getter. A second tool I would like to begin working with in the classroom is greater use of virtual field trips. Again, with the economy in such a low, the educational budget has become next to nil, which makes field trips out of the question. As a history teacher, there are plenty of great accessible online tours and field trips to supplement the material and help make history "real" for the students.

In the long term, it is my goal to not only have students be in control of manipulating technology more often, but to also take the time to understand which learning theory each lesson employs so I know that I will not fall back on simply using one theory. In order to achieve this, I will have to plan out technology lessons well in advance for each teaching unit.

Voice Thread: Lack of Student Effort

Computer Games as a Learning Tool? Get Out!

How cool is this idea? Kids get to learn about ancient civilizations, politics, international relation, exploration, development of technology, mercantilism, and international strife through a collaborative multi-player online honest-to-goodness competitive computer game? I've got to say, that the idea of having students play "Civilizations III", as suggested by Pitler et al (2007) as a learning tool is one of the most fun uses of technology in the classroom that I've come across! Older computer games were designed as learning tools, however they lacked a the social learning theory hallmark of having collaboration between students. The old Apple IIe's taught millions of school children that Mary or Billy might die from Typhoid or Cholera along the long, arduous Oregon Trail. It even taught basic problem solving skills with its simple mathematical war game Cannon Fodder. These programs did not combine students in groups, forcing co-operation or annihilation! When the students work together, they are able to construct learning in a safe learning environment that encourages actively engaging construction and conversation of curricula specific content. Students work together and can be in Vygotsky's zone of proximal development, and not be overwhelmed or under challenged, and learn how to apply the knowledge given to them in applicable, real life situations.

Is there any way I can sign up for the Civilizations III world history class?

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

Learning by Creation

Papert would say that it is imperative that students learn via hands on activities. These are the activities and lessons that used to be strictly based on strategies that were supposed to be "delivered" to students. Today, with so many different technologies available, there are many ways that student can receive the information in that invite a constructionists' point of view. Sadly, Piaget cannot see the fruits of his constructionist labors, however students today are able to take advantage of what Papert calls "help[ing] children experience knowledge and construct meanings" (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2008, p. 19) via technology. Students are drenched in a technological splash-water falls, which enables them to adhere to current curricula and stay on the cutting edge of educational technology and stay within the parameters of "constructivism".

Educational specialists, such as Dr. Michael Orey, would say that students benefit when teachers allow them [students] to learn through personal construction of knowledge, and not simply addition of knowledge. Orey explained that students need to work until they reach "disequilibrium", and once this stage is reached they must either assimilate or accommodate for the new knowledge. Students cannot simply retain knowledge, but must be allowed to process it and create something with it. If a student can show mastery of a subject through the engaged creation of something (Orey, 2008)they can grow educationally.

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

Orey, M.(Ed.). (2008). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Simple concept map for introducing people involved in the Assassination of President Lincoln

The Cool Uses of Technology to Support the Cognitive Learning Theory

The Cognitive Learning Theory is, put simply, a process; you take in data, contemplate it, put it in a mental storage box with a big label on it to easily find it later. Here's a simple example: I enjoy the t.v. show "House". It comes on USA, channel 30 (the data). It is always on channel 30 (contemplation). I associate "30" with "House", with the enjoyment I get from watching Dr. House act unprofessional, and with relaxing after a long day (storage and recall).

Implementing the cognitive theory in the classroom using technology can be a highly powerful tool in helping students to actually process the information that is given to them, allowing for students to remember more of what is required. Several of the ideas given to implement the cognitive theory to help students learn data seem like great tools to use in the classroom. Dr. Michael Orey, of the University of Georgia, discusses how virtual field trips enable students to create episodic memory of information that is typically dull. This idea is wonderful, and as a teacher of Georgia history, I would love to find and create virtual field trips to help students connect with places when they cannot physically go. Another activity that I think would be especially beneficial, and fun, for students would be for them to create a "teaser" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, 2007, p.129) using a wiki for collaboration and the Windows Movie Maker application for the actual teaser. Both the virtual field trip and the "teaser" would be great ways for students to make connections and cognitive maps with information, incorporate Paivio's dual coding via video clips and pictures to help create larger and more definitive connections to the material, and would give them the episodic experience of actually working with the information, not simply having to swallow it.

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

Behaviorism Doesn't Have To Be All Bad...

Raise your hand if you've forgotten everything from high school.

It seems like forever ago, right?

Now raise your hand if you remember hearing about an experiment in which a bell was sounded, causing dogs to salivate.

Ah-ha! You do remember something! You may not remember that the name of the man who conducted that particular experiment was Ivan Pavlov, but the lesson stuck. Conditioning the brain to respond to external stimuli is powerful!

Taking the idea of behaviorism into the classroom is one that seems to be fundamentally rooted in schooling. Work hard, and you earn good marks; the external stimuli poses as positive reinforcement and/or negative reinforcement depending non the choices a students makes. However ingrained in the educational strata, however, Dr. Michael Orey (2001) comments that many educators frown upon the behaviorist theory as lacking higher level brain function, thus being a poor educational strategy. Orey continues his argument to include the behaviorist theory as one of inherent good, and great potential if used properly. I personally like to think that any theory or strategy that encourages and promotes academic success and build intrinsic motivation is one to be utilized within the classroom.

In looking at ways to integrate a response to external stimuli with technologies available within the classroom, Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski (2007)have provided many wonderful, simple ways to combine behaviorism and technology. Firstly, they suggest to have students keep a spreadsheet, based on a rubric, to determine their OWN effort versus achievement connection. The idea behind this is rudimentary, but affective: students visually understand that the amount of effort they give directly results in their grade, causing a general lift in effort, and improvement in achievement. Another way to powerfully meld behaviorism and instructional strategy via technology is as simple as creating a flash card. Create a response to a certain word, term, date, etc., with basic wrote memory. Dr. Pat Wolfe explained (Laureate Education, 2007) that the brain is "physically sculpted" based on experience, and using flash cards to generate that basic understanding is a tool that cannot be overlooked based on it's simplicity. Dr. Wolfe went on to say that students need a certain network based on concrete examples for information to reach the brain. Technology can be used to create virtual flash cards (www.flashcardexchange.com) (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 197), and create flash card memory games. These illicit a response based on a stimuli, but help to forge a powerful and necessary synapse in learning. They also create emotion. Can you imagine the sight of a dog when it knows that dinner is on the way? Tail's just a-waggin', the mouth is wide open, and typically the dog seems happy. Giving a student that same emotional feeling of success based on flash cards and empirical information, and you have built a foundation for an understanding of material and higher ability of analysis of information.

Behaviorism is a great tool in the classroom- Now, if I could only remember everything else I forgot from high school!


Resources

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Bridging learning, theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.

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/

Teachers as Learners: Old Dawgs Can Learn New Tricks

Time is a precious thing, and what we chose to do with that time is crucial. As the end of the first decade of the 21st century speeds ever nearer, we teachers must take a second to stop and evaluate what we are doing in the classroom. Are we doing the same things we were doing 5 years ago? 10 or 15 years ago? Are our students gaining the most possible from our efforts to prepare them for the future? In many instances the answer is no, for whatever the reason may be. I know that my personal teaching hasn't changed much since I joined the throngs of educators striving to make a difference in the lives of today's students, but that doesn't mean that it can't! Over the course of the last 24 weeks, I have been involved in a rigorous schooling in integrating technology into the classroom which has drastically changed my view of what and how students learn.
In these courses, I have been introduced to many technological tools that are viable resources to be used in classroom instruction. As I was once a teacher who shied away from letting students get anywhere near a computer for my own fear of not understanding it's instructional uses, I now find myself looking for chances to steal away to one of the schools computer labs in order to set up a curriculum lesson reliant upon technology.
I have learned that the mind can physically change based on how it learns, and that today's media-barraged brained students need quick, interactive, collaborative ways to learn. They need to hone skills that they will use as professionals in the future, which aren't addressed in the "read books, answer questions, take notes, and be tested on the content" teaching approach of yesterday. Exploring new technologies, such as blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts, has also given me a new confidence in my own skills that was not there before.
Because of the changing environment in which our students live, preparations for teaching these students must change as well. I think much less about(while not ignoring or compromising) the curriculum students are learning and much more about howthe are learning, and what skills they acquire along the way.
It will be easy for me to continue to grow as a student and a teacher of technology because it is, as Dr. David Thornburg and Hall Davidson explain, simply fun (Thornburg and Hall, 2008)! I will continue with my masters in technology in the classroom and will keep exploring different applications of technology within the walls of my classroom and in my personal life.
Now that I have found more comfort in realm of technology, I plan to begin a running, open dialogue with my classes in blog form. For this, I will have to get the permission from my principal and that of my students parents. Some might shrink from the thought of an open forum discussion for fear of what might be said (spill over from a social problem would be a major concern), but students need to be learned in the skill of collaboration and interaction in a professional cyber setting. I also would like to take time to include at least one technologically based lesson that utilizes 21st century skills in each of the units I teach. These lessons cannot all be completed at once, nor can they ever be totally completed. They will take time to create, modify, and perfect, and once they have been satisfactorily created, It will take some time to manage each lesson, and keep them updated.
My school year has already started off with a technological bang. I took students into the computer lab so that they could create a brochure of the 5 physio-graphic regions of Georgia. They used many different programs and skills that I taught them, which I could not have taught them even one year ago. A lot has changed for me in a short amount of time. It does for everybody. If we, as educators, as the directors of the leaders of tomorrow, do not take the time to evaluate and assess what we are doing in the classroom, our time will quickly pass and our students will not be properly served. All it takes, to be successful as a teacher, is to be relevant in the lives of students. Time with our students is a precious thing. What we chose to do with that time with our students is crucial.

Laureate Education Inc., (Producer). (2008). Bringing the Fun into Teaching Through Technology (Motion Picture). Baltimore: Dr. David Thornburg and Hall Davidson

Profiling Today's Students Podcast

Dr. Bruce Barry explained that "different kinds of experiences lead to different brain structures" (Prensky, 2001). With this information in mind, take a look at today's students. Do you think they receive information the same way kids did 10 years ago? 20? 50? 100 years ago? The answer is most definitely not. Students are now a part of the digital age; they have grown up in a world of computers and internet, which has caused a physically different brain than that of students of yesteryear. Since this is true, don't we, as educators, owe it to our profession and our students to deliver information to them in the most meaningful way possible?

The following is a short (slightly over five minutes) Podcast sharing the findings of an interview with a small group of college students. The interview was about the use of technology as a part of the students lifestyles. It is very interesting to note that the youngest student (sophomore) relies much more heavily upon today's technologies than the oldest student (Grad school).



Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants, part 1. Do they really think differently? On the Horizon, 9(6).

21st Century Skills

Educational hot topics are never in short demand. The remedies to these schooling shortfalls aren't in small supply either. Whether it is "learning focused," or "collaborative," or even "FINISH" educational leaders tend to have a vast array of new terms for seemingly timeless educational practices. While this is the case so often, the problem of addressing the new, and quickly widening, divide between what students are taught in school and what businesses need tomorrows workforce to posses is unique. What are school systems and educators doing to address the problem? Largely, the answer to that question is simply "nothing". The lack of thought does not necessarily reflect a larger lapse of judgment or desire to thoroughly prepare students, though, and to help schools get on board with what is necessary in the education of 21st Century skill sets, educators can begin by using the information and direction available at the website "Partnership for 21st Century Skills" to hone their own educational arsenal with the tools necessary to include a "21st Century" skill set into the curriculum.

On reviewing the sight, I find that it was personally shocking that the need for such educational technology reform was so necessary, yet so under-acknowledged. Many teachers are not aware of such a need for technical training, yet here is a professional, in depth website dedicated solely to the need for such education.

The site breaks down what the "21st Century" skills necessary are into four smaller, key elements; Life and Career Skills, Learning and Innovation Skills, Information, Media, and Technology Skills, and Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes. These are called the Route 21 Skills. On the face, these skills seem to mirror the basic educational framework with skills such as "Thinking Creatively", "Critical Thinking and Problem Solving", and "Collaboration". The difference with the Route 21 Skills is that each skill is supported in a technological way that does not hinder the natural flow of the school curriculum.

Great! Now what? Before anyone gets too worked up over how to change their lessons in order to better prepare tomorrow's future, lets not forget a basic principle of teaching- there is no need to reinvent the wheel! Another great feature of the 21st Century Skills website is that there are nearly 600 shared technology lessons available to help teachers support 21st century needs.

Can anything be this simple and agreeable? Sadly, no. While the Partnership For 21st Century Skills website is highly accessible and jam-packed with resources, there are some sticking points that some educators might face. I personally disagree with one of the facets of PF21stCS's Route 21 framework stating within the Learning and Innovation Skills that a student creativity determines whether or not that student is prepared for the future. We all as educators would agree that creativity is a viable and necessary function for all students, but for PF21stCS to base a students success solely on creativity seems to be slightly out of place. Don't let the small differences dissuade you, though, from utilizing this valuable web resource!

While we may feel obstinate to act in the in the light of necessary change, but as educators it is our job to prepare students for the future. For today's teachers and students the necessary change that must be made in order for our 21st century workplace to be highly competitive in the global economy is a change to a technologically minded student that can think, comprehend, assess, synthesize, and process the technological landscape of tomorrow's workplace.

Bloggin' in the Classroom

I think that I could use the blog in my classroom as an introduction tool to teach students how to effectively use a blog as an educational tool. I teach 8th grade students Georgia history. I would probably set up a simple opinion blog, as per example of Ms. Kathy Martin, to the ends that students voice their opinions and reactions to historical situations and prompts. This would help, not only in the prep for their technological futures, to motivate students who typically did not enjoy the more traditional school setting , give voice to students who don't always feel comfortable speaking out in class, teach correct grammar and usage of language (especially with our ELL learners!), and connect students more closely with the subject matter and open their eyes to the thoughts of their classmates. As a teacher, it would give me instant access to students thoughts and ideas, and help me to assess how well each student understands the curriculum.

Technology: Runaway Train or Trainable Tiger

Students today have a completely different worldview than students of ten years ago. Today's students are highly in tune with the newest, latest, and greatest gadgets, gizmos and whatnot's. As a teacher, how many times have you found yourself asking one of your students for technical help on basic computing and internet savvy?

Because students are so much more well versed than their teacher counterparts, how can we utilize the vast potential in our ever changing technologies to stimulate and educate our students? A better question for many teachers might be if can we catch up to today's youth in technology. As a teacher, is the world of technology a runaway train, or a trainable tiger?