Final Reflection

As I look back on my personal theory of learning from the beginning of this course, I realize there is only one major addition I would make. A challenging and non-threatening environment, a variety of instructional strategies, and connections to everyday life are the three things I listed for instruction to be effective. With teaching today’s 21^st century students, I would add to not only use a variety of instructional strategies but also to use many different technology tools as learning tools within the classroom. “Teaching, learning, and technology work together to achieve the ultimate goal of effective knowledge transfer” (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2008, p. 26). Today’s students need more than paper and pencil activities to be engaged in a lesson and technology gives the teacher the power to provide the students with more.

When I look at my instructional practices, I find that I use many technology tools as instructional tools. According to Dr. Orey, an instructional tool is what the teacher does with technology (Laureate Education, Inc. 2008b). A learning tool on the other hand, consists of what the students are doing with technology. I would like to change the activities I do into activities the students can do. For example, instead of creating a concept map to simply show the students, I will have the students make their own concept maps. Concept mapping allows the teacher to help the students find important information, organize the information, and put the information in their own words thus creating a more meaningful learning experience (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007).

The two technology tools I would like to use in the future is a virtual field trip and a WebQuest. Both virtual field trips and WebQuests can be used within the cooperative learning theory. Interacting with others in cooperative groups helps build student confidence with using the technology tools and learning the new material (Laureate Education, Inc. 2008a). Both of these tools are inquiry-based so the students are finding the information on their own which leads to a higher level of engagement.

The first long-term goal I would like to achieve is to use technology primarily as learning tools for my students. The first step would be to introduce the students to all the technology tools available to them. Then I would provide mini lessons that incorporate each of these tools. Eventually, I would be able to assign an activity that used a technology tool and the students would be able to complete the activity independently.

The second long-term goal I would like to make is use technology to accomplish more collaborative learning activities. I would first use simple pair-share activities to begin working on appropriate social skills when working in a cooperative group. Then I would start with a small project for the students to work on in small groups and work up to a more in depth assignment. I believe that providing students with a variety of different instructional strategies is important for the students to continue to stay engaged. Overall, this class has given me a lot of great ideas to incorporate into my classroom.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008a). Program eight. Social Learning Theories [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008b). Program thirteen. Technology: Instructional Tool vs. Learning Tool [Motion picture]. 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.

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

Cooperative Learning and Social Learning Theories

“To be prepared for the fast-paced, virtual workplace that they will inherit, today’s students need to be able to learn and produce cooperatively” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, 2007, p. 139). An important 21st Century Skill that must be taught in the classroom is being able to collaborate with each other. According to Dr. Orey, there is a zone of proximal development which is the information the student is able to learn. However, the student cannot learn that information on his/her own. Collaboration must take place between the teacher and the students and oftentimes amongst the students themselves before learning can be turned into something meaningful. Students see concepts in different ways and can help each other make sense of a topic by sharing their own personal insights and thoughts.

Many different networking tools directly correlate to social learning theories and cooperative learning. When students work together to create or experience webquests, blogs, or facebook pages, they have to interact with one another. Using these tools together can help the students build confidence with their ability to correctly use the tools.

Here is a video that supports the idea that learning and developing is based on the influences, such as people, around them.

http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=216542

Voicethread

References:

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

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program eight. Social Learning Theories [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author.