Reflection for class EDUC 6711

Upon my reflection of my personal theory of learning, I have come to the conclusion that on completion of this course, Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology, I have not made any modifications of my personal theory of learning. The learning process implemented within my classroom is demonstration and explanation followed by student practice and fabrication. This type of learning theory compliments the styles of each of my students. Whether they are a visual, aural, reading / writing, or kinesthetic / tactile learner, every one of my students is able to walk away with new knowledge. If I have learned anything from this course, I have become more aware of the different types of learners in my classroom.

Immediate adjustments that I have made in my classroom instruction are two new technology tools that I am using with my 8th grade Woodworking class. During week 3 we learned about Virtual field trips that would allow our students to leave the classroom without really leaving the classroom. I was able to find a virtual fieldtrip that takes place at a sawmill. Before the virtual fieldtrip I would have the students look at the textbook as I described the process that a tree goes through in order to become a piece of usable lumber. Now I can literally take my students there, and they can watch the whole process from start to finish. The other technology that I have implemented, is the VoiceThread, I use this in both my 7th grade and 8th grade classes. With this tool I have the students post a picture of their completed projects and explain the process they went through in order to complete the project. They get feedback from their classmates as well as me. The principle has even chimed in on a few threads. They really enjoy this new tool.

I don’t know if I have two long term goal changes that I would like to make to my instructional practice regarding technology integration, but I definitely have one. I would like to implement more technology into my 6th grade Industrial exploration class. The main problem to overcome is the time limit. This class is a six week long class, and the curriculum would have to be revamped. In order to do that, I would have to meet with the other Industrial Technology teacher at the other middle school, and then we would have to go in front of the school board in order to get our curriculum changed. However, I feel that it would be worth the time and effort to implement a change to my sixth grade curriculum. This will be a long process that I would like to start at the end of this school year and have the summer to make the necessary changes. I would like to implement a sixth grade technology exploration class where the students would be able to come into my Hi-tech classroom and experience the 12 different modules we have. This would give them the opportunity to start thinking about different career paths that they might be interested in. Right now this class is set up for 8th graders only.

Voice Thread

Here is the link to my voice thread. What a great little tool. I hope everyone had as much fun making their voice thread as I did.

https://voicethread.com/#q+Woodworking+room.b889800.i4742293

For some odd reason I can not create a link, so please just copy and paste the address into your browser. Thanks

Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

According to Dr. Orey in our DVD, social learning theories “actively engage students in constructing artifacts and conversing with others” (Laureate, 2009). An instructional strategy that encompasses the social learning theory is that of cooperative learning. Based on our class text, Using Technology with classroom instruction that works, cooperative learning “focuses on having students interact with each other in groups in ways that enhance their learning” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, 2007).

Social learning theories incorporate Vgostsky’s Zone of Proximal Development. Based on the three areas, what the child knows, what the child is able to learn at the time, and the highest level, what the child is unable to learn at this time, we can see that the cooperative learning takes place during the highest zone of proximal development. Meaning, the student needs “more knowledgeable others” (Laureate, 2009). The learner is being actively engaged with a parent, teacher, peer, or even a computer, to gain the knowledge that is normally unattainable by them.

Our class text lists some collaborative learning tools that correlate to the cooperative learning strategy. It first talks about Multimedia, for instance, videos. Here the students are required to work as teams to complete an activity. If this video project was done individually, then the students would not be able to feed off of one another for ideas. So, by working as a group, they are able to access each others ideas and put them into one big idea.

Another collaborative tool is web resources. Here students are able to collaborate with more than just their classmates. With the help of the web, students are able to gather more information quicker than they could before, they can collaborate with other students in their school or even students that are outside of their state or country, the web has opened up the limitations that used to exist with researching. Within the web, students are able to access online gaming where they are able to interact with other students simultaneously through some type of gaming interface. The best part of this type of tool is that the students are able to play against each other as opposed to playing against a machine.

The tools that students are able to access today have opened doors allowing students to explore beyond their desks. The idea of social learning theories is played out every day in every classroom. Teachers have their students work collaboratively to get more out of the project that has been assigned. Cooperative learning is a large part of education, and the reason for this is to allow our students to get ready for what is waiting for them when they are out in the workforce. Companies today are looking for people who are people persons, people who can get along with others, people who share their ideas for the advancement of a larger goal. If we don’t start this type of learning at a young age, then this type of desirable trait will be difficult to obtain. As an educator, I have learned more from teaching my students then I ever did when I was the one learning.

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.