Reflection: Final Blog Posting for 6711

As this class comes to a close, I did some reflecting on the knowledge I have gained over the last eight weeks. I took a look at my “Personal Theory of Learning” that I wrote during the first week of class and my feelings towards it is still pretty much the same. I discussed the difference and importance between learning theories and instructional theories. “Understanding learning is just the first step a teacher must take in planning effective instruction. Learning theory tells us how learning might occur” (Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. 2008). I used this quite in my paper and I feel it truly that teachers must first understand how young minds grow and discover new pieces of knowledge before any real learning takes place. Instructional theories than, “immerse” the mind in meaningful instruction according to Dr. Michael Orey (Laureate Educational Inc., 2008). Planning meaningful and interactive lessons is very important to me and I am currently working on creating new and exciting lessons for my classroom that will integrate more technology into learning. I also want to use more of the technologies that are available in my school for this upcoming school year.
Two technologies that I plan to use for this upcoming school year are the Flip video camera and the SMART Response clickers that accompany the SMART Board. My school got both of these tools during this past school year but I never used them. My plan is to use the Flip video camera to record group projects such as Readers Theater. I also want to use the Flip camera to record video for Voice Threads. The SMART Response clickers (use to be Senteo clickers) will be great when reviewing for spelling, math, and reading tests. My students and I can plan games such as Jeopardy while using the SMART Response clickers. I can also create my tests, pull them up on the SMART Board, and have my students take the test by using the clickers. I look forward to using both technologies in my classroom.
Along with some immediate changes that I plan to make in the classroom, I also have several long term goals. My first goal is to become better acquainted with some of the technologies discussed in this course as well as previous courses. I want to become experienced and learn more about Voice Threads, blogs, wiki’s, concept mapping, Microsoft Excel, Moodle, and many other technologies that I have used once or read about. I feel that this is an important and necessary goal to have because I need to be knowledgeable and understand how these technologies work in order to effectively teach my students. My final goal is to stay current with technology. Technology is always changes and my goal is to stay as current as possible. I will try to achieve this goal by reading books and articles related to technology. I also want to go to workshops and any other professional development opportunities that may involve technology.
In conclusion, this class has been very meaningful, exciting, and has really made me want to learn even more about what technology is available for teachers and students to use. I am currently making adjustments to my instruction and to plan to create even more meaningful activities and lessons while incorporating new technologies into my classroom.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). 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.

Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

Social Learning is definitely important in today’s classrooms. Students can be actively engaged in learning while collaborating with others and working with technology. The text, Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, provides many web collaborative links including a link called JASONS Project that focuses on hands-on science activities for students (Pitler et al., 2007). Even though I teach first grade and the text suggests using this link for students grades 4-9, I still thought this site was really cool!

A major theorist in social learning is Lev Vygotsky. Vygotsky believed in the “Zone of Proximal Development” and believed that children should learn age appropriate information then have support of their learning through others. He called these “others” in learning the “More Knowledgeable Other” (Laureate Education Inc., 2009). To me, that means that I am a “More Knowledgeable Other” for my students. I feel it is my duty as an educator to provide as much knowledge to my students as possible and to create meaningful learning experiences so students retain information while working together, exploring, and having fun.

One of the ways I plan to continue to create meaningful learning experiences is by incorporating the interactive Voice Thread. I think this could be a very powerful tool for my students. It may take time for my young students to be able to create and use this, but I am up for the challenge. I created a Voice Thread for my students like Mrs. Kathryn Arnold suggested for Application #5. Here is the link to my very first Voice Thread: http://voicethread.com/share/1184881/.

In conclusion, I feel that educators can use so many social learning ideas in the classroom. There is so much learning that occurs when working with others and allowing students to work with and teach each other is priceless.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). 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

Constructivism in Practice

The constructivist theory is a theory based on the original ideas of Jean Paiget. In a constructivist theory, "students are engaged in learning and the process of creating an artifact" (Laureate Education Inc., 2008). Robin, a fellow Walden student stated, "Project based lessons are a fantastic way to integrate this theory" (Stimpson, 2010, May 26). I completely agree. I also found that the more I read about the constructivist theory, the more the wheels started turning in my head started turning as I started thinking of the endless ways to incorporate this into my classroom.

One of the supplemental resources for this week explains several thoughts about what a constructivist classroom should look like. The link is as follows: http://www.sedl.org/scimath/compass/v01n03/1.html. Ideas as simple as asking open-ended questions and encouraging dialogue between students are just a few of the thoughts on this website.

The chapter text, DVD, and many of my classmates express their interest in using technologies such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Power Point to have students create projects and complete assignments. I think I would also start introducing technology and designing classroom assignments that involve students using these technologies.

Finally, our instructor, Kathryn Arnold, provided a very helpful website on her personal website. The link to this website is as follows: http://webquest.sdsu.edu/designpatterns/all.htm. This website gives ideas for using WebQuest focusing on higher level thinking.


References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). BRidging learning theory, instruction, and technology, Baltimore: Author.

Stimpson, R. (2010, May 26). Constructivist/Constructionist Learning Theories. Message posted to EDUC 6711 discussion board, Week 4.

Cognitivism in Practice

Cognitive learning, according to Dr. Michael Orey, “revolves around information processing” (Laureate Education, Inc.,). I feel this statement is very true and Chapter 4 and Chapter 6 in the text Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works have many strategies that allow students to process information in different and engaging ways.

Chapter 4 titled Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers gives advice on how teachers and students can use spreadsheets, rubrics, Kidspiration, and Inspiration to create organizers to collect information for learning. The chapter also provides many multimedia options such as BrainPOP, PBS, and United Streaming that provide another strong visual to aid in cognitive learning. These technologies, “provide you with editable visual aids and multimedia resources that appeal to a number of learning styles” (Pitler, et al., 2007). To me, it is so important to have a technology-rich classroom that provides learning opportunities that meet the needs of every learning style.

Chapter 6 titled Summarizing and Note Taking gave me a chance to learn about a few technologies that I was unfamiliar with. “Track Changes” in Microsoft Word was a feature to the program that I was unaware of. I think that this would be a very useful aid when teaching students how to summarize. I also was impressed with the “Note-Taking” feature in Inspiration. This would be a really great way for teachers to share their notes with students. The text states, “Technology can scaffold, or provide support, while students are learning the summarizing process” (Pitler, et al., 2007). I agree with this statement because I believe that if teacher’s model how to summarize and model summarizing often then students will learn to summarize and will be able to store it into their long term memory.

Finally, I wanted to add a link to an article I found by Cara Bafile. The link to the article is http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech164.shtml. The article discusses concept mapping. I thought it was a really informative article and I plan to use it as a reference.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). 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 - Week 2 Application

I have many mixed thoughts about behaviorism. To begin, I would like to share a video that I found on YouTube about a Psychology student named Linda and her dog, Milu. Through Operant Conditioning she is able to train her dog. I found this video to be quite cute and it really depicts B.F. Skinner's theory of Behaviorism very well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhmONAl6Yiw&feature=fvw

I feel as though behaviorism is still necessary in classrooms as well as in life. This video clearly shows how after reinforcement an animal can do trained to do pretty much anything. This is similar to the "Skinner Box" where the theorist B.F. Skinner used various animals and trained them by controlling their environment.

Behaviorism is used in the classroom more than maybe some teachers think. I feel that teachers should use some behavoristic techniques to teach classroom procedures and promote good choices. Dr. Michael Orey states, "Reinforcement is more powerful than punishment" (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008). My first grade students know that if they make positive choices there will be a reward. If students do not follow classroom procedures or demonstrate undesirable behavior, there will be a consequence.

Now, here are my mixed feelings. I do not feel that behaviorism should be used to "drill and kill" information. In many schools, teachers are required to use specific software programs in order to raise and improve student achievement. To me, this does not seem like an effective way to teach students and I do not feel as though students would be very motivated to try their best.

I think the best way to teach students it to model, give students hang-on materials to manipulate, and create a positive classroom environment. I strive to accomplish these factors everyday.

I look forward to hearing from my classmates and their thoughts.

References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author

Final Thoughts

I am about to complete my third online course for my Master's Degree through Walden University. I have many thoughts about this course and how it contributed to my learning.

First off, the weekly readings, videos, and discussions were wonderful ways for my to learn new information, discuss new materials, get feedback from fellow classmates, and try many new forms of technology. I was also pleased with the thoughts and suggestions of my course instructor. I plan to keep some of these resources in my classroom and use them whenever possible.

I am also very pleased with my accomplishmentsthroughout this course. I created this very blog page as an assignment which I had never done before. I was also able to contribute to a wiki that was created by a small groups of my classmates and I. The best resource that I was expected to create and use was making my own podcast. With the help of recording software and the website http://www.podcastmachine.com/, I was able to upload my own podcast! I have since created a permission slip to be sent home and get signed so that each one of my students can start using/creating podcast in the classroom. I am very excited to incorporate all of these technologies into the classroom.

The future of technology in my classroom looks great! I plan to continue to use the Smart Board, Elmo, computers, etc. I also plan to further my learning by continuing my Master's courses and exploring the web for other new materials and technology. I plan to give students the freedom to explore various websites and other technology features on the web. I will strive to facilitate, aid, and meet the needs for each student while allowing collaboration, communication, and discussion.

Finally, I plan to be a lifelong learner of technology taking the skills and knowledge I learn and sharing them with family, friends, students, and co-workers. I feel it is important that everyone is exposed to technology since it is becoming a more vital part of our lives.

My First EVER Podcast!

For my assignment, I was to create a podcast where I interviewed several students in my class and reflected on their responses concerning technology. Here is the link for my podcast. Enjoy!
http://podcastmachine.com/podcasts/3631/episodes/16650