VoiceThread

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Social Learning

I think social learning does have a place in today’s education and can provide important support to the education process. Students often times learn as well if not better from their own peers. Allowing students to interact and discuss topics related to the content or school provides students with more avenues for student success. When teaching the content to another student the student who is doing the teaching has to have an understanding of the topic in order to properly teach the content. If students are simply memorizing information for a test are they really learning the material? Will they be able to apply the information gained once they leave the classroom? I believe students can sometimes teach the content better to each other and can use analogies or common language to better relate what they are learning to their peer. “When students work in cooperative groups, they make sense of or construct meaning for, new knowledge by interacting with others” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski , 2007, p. 139). A lot of times students understand technology and its uses more than their teachers. They can explain the uses of the technology and how it exactly is set up or works. They provide the introduction to technology and its uses.

Allowing students to work in groups or with a partner allows them to prepare a project together learning how to work as a team. Education is the process of preparing students for life and their future after they leave our classroom and schools. When they step into the real world they are going to have to be able to adapt to other workers and learn from their peers in order to be successful in their profession. Being up to date with technology and being able to socially interact with coworkers will give students an advantage in the professional world.

When we think of the current the current social age I think of text messaging, facebook, twitter, blogs, etc. There is some much information out there for students to learn and to share. Being able to tap into some of those resources and provide students with avenues for success will allow them to become more accomplished and diverse individuals. Providing students with the ability to learn, teach and relate to a lesson will keep them connected to education.

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

Constructivism

I teach History to 5-8th graders and often cover wars or other world changing events. The World War II activity discussed in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works obviously appealed to me. I find it challenging to summarize the events and changes World War II brought to the world in a unit that consists of month or two, or possibly even shorter. Personally enjoying World War II, I could spend a whole semester or year on the events and changes World War II brought. Being able to introduce topics or resources that could supplement the lesson would help students gain a better understanding of the causes of war and changes it can bring. In the past we have used the game Risk to show impact of War and the strategy behind it. Implementing new ways and avenues that students find interesting would only help the learning process. The book discusses how constructivism helps students learn together, through each other and take an active role in the learning process. Board games or gaming in general, allows the students to take an active leadership role in the learning process because of the responsibilities the game places on the players. Being responsible for a country’s well-being at home and abroad and during war times, gives the students a resemblance of what goes on within a country during war. The hands on approach I believe when supplemented with some background knowledge would allow students the opportunity to take away more information from the unit and better understand the events and changes of World War II.

Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

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

New Post

Using cues, questions, and advance organizers helps students use the information they learn about a topic and make sense of the information.  They will be able to focus more on the topic when they information is well organized and easy to grasp.  As teacher we need to focus on what is important and get this information across to our students.  When trying to get students to focus in on a topic we need to make sure we are asking challenging and thought provoking questions.  This will elicit deeper learning on a topic.  I particularly liked the idea of bringing in the challenging questions to the classroom and see the difference between questions that encourage student critical thinking skills and those that do not.  Note taking is a skill that all students need to develop and it is obvious that it is a work in progress.  Teaching students multiple ways of note taking and preparing them with different avenues will help student performance.  At our school we try and implement Cornell Notes as the main form of note taking.  It has a structured format and allows for summary and reflection portions.  However, implementing or discussing different ways of note taking will encourage students to discover what way works best for them and can use guidelines for their selection.  Students should focus on notes quality and realize that taking verbatim notes is very ineffective.  The more notes students can take the better they will be prepared for future assignments on those particular notes.  Reviewing notes will ensure students have a grasp of the lesson’s content.

 

 

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

Behaviorism

Technology makes it easier for students and teachers to monitor progress on reports, projects or daily lessons.  The ability to see immediate accomplishments as well as provide feedback increases with technology use inside the classroom.  Informing parents of student achievement or behavior can be an everyday thing with the advancement of technology.  Email is not the only avenue of classroom and community interaction.  Classroom blogs are becoming more popular and allow parents and students to stay involved outside of school.   Varying approaches on how we respond to student work and providing them with multiple learning opportunities will help ensure student success.  “Typically, students need about 24 practice sessions with a skill in order to achieve 80-percent competency” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007).With most things in order to see success students need to put forth solid effort in order to reap the benefits of technology uses.   We can't expect kids to use word or excel spreadsheet and hope they understand it in one sitting.  Like most learners they need enough time in order to develop the skill and then produce work with the skill.  Providing students with the time to learn will benefit the classroom in the long run.   If students are giving a solid effort and they are providing enough chances to understand and use the skill, they should have a great shot at transferring the skills into our classrooms and workplaces.  By teaching students the importance of effort and being able to monitor effort and achievement we can hopefully produce a solid experience inside the classroom. 

 

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

Technology Reflection

The master's class that I recently completed has been very beneficial as a professional teacher. The class has provided me with different resources that can be incorporated into my curriculum to enhance the learning environment. Technology and teaching to 21st century skills is now apart of my weekly lessons.

This course has deepened my knowledge of teaching and the learning process by providing different resources to find information that can be used in class. Using wiki's, blogs, discussion boards, etc., to find information has really increased the learning process.

Changing from being teacher-centered to learner-centered has helped to center my curriculum around the student and what they can gain from a lesson and then apply the lesson to the real world. Make sure the students are developing skills that will help them once they leave the classroom and are presented with opportunities outside of school. Allowing the student to learn these skills and teach others these skills will help their education.

Improving my knowledge of technology and education will be very important as I move forward as a teacher. Continuing to explore different avenues for technology and promoting them within my classroom will ensure students the opportunity to increase achievement.

Within the next two years I hope to have a school blog approved and used by students and parents. Along with the blog I would like to add a educational discussion board that allows students to post about topics, lessons or projects. These improvements would help prepare students for 21st century and would promote lifelong learning. Our school district has currently allowed our classroom to run an individual classroom blog. Showing the district the benefit a blog has been for our class will help get these technological improvements in the future.

Podcast

Conducted a podcast with three of my students from Paterson Elementary, discussing technology and the impact it has on their lives.

Podcast