Here's my VoiceThread for this week's application.
It's not so much a problem as it is a goal: when do we make the switch to electronic textbooks?
Moodle Presentation
15 years ago
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Cooperative Learning
I believe that cooperative learning is going to be the central focus of education in the future, and that may be as soon as the next few years. The depth and availability of tools to learn in this manner is amazing, and the number of careers that are becoming based on collaboration makes it necessary for students to learn these skills early on. It's not enough to simply have students count off by number and work together on a worksheet. Group projects must be in-depth and push for a process that requires students to work through the tasks as a team--brainstorming, editing, finalizing, presenting, etc.
What I really enjoyed about this chapter was that so many of the tools are easily accessible and applicable to the classroom. Google Calendar, for instance, can keep students up-to-date on classroom events. Shared bookmarking allows students to recommend websites that they think are valuable to their peers. Website creation offers the opportunity to express creativity and potentially critique the work of their classmates. Multiplayer games offer a chance at relaxation, but also at learning.
These tools might not form the basis of a class, but they all assist in enhancing the experience for students.
What I really enjoyed about this chapter was that so many of the tools are easily accessible and applicable to the classroom. Google Calendar, for instance, can keep students up-to-date on classroom events. Shared bookmarking allows students to recommend websites that they think are valuable to their peers. Website creation offers the opportunity to express creativity and potentially critique the work of their classmates. Multiplayer games offer a chance at relaxation, but also at learning.
These tools might not form the basis of a class, but they all assist in enhancing the experience for students.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Testing Hypotheses
The fundamental idea behind the fantastic book Made to Stick is how we make our ideas sticky. In other words, why do we remember some silly radio jingle but not the capital of Vermont? One seems to be inherently more important, but the other just stays with us. One strategy that the authors give to make ideas stick is to make them mysterious.
I thought that this was relevant as I read through this week's material. After reading Made to Stick in November, I started trying to frame my lectures as more of an investigation. For example, as Tiger Woods was being shamed we were also talking about the Harding Administration in American History. Rather than title the lecture "The Harding Administration," I wrote "How did Nan Britton ruin Tiger Woods' life?" on the board. The students were as engaged as I have ever had them in a lecture, and given the content we were discussing, I never would have expected them to be hooked. But they listened all hour, either curious to hear the outcome or curious to see if I could actually pull off the connection (Nan Britton wrote the first "tell all" book, about her alleged affair with the President, thus opening the door for all of Tiger's lady friends to get rich off of their text messages).
I didn't find too much in this week's text that I myself could apply in the classroom. Hypotheses don't really lend themselves to history, at least not at this stage, when students are trying to retain information as opposed to exploring in-depth research. That said, I think that the idea behind using a hypothesis in the classroom is a good one, especially after I tried using mysteries to make the lessons stick.
I do think that it would be fun to have students develop their own hypotheses and explore them in historical research, but that would require extensive direction on my part. I plan on doing several mini-assignments using sources online to see how this could work, such as the American Memory at the Library of Congress website, which offers a massive primary source collection.
I believe that the key in using hypotheses in the classroom lies in getting the students excited about exploring something new on their own. The best way to do this is to relate it to experiences they have had or events they are familiar with. My hope is that through those, hypothesizing can become more useful in my classroom.
I thought that this was relevant as I read through this week's material. After reading Made to Stick in November, I started trying to frame my lectures as more of an investigation. For example, as Tiger Woods was being shamed we were also talking about the Harding Administration in American History. Rather than title the lecture "The Harding Administration," I wrote "How did Nan Britton ruin Tiger Woods' life?" on the board. The students were as engaged as I have ever had them in a lecture, and given the content we were discussing, I never would have expected them to be hooked. But they listened all hour, either curious to hear the outcome or curious to see if I could actually pull off the connection (Nan Britton wrote the first "tell all" book, about her alleged affair with the President, thus opening the door for all of Tiger's lady friends to get rich off of their text messages).
I didn't find too much in this week's text that I myself could apply in the classroom. Hypotheses don't really lend themselves to history, at least not at this stage, when students are trying to retain information as opposed to exploring in-depth research. That said, I think that the idea behind using a hypothesis in the classroom is a good one, especially after I tried using mysteries to make the lessons stick.
I do think that it would be fun to have students develop their own hypotheses and explore them in historical research, but that would require extensive direction on my part. I plan on doing several mini-assignments using sources online to see how this could work, such as the American Memory at the Library of Congress website, which offers a massive primary source collection.
I believe that the key in using hypotheses in the classroom lies in getting the students excited about exploring something new on their own. The best way to do this is to relate it to experiences they have had or events they are familiar with. My hope is that through those, hypothesizing can become more useful in my classroom.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Cognitivism
I found several strategies this week in the reading that would support cognitive learning in the classroom. As I read through the resources, I found that many of these strategies would be effective in my classroom. I've always liked this approach to teaching because I myself get bored with teaching in one particular way. To me, cognitivism is all about delivering information and obtaining information in a variety of ways. Some of the organizational techniques, such as concept mapping, or the organizational software, such as Inspiration, would be good to share with students who struggle to understand the big picture. I always found when I was a student that having visuals helped me learn and retain new information.
I find that multimedia breaks the monotony of a school day for students and most at least claim to remember more when I show them films or clips. I've made use of many of websites found in Chapter 4 of the textbook. Using images or film clips helps plant an image in a student's mind rather than attempting to deal with a concept abstractly.
I was pleased to see that blogs were mentioned in Chapter 6 as a method of reciprocal teaching. I think blogs are a great cognitive tool because they can allow the student to wear many different "hats" as a learner, especially if they have access to each other's blogs and take advantage of the commenting sections.
I find that multimedia breaks the monotony of a school day for students and most at least claim to remember more when I show them films or clips. I've made use of many of websites found in Chapter 4 of the textbook. Using images or film clips helps plant an image in a student's mind rather than attempting to deal with a concept abstractly.
I was pleased to see that blogs were mentioned in Chapter 6 as a method of reciprocal teaching. I think blogs are a great cognitive tool because they can allow the student to wear many different "hats" as a learner, especially if they have access to each other's blogs and take advantage of the commenting sections.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Behaviorism in Practice
I found two strategies that I felt could work very well in my classroom from the reading and correlate with the principles of behaviorist learning.
The first comes from the chapter on reinforcing effort. The suggestion is that students keep an effort spreadsheet to track their own effort. In the beginning of the chapter, it was suggested that effort was the one step to success that is most often overlooked. Based on my personal experience, I tend to agree with this. I think back to the times I struggled with math and simply found it easier to give up. This is unfortunate because effort seems to be the one key to success that can trump all of the others. An effort spreadsheet would be an effective use of technology because it would let students keep track of their effort and give them visualizations of how they are perceiving their effort. I feel that the graphs are the key to this strategy, as they allow students to visualize their effort instead of attempting to interpret numbers. I feel that the survey suggestion from this chapter could be utilized in the same manner. Though this strategy would be effective, I lack the necessary technology in the classroom to visit this daily.
The second strategy is one I definitely plan on using in my classroom. In chapter 10, the suggestion for using communication software like Google Docs and Writeboard was made. I feel that this would be an effective use of behaviorist theory and technology because it would allow students to positively (or negatively) reinforce one another. A program that would make this even better is the new Google Wave, which allows for real-time document editing. A great assignment would be a collaborative essay in which students went through the writing process together, sharing ideas and suggestions throughout.
The first comes from the chapter on reinforcing effort. The suggestion is that students keep an effort spreadsheet to track their own effort. In the beginning of the chapter, it was suggested that effort was the one step to success that is most often overlooked. Based on my personal experience, I tend to agree with this. I think back to the times I struggled with math and simply found it easier to give up. This is unfortunate because effort seems to be the one key to success that can trump all of the others. An effort spreadsheet would be an effective use of technology because it would let students keep track of their effort and give them visualizations of how they are perceiving their effort. I feel that the graphs are the key to this strategy, as they allow students to visualize their effort instead of attempting to interpret numbers. I feel that the survey suggestion from this chapter could be utilized in the same manner. Though this strategy would be effective, I lack the necessary technology in the classroom to visit this daily.
The second strategy is one I definitely plan on using in my classroom. In chapter 10, the suggestion for using communication software like Google Docs and Writeboard was made. I feel that this would be an effective use of behaviorist theory and technology because it would allow students to positively (or negatively) reinforce one another. A program that would make this even better is the new Google Wave, which allows for real-time document editing. A great assignment would be a collaborative essay in which students went through the writing process together, sharing ideas and suggestions throughout.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Reflection
This course is the best I have had at Walden and the best I have had since I began my teacher education. I think the biggest reason for this is that I was allowed to explore the content on my own--I used every tool in class--and that really helped me evaluate myself as a teacher. The primary way this course helped me was in showing me some good ways to link all of the technology together.
Prior to this course, I had my own blog and my own Google Reader, but I never thought of combining the two into a tool that I could use to make my life easier as a teacher. I love using blogs in class and in less than a month, students have grown to love it as well. I like the convenience of the RSS feed--I can grade anywhere I can access the internet without lugging any papers around--and I have found that students work harder on the blogs than they did on ordinary papers. I still have a few students who neglect to complete the assignments, but I no longer have any students who only go halfway. If they take the time to log on, they finish the assignment completely.
The course showed me that tools like podcasts and wikis were available and potentially beneficial for the classroom. I have yet to use them extensively, but they will definitely be in my mind when I'm coming up with new projects and activities.
I did not expect to emerge from this course more aware of my role as a teacher, yet my focus has shifted almost entirely from a teacher-centered approach to a student-centered approach. I always wanted to give my students more responsibility for their own learning as opposed to me lecturing day in and day out, but I never found an approach that worked until I started incorporating more technology. Now, through blogging and other tools I learned in this class, I'm getting a lot more production out of the students. The best part is that it is not repetition but often new, independent thoughts! I've been waiting over two years for this!
As I move forward from this class, I think it's important that I continue to utilize the methods from the course. One that I found especially valuable, more so than the other courses I have taken so far, were the weekly discussions. I learned something new--a website, a strategy, a lesson--every week. I would like to try to replicate this experience at my school, perhaps not through a discussion board, but by finding like-minded teachers who have a passion for technology. I also saw the value of education blogs have in recreating this experience.
With these thoughts in mind, I have prepared two goals for the near future:
Move towards a paperless classroom
If the world is indeed becoming paperless, I would like to prepare students for their role in that world. I envision the individual blogs of the students becoming the hub for all of their classroom work. I want students to utilize blogs to share their work with their classmates and to open up opportunities for collaborative research. Of course, I don't want to go paperless just for the purpose of going paperless, so I want to continue to reflect upon why I am using technology and how it can benefit the students.
Incorporate 21st Century Skills
I had never heard of 21st Century Skills prior to this course and none of the colleagues I have talked to have either. I really found them to be important for the students and I think it is important that my district shares in this foresight. I would like to incorporate these skills into the classroom, but, perhaps more importantly, I would like to bring these skills, and technology in general, to my colleagues. I've already set up a few professional development sessions to share blogging ideas with beginners. My hope is that my school can be at the front end of technology in the district.
Prior to this course, I had my own blog and my own Google Reader, but I never thought of combining the two into a tool that I could use to make my life easier as a teacher. I love using blogs in class and in less than a month, students have grown to love it as well. I like the convenience of the RSS feed--I can grade anywhere I can access the internet without lugging any papers around--and I have found that students work harder on the blogs than they did on ordinary papers. I still have a few students who neglect to complete the assignments, but I no longer have any students who only go halfway. If they take the time to log on, they finish the assignment completely.
The course showed me that tools like podcasts and wikis were available and potentially beneficial for the classroom. I have yet to use them extensively, but they will definitely be in my mind when I'm coming up with new projects and activities.
I did not expect to emerge from this course more aware of my role as a teacher, yet my focus has shifted almost entirely from a teacher-centered approach to a student-centered approach. I always wanted to give my students more responsibility for their own learning as opposed to me lecturing day in and day out, but I never found an approach that worked until I started incorporating more technology. Now, through blogging and other tools I learned in this class, I'm getting a lot more production out of the students. The best part is that it is not repetition but often new, independent thoughts! I've been waiting over two years for this!
As I move forward from this class, I think it's important that I continue to utilize the methods from the course. One that I found especially valuable, more so than the other courses I have taken so far, were the weekly discussions. I learned something new--a website, a strategy, a lesson--every week. I would like to try to replicate this experience at my school, perhaps not through a discussion board, but by finding like-minded teachers who have a passion for technology. I also saw the value of education blogs have in recreating this experience.
With these thoughts in mind, I have prepared two goals for the near future:
Move towards a paperless classroom
If the world is indeed becoming paperless, I would like to prepare students for their role in that world. I envision the individual blogs of the students becoming the hub for all of their classroom work. I want students to utilize blogs to share their work with their classmates and to open up opportunities for collaborative research. Of course, I don't want to go paperless just for the purpose of going paperless, so I want to continue to reflect upon why I am using technology and how it can benefit the students.
Incorporate 21st Century Skills
I had never heard of 21st Century Skills prior to this course and none of the colleagues I have talked to have either. I really found them to be important for the students and I think it is important that my district shares in this foresight. I would like to incorporate these skills into the classroom, but, perhaps more importantly, I would like to bring these skills, and technology in general, to my colleagues. I've already set up a few professional development sessions to share blogging ideas with beginners. My hope is that my school can be at the front end of technology in the district.
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