Philosophy of Learning

What do you believe is critical and non-negotiable in teaching and learning? 


Support your ideas using the learning and instructional theories you embrace as a part of your personal theory of learning.

Blogs I posted to.

I posted to Lou Ann Morris http://educ7015.blogspot.com/ and  Sara Beckers  http://edtechblogwaldenu.blogspot.com/2011/08/module-5-blog-sara-becker.html blogs.

Module 5

In the past two years, I was the Instructional Technology Coach for our district in grades 6 - 12.  Most of my hardest "customers" to change and incorporate technology into their lessons were the high school teachers.  In their minds eye, they did not need nor want technology integrated into their lessons.  They believed they all they needed in their room by having their whiteboard and their textbooks.  At first I felt it was because they were "high school" teachers.  Being a K - 8 teacher, we all know how high school teachers are. They feel nothing pertains to them and all they need is their knowledge and want to impart that onto their students. But, what I actually found out was that a lot of the High school teachers were sort of scared to use the new technology and it was easier to continue to do what they had always done rather than to learn something new.  


In essence, I actually used Dr. Keller's ARCS model when working with the High school teachers.  


Attention:


To grab the teachers attention, I asked them if it would be ok if I taught a lesson to their class on a topic they were teaching at the time, but with the technology I was trying to get them to use.  If they didn't like that idea, I would make games for them to play with their students while they are working on the lesson.


Relevance:


In order of using Relevance, I used the teachers experience, and the future knowledge using the technology would enhance their lessons and again the modeling and choice.


Confidence:


I would offer to teach a lesson then stay while the teacher taught the same lesson using the technology or give them small steps in using the technology so that they would feel empowered.


Satisfaction:


By helping the teacher in using the steps and scaffolding them with the new technology, they would have the satisfaction of learning and then wanting to learn more. 

Responded to:

Module 4

Collaboration Assignment 1 Module 3

Do you believe that humans have a basic instinct to"interact and work as a group", as Rheingold proposed in his discussion of the evolution of Wikipedia as a collectively developed encyclopedia?

Yes, from early man, he has been known to move towards working in nomadic tribes and traveling in clans.  From the time of early agriculture, when man worked in groups and they began using specialization in agriculture this is when communities began to be formed.  According to many sociologists of our times, man learned when they work together much can be accomplished.

How can technology facilitate collaboration among learners based on constructivist principles?

Technology is increasingly viewed as an “optimal medium for the application of constructivist principles to learning” (Murphy 1997b). Although the advent of the personal computer has streamlined and economized the processing of information, new technologies such as e-mail, listservs, synchronized chat, and the World Wide Web have facilitated the exchange of information and expanded access to a global environment. The constructivist approach to learning is facilitated by the World Wide Web because
“the theory focuses on making connections and making meaning in the learning process. Web-based courses that are designed with a constructivist approach encourage the learners to navigate, create,
and construct their unique knowledge base” (Conceição-Runlee and Daley 1998, p. 39). They afford the opportunity to engage learning in creative and collaborative activities that promote knowledge construction. They encourage self-directed learning, collaborative learning, and critical analysis by expanding the environments from which knowledge is constructed.

Find a current research study that has been conducted in the last 5 years that supports collaboration as an effective tool for learning.  Include the link and reference for this study in your blog.

I found the following research that was very interesting on research and collaboration.  Highlight and copy this link into a browser.

http://sprouts.aisnet.org/10-3

Blogs I posted to - Kimberly Dean

I posted to the following blogs:

http://learningsmarternotharder.blogspot.com/2011/06/cognitivism-as-learning-theory.html?showComment=1309739464955#c983491618352269382 - John

http://smcdow.blogspot.com/ - Sabrina

http://educ7015.blogspot.com/ - Lou Ann