In the first assignment for this course, EDUC 6711, I described my personal theory of learning. In my paper, I highlighted the importance of engaging students through the use of Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences, hook information to prior knowledge to cement connections, use many modalities to enter information into the brain, and shift the classroom focus from teaching to learning. At the end of this course, I still believe in those things, but believe more than ever that technology allows me as a teacher to ensure that learning is meaningful in my student centered classroom. Like Dr. Wolfe states, “you can teach more in less time when you teach it better because students get it faster” (Laureate, 2009). The use of technology in the classroom ensures that students are actively engaged in their learning and lets me take a step back to let them explore and use technology as learning tools to support achievement and success now and in the future.
Throughout this master’s program, I have been introduced to many technology tools that can be used in the classroom to effectively engage students in learning, like blogs and podcasts. As useful as these tools can be for older students, I have found them to be of little use to my kindergarten students because these tools are not designed for non-readers. This course has been very valuable to me, much more so than others, because it has taught me how to use virtual field trips and VoiceThread with my students. These technology tools have proven to be wonderful for my students, as they are very easy to navigate for pre-readers and do not require much assistance from me to use and explore. An immediate adjustment I have made in my classroom is finding ways to implement virtual field trips and VoiceThread into my classroom. For example, at the beginning of my unit on space, I let the kids explore various pictures of space objects on Nasa’s website, and as we’re learning about the sun, moon, and earth, I am having the kids create pictures of each to upload to VoiceThread and tell what they’ve learned about each. I’m very excited about it and the kids love being able to create pictures and hear their own voices!
Two long-term goals I have for myself is to 1) begin to implement technology slowly into at least one lesson per weekly unit in my classroom, and 2) Find more technology tools that lend themselves to easy use by my young students. To achieve my first goal, I think I need to remember that implementing technology does not need to happen quickly. If I begin slowly by implementing just a few lessons every month, I will become much better at using the tools myself and will learn how to implement different tools for different purposes in many more lessons. As long as I maintain my time outline of one lesson per unit, I do not think that the job will be too overwhelming. Hopefully, as I learn to use technology more in my classroom, I will be able to achieve my second goal of finding more tools for my young students to use. The only way I will be able to find new things is by exploring technology on my own. As my students explore in the computer lab each day, I plan to also explore right along with them and find even more tools that will help my students achieve.
This course has been integral helping me integrate technology in the classroom. Without this course, I might not ever have found VoiceThread or thought of using virtual field trips or concepts maps with my students. But now, I feel much more equipped to help my students become more prepared for a future filled with technology.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Voice Thread
Here's the link to my Voice Thread, addressing the issues I'm having with my students doing poor quality work. Anyone have any ideas that might help me out???
http://voicethread.com/share/885172/
http://voicethread.com/share/885172/
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice
The main premise of social learning theories is that students must be actively engaged in constructing knowledge through conversing and collaborating with others (Laureate, 2009). According to this theory, students cannot learn without a “more knowledgeable other,” and therefore, learning must be a collaborative process (Laureate, 2009). I believe this to be true, and believe strongly in using cooperative learning in my classroom.
In this week’s learning resources, cooperative learning is described as a way to enhance learning and construct meaning (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, 2007). This is becoming increasingly more important, especially in the classroom, because we are preparing our students to enter a world that is becoming more global and more virtual. According to Thomas Friedman (as cited in Pitler, et al., 2007), “students need to be able to learn and produce cooperatively” if they are to become successful and even survive in our changing world (p. 139). Therefore, using cooperative learning enhanced with social learning based technology tools can help take students into the future with meaningful learning opportunities.
Of each of the examples described in our text, one that can easily be adapted and used in my kindergarten classroom is student-created multimedia. Through the use of multimedia tools, my young students can work together to prepare and create videos explaining concepts we’re studying in the classroom. These videos, furthermore, can be uploaded to file sharing networks such as TeacherTube. While each child could create their own videos explaining concepts and topics, they gain something more by learning to cooperate with one another, help each other succeed, and incorporate many ideas into the “best possible solution” (Orey, 2001).
Another idea that I love, but am not sure how to approach with my young students, is collaboratively created websites. I would love to allow my students to contribute to a website and create something meaningful to communicate ideas with one another and the world. A classroom wiki would allow for the same kind of collaboration that can evolve and improve with each change or addition. Because social learning theories and cooperative learning require collaboration, student created websites and wikis give the opportunity for students to see each other as teachers. Websites and wikis allow students to do the teaching, which of course, helps students “develop a deeper understanding of the content” (Laureate, 2009).
Social networking and collaboration tools can be very powerful tools in helping our students construct knowledge and learn to become members of a global society. Without these tools, students would be less likely to collaborate in a meaningful way. As teachers, it is our job to expose our students to the tools that will be vital in communicating in and contributing to the future.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved on January 27, 2010 from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
In this week’s learning resources, cooperative learning is described as a way to enhance learning and construct meaning (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, 2007). This is becoming increasingly more important, especially in the classroom, because we are preparing our students to enter a world that is becoming more global and more virtual. According to Thomas Friedman (as cited in Pitler, et al., 2007), “students need to be able to learn and produce cooperatively” if they are to become successful and even survive in our changing world (p. 139). Therefore, using cooperative learning enhanced with social learning based technology tools can help take students into the future with meaningful learning opportunities.
Of each of the examples described in our text, one that can easily be adapted and used in my kindergarten classroom is student-created multimedia. Through the use of multimedia tools, my young students can work together to prepare and create videos explaining concepts we’re studying in the classroom. These videos, furthermore, can be uploaded to file sharing networks such as TeacherTube. While each child could create their own videos explaining concepts and topics, they gain something more by learning to cooperate with one another, help each other succeed, and incorporate many ideas into the “best possible solution” (Orey, 2001).
Another idea that I love, but am not sure how to approach with my young students, is collaboratively created websites. I would love to allow my students to contribute to a website and create something meaningful to communicate ideas with one another and the world. A classroom wiki would allow for the same kind of collaboration that can evolve and improve with each change or addition. Because social learning theories and cooperative learning require collaboration, student created websites and wikis give the opportunity for students to see each other as teachers. Websites and wikis allow students to do the teaching, which of course, helps students “develop a deeper understanding of the content” (Laureate, 2009).
Social networking and collaboration tools can be very powerful tools in helping our students construct knowledge and learn to become members of a global society. Without these tools, students would be less likely to collaborate in a meaningful way. As teachers, it is our job to expose our students to the tools that will be vital in communicating in and contributing to the future.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved on January 27, 2010 from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
Posts
