Transitioning from Knowledge to Synthesis-Reflection
As a result of this course, I realize that there is a great deal more to incorporating technology in the classroom than just introducing new tools. The literacy skills needed to search, evaluate, and synthesize information on the internet are similar yet different than those needed for traditional research.
Students must be taught how to effectively use search engines and utilize key words to find information. Then they must be taught to evaluate the sites for validity and reliability. Students can use the "Get REAL" acronym by Dr. Almasi to read the URL, evaluate the content, ask about the author and owner, and look at the links within a website. But the most important skill our students need to learn is how to synthesize and transform information into new knowledge. To support my students in this area, I plan to use the two-column web journal form (Eagleton and Dobler, 2007). The sentence starters/prompts that are provided on this form help students personally respond to new information and turn it into their own words. By using this form to take notes from different websites, students can learn to link or synthesize information from multiple sources. When creating artifacts, using personal responses encourages intellectual honesty.
As educators we need to teach and model both technology literacy and responsibility. As the technology coordinator in my building, I feel it is my responsibility to encourage and lead others in these areas. To that end, I hope to work in conjunction with our media specialist and administrators to initiate conversations addressing the SMART acronym on the CyberSmartCurriculum.org site.
Safety and Security online
Manners, bullying, and ethics
Authentic learning and creativity
Research and information fluency
Twenty-first century challenges.
Hopefully through staff discussions and monthly technology related e-letters, we will develop a unified approach to these important literacy skills and issues.
Almasi, J. (2009). Critical evaluation. Laureate Education, DVD.
Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the Web: Strategies for Internet inquiry. New York: The Guilford Press.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Reflection
At the beginning of this course I described my personal learning theory as an "eclectic" mix that is mostly social constructionist. I still feel that this is a good descriptor. I agree with cognitive theorists that when students develop an awareness about how they think, they improve their understanding. The cognitive tools we explored such as concept mapping and virtual field trips work to develop connections in the brain to new learning. I believe in using these tools and others to create connections and pathways. Many of the routines in my room are aligned with behaviorist theory such as behavior management and skill practice activities. However, I believe true, meaningful learning occurs when students are creating artifacts and learning with or from others whether peers or "more knowledgeable others" (Laureate, 2009). We had an excellent debate in week 5 of our course about whether or not social learning is the primary way in which people learn. When "more knowledgeable other" is defined as a peer, teacher, or computer, that opens the door for many definitions of social interaction. I normally wouldn't think of a computer tutorial as social learning but I do learn from the computer when I see someone model a task and hear them describe what is happening. The fact that I can replay the tutorial and use a chat feature for additional help assists in my learning. While I am capable of learning information on my own, my understanding of a topic is deepened when given the opportunity to discuss it, teach it, or create an artifact about it.
The immediate adjustments I plan to make to my instructional practices this year are to focus on the strategy clusters that are proven to make an impact on student learning, particularly identifying similarities and differences. This strategy can be implemented immediately regardless of the technology available in the classroom and when students are proficient in this strategy, they have shown a 45 percentile gain in achievement (Laureate, 2009). Another adjustment I plan to make is to design my current projects to be more collaborative using the tools to which we have been introduced. Voice Thread is a very easy tool for students to use. The other tools I plan to use are Kidspiration for concept maps and virtual field trips.
The long term goals I have are to work with grade level colleagues to revamp the curriculum units with a focus on integrating technology tools and to take a leadership role in the professional development of colleagues in my building. Many teachers continue to think of technology as an "add on" to our curriculum. I hope to share my knowledge and enthusiasm to show that technology incorporated into what we already do will create more engaging and meaningful learning experiences, and increased student achievement. I have accepted the position of tech coordinator for my building for this school year and will use this position to work on these long term goals.
Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical Foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Laureate, Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Social Learning Theories. [DVD]. Baltimore, MD.
Laureate, Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Instructional Strategies, Part One. [DVD]. Baltimore, MD.
The immediate adjustments I plan to make to my instructional practices this year are to focus on the strategy clusters that are proven to make an impact on student learning, particularly identifying similarities and differences. This strategy can be implemented immediately regardless of the technology available in the classroom and when students are proficient in this strategy, they have shown a 45 percentile gain in achievement (Laureate, 2009). Another adjustment I plan to make is to design my current projects to be more collaborative using the tools to which we have been introduced. Voice Thread is a very easy tool for students to use. The other tools I plan to use are Kidspiration for concept maps and virtual field trips.
The long term goals I have are to work with grade level colleagues to revamp the curriculum units with a focus on integrating technology tools and to take a leadership role in the professional development of colleagues in my building. Many teachers continue to think of technology as an "add on" to our curriculum. I hope to share my knowledge and enthusiasm to show that technology incorporated into what we already do will create more engaging and meaningful learning experiences, and increased student achievement. I have accepted the position of tech coordinator for my building for this school year and will use this position to work on these long term goals.
Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical Foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Laureate, Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Social Learning Theories. [DVD]. Baltimore, MD.
Laureate, Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Instructional Strategies, Part One. [DVD]. Baltimore, MD.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice
Cooperative learning has been around for a long time. This instructional strategy gets a 21st century facelift with the introduction of technological tools for collaboration and presentation. Students today can find information easily. Using the web, they can do searches or ask experts questions directly (Pitler etal, 2007). The hard work they must do is apply that information to problem-solving situations. A wide variety of sites allow students to "meet" no matter where they are or time of day such as wikis, blogs, and "keypal" sites. Students can share documents and see changes made by group members on sites such as Google Docs or by emailing Word docs and utilizing the "track changes" feature in Microsoft. Online calendars can be used to monitor progress of group members.
One tool I was introduced to this week that I really liked was VoiceThread. This is such a simple yet effective way to share ideas with others. In one of the tutorials, a child posted an illustration on VoiceThread with a brief story about his creature. Several people commented on his picture and his creativity. I think this is such an easy way to start sharing content on the web because the privacy settings allow you to limit the people that can view or comment on the artifact. There is also a way to moderate the comments. Another feature I really like about this tool is the variety of options for commenting. People can use a microphone, webcam, type, or call a phone number to add a comment.
Another tool I was introduced to this week that was very foreign to me was "Second Life" and virtual world simulations. I had never heard of these avatar environments for business or education purposes. I have long used Kathy Schrock's website for ideas and I see that she is involved in training teachers to create educational experiences in "Teen Second Life." I will have to check that out more. Because so many of today's video games are simulation type games, I think students would enjoy and respond well to such applications. However, since I am just beginning to use Read/Write Web 2.0 tools, I think virtual worlds are still a long way off for me.
People today are very connected. Younger and younger kids are carrying cell phones with texting capability and are on social network sites. The younger children start off on WebKinz or Club Penguin and quickly graduate up to Facebook. Many of the video game systems such as XBox and Playstation have online versions of their games. Adults are constantly hooked into the internet through smart phones. There must be value in all this connectivity. Are we being more productive? Are we learning from each other? Or is it up to educators to guide this connectivity toward learning purposes?
Resources:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD
Laureate, Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Social learning theories. [DVD]. Baltimore, MD.
Dembo, S. (2008, October). Virtual worlds for educators. District Administration, 44(11), 48–52.
One tool I was introduced to this week that I really liked was VoiceThread. This is such a simple yet effective way to share ideas with others. In one of the tutorials, a child posted an illustration on VoiceThread with a brief story about his creature. Several people commented on his picture and his creativity. I think this is such an easy way to start sharing content on the web because the privacy settings allow you to limit the people that can view or comment on the artifact. There is also a way to moderate the comments. Another feature I really like about this tool is the variety of options for commenting. People can use a microphone, webcam, type, or call a phone number to add a comment.
Another tool I was introduced to this week that was very foreign to me was "Second Life" and virtual world simulations. I had never heard of these avatar environments for business or education purposes. I have long used Kathy Schrock's website for ideas and I see that she is involved in training teachers to create educational experiences in "Teen Second Life." I will have to check that out more. Because so many of today's video games are simulation type games, I think students would enjoy and respond well to such applications. However, since I am just beginning to use Read/Write Web 2.0 tools, I think virtual worlds are still a long way off for me.
People today are very connected. Younger and younger kids are carrying cell phones with texting capability and are on social network sites. The younger children start off on WebKinz or Club Penguin and quickly graduate up to Facebook. Many of the video game systems such as XBox and Playstation have online versions of their games. Adults are constantly hooked into the internet through smart phones. There must be value in all this connectivity. Are we being more productive? Are we learning from each other? Or is it up to educators to guide this connectivity toward learning purposes?
Resources:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD
Laureate, Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Social learning theories. [DVD]. Baltimore, MD.
Dembo, S. (2008, October). Virtual worlds for educators. District Administration, 44(11), 48–52.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Voicethread Project-Recess Debate
Here is the link to voicethread assignment. It is embedded into my blog so you just need to click on the title of the post but if you experience any trouble, the url is http://voicethread.com/share/1251804/
Constructivist/Constructionist Learning Theories
This week we focused on the constructionist and constructivist theories of learning. The constructivist theory states that all people use their own experiences and backgrounds to assimilate new information into their individual schemas. The constructionist theory states that students learn best with first hand experience and when they build an artifact that can be shared with others.
I do believe students learn best when creating projects. In all of the curriculum areas, my students create projects and utilize tools of technology. However,I am amazed by the potential that technology offers. Even within the common applications such as word processing and excel, I have not explored the many ways students can use these tools.
The resources this week also differentiated between LBD (Learning by Design) and PBL (Project Based Learning). The difference seems to be that LBD focuses on the building of an artifact for a pre-selected audience and PBL is working on real-world problems but not necessarily creating a project. I would love to incorporate more PBL style projects into my curriculum, as well as more inquiry based learning. These types of projects really put the teacher in the role of a facilitator and coach as kids take charge of their learning.
The quote that really struck me in the resources this week was Papert's quote that "learners don't get ideas, they create ideas (Online book)." Is that true? I get many ideas from other sources but the ones I own and feel passionate about are the ones I create. I believe this can be true of our students' learning process as well. The knowledge they create is what sticks with them the most and that in which they take the most pride.
I do believe students learn best when creating projects. In all of the curriculum areas, my students create projects and utilize tools of technology. However,I am amazed by the potential that technology offers. Even within the common applications such as word processing and excel, I have not explored the many ways students can use these tools.
The resources this week also differentiated between LBD (Learning by Design) and PBL (Project Based Learning). The difference seems to be that LBD focuses on the building of an artifact for a pre-selected audience and PBL is working on real-world problems but not necessarily creating a project. I would love to incorporate more PBL style projects into my curriculum, as well as more inquiry based learning. These types of projects really put the teacher in the role of a facilitator and coach as kids take charge of their learning.
The quote that really struck me in the resources this week was Papert's quote that "learners don't get ideas, they create ideas (Online book)." Is that true? I get many ideas from other sources but the ones I own and feel passionate about are the ones I create. I believe this can be true of our students' learning process as well. The knowledge they create is what sticks with them the most and that in which they take the most pride.
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