This course shed light on my personal learning
theory. I am still a firm believer in
the importance of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Garner’s multiple intelligences. This course helped me to identify specific
learning theories that I can relate to.
If I were to rewrite my week one application I would add that my
teaching falls mostly in line with constructionist and constructivist learning
theories. I frequently use Garner’s
multiple intelligences to assist my students in creating their own
understanding of a topic which is a cornerstone of both constructionist and
constructivist theories (Orey, 2001). This
course also provides great strategies of how to use technology to help students
engage in learning.
Over these past seven weeks I have had the opportunity to
take a critical look at how I use technology in the classroom. After learning about Paivio’s dual coding
hypothesis I started to think about how I present information. Paivio (Laureate Education, n.d. a.) argued
that people remember pictures better than text.
Since learning of this theory I have tried to utilize pictures as much
as possible in my instruction. This
class also reminded me that because we live in a technology saturated culture
our students are accustomed to using technology. I need to continuously be integrating
technology into my instruction and into my students’ assignments as much as is
reasonably possible.
Two
technology tools that I would like to add to my teaching toolbox are virtual field
trips and utilizing VoiceThread. I have
use the internet frequently in my instruction and I have had students conduct
web quests, but after looking at virtual field trips in more depth, I have found that I have not been utilizing
these internet resources as well as I should be. I need to take opportunities to create the
episodic memories that virtual field trips help to create (Laureate Education,
n.d. b.). Virtually taking my students
to a place like Jamestown is much more effective than simply reading about it
in the text book. I would also like to
utilize VoiceThread in my classroom.
VoiceThread could be a great website to use for cooperative learning
activities or for individual projects.
VoiceThread would work great for cooperative learning because multimedia
type projects are conducive to cooperative behavior (Pitler, Hubbell, &
Kuhn, 2010). I think my students will
love creating audio, type, or video memos and solicit feedback from their
peers. It is a great way to engage
students in the learning process and to become active contributors.
Two long term goals for integrating technology into my classroom
would be for me to utilize social media in my teaching, and utilizing online
communities as both a contributor and a consumer. I would like to create
YouTube videos and VoiceThread discussions and use them as tools for teaching
and collaboration. To help my achieve
this goal I am going to look at my curriculum map and identify certain topics
that would lend well to utilizing these tools, and choose one topic per
month. One strategy per month would
allow me to ease my way into utilizing these tools. As I become more comfortable with them then I
can increase the amount. I have learned
so much from my colleagues through their blog posts and discussion boards. I think it is important to spend time
learning from my colleagues that are in the trenches with me as well as sharing
with them what I am doing in my classroom.
It is refreshing for a teacher to learn new things. To help me achieve this goal of being active
in online communities I will schedule time in my plan book to read the blogs on
my Feed Reader account and to post to thoughts and ideas onto my own blog. The important thing for me is that I actually
have a set apart time to do this.
Penciling it in my plan book will keep me accountable.
References
Laureate
Education (Producer). (n.d.a.). Cognitive learning theories [Video
file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Laureate
Education (Producer). (n.d.b.). Spotlight on technology: Virtual field
trips [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Orey, M.
(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology.
Retrieved from
http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Main_Page
Pitler,
H., Hubbell, E. R., & Kuhn, M. (2012). Using technology with classroom
instruction that works (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
