Constructionist/Constructivist Learning Theory

In this week’s Learning Resources I learned about the Constructionist theory which closely relates to the Constructivist Learning theory. Constructionism, “requires the learners to construct artifacts reflecting their acquisition of knowledge” (Orey, 2001, p. 5). One element of Constructionism is Learning by Design (LBD). “Learning by Design strongly suggests that tasks should be based on hands-on experience in real-world contexts” (Orey, 2001, p. 6). Luckily in most of my Business Education classes students can see how the concepts and ideas learned directly relate to the real-world. I try to make the content as relevant to their personal lives as possible.

This week I viewed the website VoiceThreads (http://voicethread.com/) where building artifacts can be collaborative, interactive, and interesting. I foresee myself being able to act as a guide on the side while my students create lasting artifacts and are actively engaged in learning. As we begin our journey with VoiceThreads I am growing excited with anticipation on what students will be able to create. At the end of the semester I would like to see students look back at their first VoiceThread and reflect upon all they have learned.

In both Constructionism and Constructivism learners are actively constructing meaning for themselves, but Constructionism is, “a theory of learning that states people learn best when they build an external artifact; something they can share with others” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). I often ask my children to create projects and artifacts. In the future I would like to utilize educational technologies to allow my students to create the same artifacts and projects but through the use of technology. I believe learners will much more excited to tackle a project when they can use the computer and really ‘wow’ their audience with the results!

Resources:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Constructionist and Constructivist Learning Theories. [Motion Picture]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

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

Behaviorist Learning Theory – Is there a place for it?

According to Dr. Orey, behaviorism is used every day (Laureate Education Inc., 2009). I know I use it with my own children, with my students and with other adults. This week I viewed specific strategies that correlate with behaviorist learning theory. The first strategy was reinforcing effort. As I looked at a rubric from our text that allowed students to grade their own effort I was impressed. Often my students wonder why they did poorly on an assessment and their resulting answer is some reason beyond their control. When I sit down with them to discuss how much effort they put into the homework they begin to realize they did not sufficiently prepare in order to be successful on the assessment. I plan to implement this rubric hoping my students will be able to honestly grade themselves and chart their effort on homework with the resulting score on an assessment. “The instructional strategy of reinforcing effort enhances students’ understanding of the relationship between effort and achievement by addressing their attitudes and beliefs about learning” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007, p. 155).

The second strategy I reviewed related to homework and practice. “As an extension of the classroom, homework provides opportunities for students to deepen their understanding of the content and to gain proficiency with their skills” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007, p. 187). Behaviorism is related to observing and measuring human behavior. There is almost always a direct correlation to amount of time spent on homework and assessment scores. Retention rates of information are much higher when delivered in multiple ways. Students that hear information in class once and never visit it again will lose that information quickly. I often use educational technology intertwined with homework practice. For example, in my Computer Applications class students are asked to play one of the interactive games at home as part of their homework assignment. The games are modeled after famous game shows such as Wheel of Fortune and Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The textbooks are kept in the classroom and the games are often asking for definitions. The students come back to class with lists of words they want to look up to achieve mastery on the game. Mastery is not required; the students find the games, relevant, fun and engaging. The point is that the students want to do well, they are enjoying their homework and doing more than is actually required.

In my high school, academic rigor is expected. Students will often spend 4-6 hours after school completing homework assignments. I find this amount to be beyond excessive, is anyone in a similar situation? What do you think is a reasonable amount of homework every night for high school students?

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Behaviorist Learning Theory. [Motion Picture]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

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

New Mind Set: Reflection

• In what ways has this course helped you to develop your own technology skills as a professional teacher?

This course has allowed me to experiment with new technologies available in Web 2.0 that I was either unaware of or did not know how to use. I find myself thinking about which lessons I can implement a blog, a wiki, or a podcast. The course gave me cross-disciplinary examples that I was able to share with the staff in my building. I was also able to reflect on my shortcomings and recognize ways that I can further develop my technology skills.

• In what ways have you deepened your knowledge of the teaching and learning process?

I have deepened my knowledge of teaching by realizing that the traditional way of lecture and text is not going to work as sufficiently as other methodologies. Todays students learn in a faster-paced environment. The read/write web should be utilized as much as possible for acquiring information and teachers must be accountable for teaching students how to differentiate between reliable and unreliable sources. I have learned that the majority of my students are Digital Natives. The more I can tap into this new information and integrate technology into my classroom the better prepared my students will be for the work environment and culture that awaits them!

• In what ways have you changed your perspective from being teacher-centered to learner-centered?

I have only been teaching for seven years. When I went through college the learner-centered theories were just being introduced. Therefore, I keep my lectures to a minimum. I find out what the students already know and move on from there. I know that I can maintain their attention in a lecture for about 10 minutes so I keep my lessons short. Because I teach Career and Tech. Ed. the majority of my classes utilize project-based learning.

• In what ways can you continue to expand your knowledge of learning, teaching, and leading with technology with the aim of increasing student achievement?

I can continue to follow the various websites I have found that are dedicated to technology education. I have set up an iGoogle page with RSS feeds for the sites I find valuable. I found when I integrated a podcast as a final project for one of my classes that nearly all of my students were excited and wanted to start right away. I sat down in an informal manner with quite a few students to reflect and see how we could do it better the next time. One of my students had a great idea and when I praised his thinking you could see the sense of pride. I value the information and knowledge that my students come into the classroom with and I enjoy letting them teach me new things!

• Set two long-term goals (within two years) for transforming your classroom environment by which you may have to overcome institutional or systemic obstacles in order to achieve them. How do you plan to accomplish these goals?/

1. My first goal is to have Audacity placed on each student computer in my room and to get quality headsets for each student. Obstacles: I have to get permission to add any programs onto the computers first from my department head, then the principal and finally the technology installer at the district level (a.k.a. a ton of jumping hoops). The other issue is finding the money for the headsets. I have a large budget but I think I may ask for grant money from the PTSA at our school.

2. My second goal is to convince my principal and the district administrators to allow me to create a class wiki for my Business Law class. Obstacles: The culture of no in my school. One administrator in particular is unfamiliar with most new technology therefore the unknown is frightening. Instead of trusting in the staff to make knowledgeable decisions she just says no. I am going to not let this discourage me. I am going to keep going back to her and asking again and again. I will show her the readings and data that I have accessed through my Master's classes to document how this will increase student achievement.

• Refer to the checklist from Week 1. Have any of your answers changed after completing this course?

When I referred back to the checklist from Week 1 many of my answers were that I integrated technology in the classroom often. One area I did improve on was -Promote the development of leadership and technology skills in my students and colleagues. I initially answered rarely in this area. Over the length of this course I have forwarded on useful websites, spoke with colleagues about lessons I saw in the videos that I thought they could apply/use, and I have shared the ways I have been able to integrate new technologies in my classroom. I feel I am moving further along the continuum but I can continue to improve.

My First Classroom Podcast!

http://azizehc.podbean.com/mf/web/bhnrmz/My1stpodcastmp4.m4a

21st Century Skills

I spent the better part of this morning perusing the website Partnership for 21st Century Skills.

My reaction to the Web site:

• I found the website to be filled with valuable information. I went so far as to send the web address to my entire staff. What impressed me most was that in the resource section there was a huge variety of resources that would be beneficial to many content areas. Often websites are only good for a particular content area, but the Partnership for 21st Century Skills had resources that could be used for many different areas of study. One of the links I found that I believe I can use and implement in my classroom was S.O.S. For Information Literacy . A lesson plan I would like to review is called No One Mourns the Wiki. I liked this lesson plan because it could be applied to any group project that students have been doing in a traditional manner such as with PowerPoint.

What information on the site surprised you?

• I was surprised that my state was not on the list. We are one of the lowest states for per pupil spending, so maybe I should not be surprised. Yet when I look at the list of council members I see Microsoft which is headquartered in Washington State.

Did you disagree with anything on the site? Explain.

• I disagree with P21 for strongly supporting No Child Left Behind. In its current state I cannot agree with the premise of No Child Left Behind. I disagree with the core subjects recognized by the Act. I do not teach any of these subjects yet I support the skills and academic content areas of all of them when I use real-world examples in my classroom on a daily basis.
  

What are the implications for your students and for you as a contemporary educator?

• The implications for my students will be whether or not they will be exposed to these skills and tools in the majority of their classes. If they are only exposed in my classroom I am not sure they will learn enough to be ready for the work environment. The implications for me are that I need to utilize my time to find ways I can integrate critical thinking and communication skills into my class using some of the technologies the students are using already. I need to make time to get together with other teachers across content areas and show them how easy it is to implement these tools. Introducing new delivery methods does not necessarily mean more work.

Great Blog to Follow!

I just wanted to list the link for a blog that I follow and think is fantastic for educators especially those interested in technology (which we all should be - it's here whether we like it or not!). The blog is

http://kimcofino.com/blog/

Idea for using a blog in my classroom

I was chatting with my husband about this topic last night. I was trying to think of a valuable way I could use blogs in my classes. I teach so many different subjects that I was trying to work my way down to just one. I chose Business Law. I just did a modified fish bowl in my class last week. In this strategy you choose a topic (we chose a case here in WA State where a man was sentenced to the death penalty). I had the students break into groups of 4-5 and each group was asked to find an information source on-line. After three groups came up with articles from a newspaper or similar source I asked the other groups to find other types of sources. Some examples of what they found were a blog and a transcript of a police statement from the defendant. Copies of the sources are given to each group. I had the students highlight information that supported their stance on the death penalty. The students divide up and go back and forth using the sources as evidence to support their positions. I modeled some sample statements for them beforehand.

I believe I could easily transform this into a blog assignment to be completed outside of class. Each week I would assign the topic and one group would choose a court case related to the topic to fishbowl on the blog. The group would post links to the sources they chose and write the initial post. Each student would then post their response and I believe the conversation would explode from there. I have such a great vision of what this could become. I am guessing most of the topics would be controversial and that the students would post way more than the required amount. This last week was my first opportunity to do this exercise in class and it was a huge success with most students, yet I still have those few who for whatever reason do not participate at the level I would like them to. I believe posting would give these students a voice yet in a protected environment.

I think a blog would enhance the lesson because the students would be doing it outside of class time. It was a fantastic lesson but very time consuming to do in class. It would also let others chime in on the court cases so the students would get a greater perspective of opinions. I would ask a few lawyers in our community to post comments so the students could see the real world outcome and perspective from a professional. I teach grades 9-12, this particular class is Business Law.

Does this sound like a lesson anyone else would implement in their classroom? Does it seem realistic to expect the students to do this on their own time? Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated!