Reflection

When I started this class eight weeks ago I was of the mind that my personal theory of learning was mostly constructivist. The core principle for the constructivist approach is that “knowledge is unique to the individual who constructs it” (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2008, pg. 16). Now that I have learned more about other learning theories I think that my personal learning theory is still strongly constructivist but it also contains parts of each theory. I use behaviorism as classroom management and sometimes as motivation. I see the role of contructionism and the importance of student’s creating artifacts that they can share with others.

One adjustment that I will make in regards to my integration of technology is that I will make more of an effort to make my students the creators. They can help create PowerPoints, publish stories on Word, and help write on a class blog. The norm has been that I create all presentations for the class, but if by turning technology over to them I can increase their engagement and understanding in a lesson I will certainly do it. Since the brain seeks meaningful patterns, making information meaningful will help students to remember it. These tools help to create networks in their brains through concrete experiences, and the more networks to information that we can create the better chance students have of retrieving it later (Laureate, 2008).

One of my long term goals I would like to make in my instructional practice is to let my students create more. I said it before in the previous paragraph, but as a teacher of young students with limited technology in my classroom this is a very big goal for me. This will take a lot of very careful planning on my part. I will have to create organized lessons to teach my students how to use the technology and have them practice using it. Once they are comfortable using technology such as PowerPoint or Word, I will create projects where I give my students a subject such as a letter of the alphabet and they create a power point for that letter with minimal teacher help.

A second long term goal for me is to integrate Web 2.0 technologies. I currently do not do any of those technologies in my classroom. I would like to start a classroom blog next year where I can inform parents of our weekly activities and we can highlight students who did exemplary work for the week. This is actually not very difficult to do. I just need to set up a blog account and then make the commitment to update it weekly. The real key will be to do the blog with my students where they are helping to add information and create a website they can be proud of and excited about.

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

Laureate Education, Inc. (2008). Program number 2. Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. [Motion Picture]. Brain research and learning. Baltimore.

http://voicethread.com/share/1194456/

Here is the link to my voicethread. The voicethread shows the biggest problem with technology in my classroom

Social Learning Theory and Technology

The social learning theory is based on collaboration. It is about being actively engaged/constructing learning, but it also includes an element where the learner has conversations about what they are doing. Social learning has the idea that students teach each other. Dr. Orey states that teaching others helps the learner to develop a deeper understanding of the content. Social learning also has an element of connectivism in it. Connectivism holds that knowledge resides in the pattern of how different concepts are networked. Learning is the act of forming networks and navigating networks of knowledge (Laureate, 2008).

Technology is the perfect tool for the social learning theory. “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, pg. 140). “Student created multimedia is a natural environment for cooperative learning” (Pitler, et.al, 2007, pg. 141). In a project such as this students often use the jigsaw strategy where each member of the collaborative team is responsible for learning information and teaching it to teammates (Laureate, 2008). These situations are great preparation for the workforce students will one day become a part of.

Technology also offers us web- enabled collaborative learning where students can engage in collaborative projects across the globe. A technology that I want to explore for use in my own classroom is keypals- an email pen pal. “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, et. al, 2007, pg. 145). I think my own students would really love to have pen pals from across the world. I remember having a pen pal when I was in grade school. Getting and writing letters to someone I had never met was exciting.

The amount of web based collaborative projects available to us is really limitless. Web 2.0 allows students to work together to create web or wiki pages, blogs and podcasts. These types of projects allow collaboration without restrictions to time and space. Students could work together with people from all over the globe. These types of collaborations would expose students to cultural experiences that would not have been possible a few years ago. It is these types of collaborations that I believe will be the most beneficial to students in regards to preparing them for the world outside of school.

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

Laureate Education Inc. (Producer). (2009). Program 8. Social learning theory [Motion Picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology Baltimore: Author.