Reflection

My personal learning theory will always center around, first, building relationships with students. How can you teach a child you don't know? I think many of the learning theories relate to one another on some level. I, like the behaviorist, believe the behavior and learning is a result of external stimuli. I consider that stimuli to be those most influential to students throughout life. Mothers that read and sing to their babies while still in their stomach are already stimulating their babies brain. Children that come from stable, loving, nurturing homes are more likely to be successful in school. Children raised in homes where family reading is done, family talks are held, and there is respect and appreciation for education; those children are more likely to be successful in school as well. It is the external stimuli that is setting the foundation and sustaining the learning process.

Technology is another external stimuli that is having a major impact on learning. As technology continues to be designed for educational purposes and the field of education continues to embrace and utilize the emerging technology, the learning theories will continue to be reexamined as they relate to technology. One technology tool that my students are excited about is VoiceThread. After visiting the website, my students were exciting about uploading pictures and video and communicating through this medium. Whenever students are excited about learning, it is exciting for teachers. Another technology tool my students are interested in is Epals. I thought my high school students might think communication with other students in other countries was kind of elementary, but they were actually excited about the idea. The are curious to learn about the structure of the school day and credits to graduate and other things relevant to them. Getting students excited about an assignment is a major task. Students are already engulfed in technology, so bringing technology into the classroom is like meeting them where they are as opposed to bringing them to where we are as teachers.

Looking forward, this is an exciting time to be in education. I feel a shift in the way classroom instruction has been done for many many years; and educational technology is playing a major role in that shift. One personal, long term, goal I have is to find some creative ways of using cell phones in the classroom to integrate into lessons. I need to do some research to find school districts or schools or even teachers that have shared lessons using cell phones. Students are so attached to cell phones, I think if curriculum could some how be tied into using the cell phone there would be instant buy in to any lesson. Another long term goal is to take a more active role in my school in educating teachers on the benefits of educational technology. Many teachers continue to be reluctant to use any form of educational technology with their students. I could take time during staff development, throughout the year, to share different educational technology tools being used across the country and their benefits. The only way some teachers will start to use technology in the classroom is alleviate their fear of using it.

Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

I was considered a social butterfly by all my teachers in school. I am sure they would confirm that I had the social part down pact, but certainly could have put more effort into the learning aspect.

I love the idea of students working together on a variety of task in class and around school. School today can be such social nightmare for students: how do I dress, how do I walk, how do I talk, long hair/short hair or bald, pierced or not, tattooed or not, sports or not, and on and on with the decision; all rooted in what others will think. When teachers implement cooperative learning activities in their classrooms, I feel like it alleviates the stress of yet another decision in school. The teacher selects the groups and gives the assignment and the students are free to explore new people with alike and different thoughts and ideas. 21st Century Skills call for students who can think critically, communicate well, collaborate, and are creative. Connectivisms and social learning practices allow students to learn and grow in all of the mentioned key skills.

Technology facilitates a broader exploration into cooperative learning and other social learning practices. "Communication with students in other cities, states, and countries broadens the perspective of students and challenges them to learn about other cultures, languages, and issues throughout the world" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). There are wikis and blogs designed just for educators to use with their students that make connecting and communicating with other students easier. There are website designed to help students create their own web pages and web sites. The possibilities are really endless when technology is embedded into social learning practices.

One final thought is that technology is universal for kids; they all love it. I think technology has the power, particularly within the classroom, to make students forget about their differences and focus on learning.

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

School Dress Code Discussion

http://voicethread.com/share/1373335/

Constructivism in Practice

In reviewing the instructional strategy: Generating and Testing Hypotheses, there were several focal points that drew my attention. One of the recommendations for using the strategy was to, "make sure students can explain their hypotheses and conclusions" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski, 2007). When students are able to clearly articulate their thoughts, it demonstrates a deeper understanding and broader knowledge of what they are speaking about; Constructivist would call this Schema. Teachers that employ this strategy allow students to manage or work toward managing their Equilibration. Hypothesizing and testing allows students, "balance between differences in external reality or current beliefs and understanding" (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). With the technologies available students are able to use various spreadsheet software and other web resources to create graphs, charts and diagrams to serve as artifacts that they personally constructed to strengthen knowledge.

As students knowledge increases and the ability to think and elaborate in more complex and detail ways, instructional approaches such as Project-Based Learning become vital for students. This approach centers on, "authentic learning activities that engage student interest and motivation" (http://pbl-online.org/about/whatispbl.htm). With PBL' s students are often challenged with questions or problems that deal with actual daily occurrences or situations that happen in our world. The fact that students often work together in Project-Based Learning is a benefit to this approach because communication skills and presentation skills, among others, are considered 21st century skills that students will need to be competitive in the work force.

Teachers today face the challenge of becoming as technologically savvy as their students, and then seek ways to embed the technology into their lessons. The encouraging news is the resources are available and ready to be used. I am excited about the possibilities that exist with educational technology and look forward to putting the strategies and approaches to use.

Cognitivism in Practice

This weeks learning resources provided a multitude of great resources for strengthening understanding of information presented. Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski (2007) describe excellent examples of “Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers” and “Summarizing and Note Taking.” These examples instruct teachers on how to implement these strategies, using technology, into their lessons. Cues and questioning relate to what the Cognitist Theorist would call, "Elaboration Theory", they seek to help students form connections with information. The connections could be from prior knowledge to prior knowledge or prior knowledge to new knowledge. Advanced Organizers help to activate the Dual Coding component of Cognitive Learning Theory. Students not only receive new information (text), but they also utilize tables and charts (pictures), facilitated by technology, to help them organize information they will soon learn about. Multiple components of the Cognitive Learning Theory are often engaged when considering the strategies from this weeks learning resources. The strategy of Combination Notes, "which utilize outlining, webbing, and pictographs in addition to words" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and malenoski, 2007) employ Elaboration Theory, Dual Coding Theory, as well as Network Model of Memory Theory. Being able to use technology as the catalyst to bridge what we know about how the brain learns best and wonderful strategies such as these, makes education an exciting profession to be in these days.

Behaviorism in Practice

The instructional strategies, "Reinforcing Effort" and "Homework and Practice" are fairly common practices until spiced up with technology; they then become incredibly innovative practices. As a Physical Education major and P.E. teacher and football coach for several years, I was thoroughly impressed by the collaboration of Coach Turnage and Mrs. Baker. What an creative way of bridging the worlds of academics and athletics and using technology as the catalyst. I was equally impressed with the idea of having students use the "research" tool as a word processing application as opposed to using other search engines. What a great idea for all students, but particularly those students who are new to research and could benefit from a reduced number of findings to select from.

I really feel like both of these strategies are greatly enhanced by technology and serve as positive reinforcement for learning. Most times students are simply told about the value of education as opposed to being provided experiences where they can clearly see the benefits of education. Both strategies discussed give students an opportunity to enjoy the educational process because the strategies lend themselves to a deeper level of engagement which often produces a greater level of understanding of the subject matter.

This is why I do what I do!

Without a doubt the best part of my job is being a part of the graduation ceremony. It is a time to celebrate with mixed emotions. I am always very excited for the students who buckled down and did what they needed to do in order to graduate. At the same time I am also worried about the future of some of our graduates. Going through school, "just getting by" is not going to cut it in the real world and I know some of them are in for a rude awakening. But I am sure most of them will find a way to make it, just like they did to make it on the stage. Congratulations 2010 graduates and best of luck to you!

Profiling the Students of Today

This was a great assignment for my students and myself. It is always interesting to hear what students have to say on particular topics. It is obvious that all the students I spoke to have been around technology all of their lives. However, the two worlds of technology and education are still pretty isolated in their minds. I was surprised to hear one student say she sometimes uses her cell phone to contact teachers if she has a question about an assignment outside of school.

I will enjoy showing my students all the new and exciting ways they can use the same technologies they use on a daily basis for more educational purposes.

Welcome

Hello,

Welcome to this 21st century blog where we will discuss the endless possibilities that exist through online learning. The days of the traditional "four walls with desk" and teacher lecturing at the head of the class will soon give way to virtual schools. I am curious to hear what your thoughts are on the topic, so please share!