Reflection

Reflection on Personal Learning Theory

While the words I used then are not necessarily the same as what I would use now, they do show a few key points that I find even more valid after what I’ve learned from this course.  I made the point that our students are the ones that need the practice at specific skills.  I would add that those skills should involve the student actively engaged in the application of technology and the creation of a physical product or artifact (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010a).  Students must be the ones that are involved and actively participating in their own learning.  I would tend to think that I also lean towards creating lessons that are  rooted in Project-Based Learning where the learners are taking ownership of the so much of the process when it comes to choosing the topic, content, and the method of presentation (Orey, 2001).  I like putting it into the hands of the students and letting them use a little self-determination and self-direction.  I don’t think I have strayed too far from this even sitting here at the end of the course.  In a very similar manner to what I ask my students to do, this course has forced me to learn, experiment with, and implement educational technologies that I did not know about (VoiceThread) or did not use in my classroom (online blogs).  I have also had the opportunity to refresh my mind on some of the methods involved in various learning theories.  Some of these theories have been applied in my classroom without even know exactly what I was doing or why.  That is almost scary.

Adjustments

I am excited to continue the use of VoiceThreads as they give my students a great way to share information and pictures/videos as well as collaborate and communicate in an online and interactive environment (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010b).  This is one of those tools that I did not know about until it was introduced in this course.  I also see this as a great way to communicate with parents using content from the class and my voice.  I also plan on continuing to find ways for my students to function, learn, communicate, and collaborate in an online environment.  I have used blogs in the past and I will continue to look for ways to adapt the use of blogs to make them usable for other lessons that I have not used them for previously.  I have also improved my understanding of the best methods of cooperative learning.  I would have never thought to purposefully include the five basic components of formal groups (positive interdependence, promotive interaction, individual/group accountability, small-group skills, and group processing) into my lesson planning (Pitler, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007).  I have always thought that every group lesson could be done with an informal group and that if there was a formal group there would not be any difference.  It is interesting to now know that those groups should come with structure.

Goals

My goals are very simple.  I want to remove the barriers to technology for my students and create more opportunities for my students to have valuable interaction with technology.  My strategy for achieving this is one in which I cannot accomplish the second without the first.  I need to plan my lesson timelines more effectively.  If I do this, I will be able to schedule computer lab time in advance so that my students can use the tools that are available to them.  I have been working on creating a schedule of lessons for the coming semester and I hope to have that in place soon.  Once I have created more opportunities to access technology I will be able to continue having my students utilize some of the tools that I have learned about in this course.  I will also continue to look for ways that I can take lessons that I currently teach and create an opportunity for my students to use some type of technological tool to create a product or artifact.  I can see how these two pieces relate and the time for implementation is now.

If there is one thing I know, my exposure to and use of these educational technology tools during this course will trickle down into my lessons very quickly as I look for exciting ways to implement them.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010a). Program eight. Social learning theories [Webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010b). Spotlight on Technology: Virtual Field Trips. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

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

Pitler, H., R., E. H., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). "Chapter 9: Identifying Similarities and Differences." Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2007

Social Learning in Practice

“Students actively engage in constructing artifacts and conversing with others,” is the principle that rests at the core of social learning theories (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010).  The social aspect is apparent in our lessons every time that there is talking or interaction amongst our students.  Let me clarify that a little bit, constructive talking or interaction amongst our students is what I am getting at.  I think it is obvious that mindless chatter doesn’t bring about the learning that we desire.  However, put our students in the position or in the small groups and give them guidelines and valuable tasks and roles and I think the outcome becomes a little more of a valuable experience for our students and for us.

We do need to continue to provide structure for these groups beyond just the pairing of students.  “Formal groups should include five components: positive interdependence, face-to-face promotive interaction, individual and group accountability, interpersonal and small-group skills, and group processing (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007).”  Applying these components is another way that we work to provide some guidelines in creating a valuable learning experience.

One of the ideas that I found really intriguing and I think is still a work in progress is that web-enabled collaborative learning provides the same type of learning experience as physical interaction (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007).  I think we are still so early in the time of Skype and Twitter and other real-time communication methods that we do not know exactly how to best utilize these as learning tools.  More importantly, I’m not sure we know the best way to provide structure so that our students are utilizing these tools in the best way.

While I believe that the opportunities for the use of technology and cooperative learning will continue to increase quickly, I think that we are always playing catch-up when it comes to the use of these tools and learning theories.

Resources:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Program eight. Social learning theories [Webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

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

Reaching students in crowded classrooms

http://voicethread.com/share/1554379/