My Personal Learning Theory:

This class has reaffirmed that my personal learning theory is relevant and explains how my students learn. My personal theory of how my students learn is a combination of constructionist and social learning theories. Orey describes constructionist learning theory as, “a building learning process in which students understand and store information” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010). Learning is never fully accomplished and it is a process students must go through in order to master a concept. Students must be continuous introduced to the concept they are trying to master in a variety of different settings. The second aspect of my personal learning theory is composed of the social learning theory. Orey explains that the social learning theory focuses on, “conversation, collaboration, and how it affects the learning process” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010).  Collaboration is a great learning tool to increase student understanding. Students can share ideas with each other and build upon each group member’s ideas.

Constructionist and social learning theory practices are evident in my everyday instructional planning and practices in my classroom. At the beginning of each unit of study I provide my students with the unit’s essential question or questions and the academic standards we will be covering. This provides students with the framework to build the background knowledge they need to master the concepts and eventually the overall unit. Technology is introduced as a way to enhance student learning. Collaboration is used as a tool in creating all of my classrooms lessons and activities. Students work in groups several times a week. Students can share ideas with one another and ultimate try out the ones they will think will work the best to solve the problem. 

The technology tools I use with my students:

This class has shown me all the benefits technology has on my students learning. I need to enhance my everyday lessons and activities with technology as much as possible. I need to spend more time online researching ways to receive grants to increase my student’s use of technology at our school. As a result of this class I have been introduced to several new technology tools that I can use to increase my students learning and understanding. I plan on trying these new technologies out with my students throughout the remainder of this school year. 

1. Advance organizers and concept maps:

One technology tool that I will increase my student’s use of in my classroom is advance organizers and concept maps.  Orey (2001) explains concept mapping tools, “as tools that replicate the network model of memory” (Laureate Education, Inc,). Currently I do have my students use concept maps to organize their notes when we begin a new topic. Their concept maps will be a visual representation of their notes and what they learned from previous lessons. Students currently complete their concept maps at their desks using paper and pencil. I want to have students complete their rough drafts of their concept maps on paper and pencil and then complete their final version of their concept map on the computer. This will increase students 21^stBy creating a concept map students will be incorporating Palvio’s dual coding hypothesis. Students will have the information stored as an image and the text that goes along with the image. Students have a higher chance of retaining that information and storing it in their long term memory because they have an image and text to recall. Students will remember the information or concept when it comes time for them to take the test. Orey (2001) determined that, “When students are allowed to play the role of developer/designer, students tend to perform at a higher level that even their teacher felt possible” (p. 6). century skills and allow them to easily make changes and add items to their concept maps as we progress throughout the unit. 

2.  Voice Thread:

Another technology tool that I would like to try out with my students is Voice Thread. Before this class I had never heard of Voice Thread, but after trying it out I learned that it very user friendly and can easily be integrated into my classroom. Voice Thread implements aspects of the social learning theory. Orey (2010) describes social learning theory as, “a theory in which students are actively engaged in constructing artifacts and conversing with others” (Laureate Education, Inc.). When students collaborate and work together they are able to socialize with each other. Students get to discuss and bounce ideas off one another. They will decide together if their thoughts and ideas are valid or not. Student’s confidences will be built as they encourage each other’s ideas. Orey (2010) explains that “teaching others helps the learner develop a deeper understanding of the concept” (Laureate Education, Inc.).  Instead of having my students create PowerPoint presentations as the artifact of their cooperative learning activities, I will have them create Voice Threads instead.  It will take some more time at the beginning having students listen to and follow along with the tutorials in order to learn the how the program works. I know my students will catch on fast and like the challenge of using a new program to complete their artifacts with.

Long-term goals:

I would like to transform all of the major 7^th grade science units that I teach to include a student-centered project over the next two years. I will closely collaborate with the other two seventh grade science to develop a central learning question in which the whole unit can focus around. Students will be given the central question at the beginning of the unit and will use the remainder of the unit to discover and answer that question. Students will spend time researching and discovering the knowledge needed to master that unit concept. My job as the teacher will be a facilitator rather than the disturber of the knowledge. I want the majority of each unit to be technology based. I need to spend time introducing my students to all of the new technology devices and programs I was introduced to throughout this class. This can be accomplished throughout our Enrichment period throughout the year. I can assign students practice projects to introduce them to the new technologies and allow them time to practice in a more relaxed environment where they do receive a grade a project only written and verbal feedback. This way when they complete a project using one of the new technology tools we will not have to spend class time learning how to use the technology tool.

Another long term goal I would to accomplish to enhance my student’s learning is at least write one grant per school year in order to get more technology in my classroom. I can easily talk with other teachers in my building and use their experience of grant writing in my favor to help me with writing my own grants. I will hold a discussion with my students and ask them what technologies they think we need in my classroom to enhance their science education. Based on their suggestions I will spend time researching and applying for grants. Hopefully by applying for grants I can develop relationships with technology companies and gain access to more technology devices or resources for my classroom.

References

Laureate, Education, Inc. (Producer). (2007). Instructional Theory vs. Learning Theory [DVD]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). “Social Learning Theories with Michael Orey. [DVD]. In Walden University: Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. Baltimore: Author.

Orey, M. (Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Main_Page.

Social Learning in Practice

Orey (2010) describes social learning theory as, “a theory in which students are actively engaged in constructing artifacts and conversing with others” (Laureate Education, Inc.). When students collaborate and work together they are able to socialize with each other. Students get to discuss and bounce ideas off one another. They will decide together if their thoughts and ideas are valid or not. Student’s confidences will be built as they encourage each other’s ideas. Orey (2010) explains that “teaching others helps the learner develop a deeper understanding of the concept” (Laureate Education, Inc.).  

Cooperative Learning

“This instructional strategy focuses on having students interact with each other in groups in ways that enhance their learning. When students work in cooperative groups they make sense of, or construct meaning for, new knowledge by interacting with others” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007, p. 139). Teachers need to make sure they use a variety of different ways to group students. One way I group students is by pulling popsicle sticks with their names on them. This way students are randomly grouped together to complete the cooperative learning activity. Teachers must include five basic components in their cooperative learning activities: positive interdependence, face-to-face interaction, individual and group accountability, interpersonal and small-group skills, and group processing (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007, p. 140).

“Technology can play a unique and vital role in cooperative learning by facilitating group collaboration, providing structure for group tasks, and allowing members of groups to communicate even if they are not working face to face” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007, p. 140). Rubrics and advance organizers can help students plan and understand what is expected of them during the cooperative learning activity. Teachers can easily assign students a concept to research and present to the class through the ease of the internet. Students are digital natives and understand how to navigate and synthesis information found on the internet. “Students can use e-mail to collaborate with students in other classes in your school, or they can correspond and collaborate with “keypals” from far away” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007, p. 145). This is a unique way to continue to strengthen student’s 21^st century skills while allowing them to be introduced to students who live in other parts of the world or have different cultures. I have not tried keypals with my students, but I am intrigued to look online and see if I can find another seventh grade teacher  from somewhere far way from South Carolina, who is interested in having their students have virtual penpals. Teachers can have their cooperative groups create blogs and wiki’s as a way for their group to communicate with each other. Students can also share ideas and thoughts on the blog or wiki with each other while they are at home. This way the group can access the blog or wiki during class the next day and discuss the new ideas members posted the night before. WebQuests are another way to incorporate technology into your cooperative learning activities. I use WebQuest all the time with my students. They like that they get to navigate through the web or assigned website to find the answers to the questions on their own. It increases their problem solving skills because students will continue to search the internet until they find the correct answer. They will also ask their partner before asking the teacher for help.

Social learning theory, specifically cooperative learning, is being implemented in classrooms across the country. It is important that students are given the opportunity to work together to create artifacts that demonstrate the knowledge they are learning in the classroom. Student’s confidence and learning will increase as a result of cooperative learning. Students learn best by teaching the information to their peers at the conclusion of the cooperative learning activity. 

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). “Social Learning Theories with Michael Orey. [DVD]. In Walden University: Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. Baltimore: Author.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Voice Thread

Please join my voice thread debate: Should teacher pay be based on student performance? Listen to my voice thread and comment with your thoughts and opinions.
 

http://voicethread.com/share/1544142/

Constructionist Learning Theories

Orey (2010) describes constructionism as, “a theory of learning that states people learn best when they build an external artifact or something they can share with others” (Laureate Education, Inc.). Students must be given firsthand experience to the concept or skill and as a result they need to create something. The teacher acts as the facilitator, as their students create or build their artifacts to demonstrate the knowledge they have learned about the concept or skill. Orey (2001) explains that, “learners become more accountable for their learning through designing, sharing, piloting, evaluating, modifying their work, and reflecting on the process” (p. 5).

Generating and Testing Hypotheses

“When students generate and test hypotheses, they are engaging in complex mental processes, applying content knowledge like facts and vocabulary, and enhancing their overall understanding of the content” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007, p. 202). There are six tasks that teachers can incorporate into their classrooms to help students generate and test hypotheses: system analysis, problem solving, historical investigation, invention, experimental inquiry, and decision making (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007, p. 203). Every teacher can incorporate at least one of those tasks to increase their student’s ability to generate and test hypotheses. As a science teacher my students make hypotheses and test them out through classroom lab experiences or demonstrations. Even though my student’s labs are directly related to the academic content standards they incorporate some aspect of problem solving. Students enjoy making predictions or hypotheses and then seeing if they are right at the end of the lab or activity. These activities also increase student collaboration and 21^st century skills. Students are required to work in pairs or groups to discuss their ideas and decide on the best one. Then students will complete the lab or activity to see if their hypotheses were right or wrong. 

Technology can easily be added to enhance students in generating or testing out their hypotheses. “Technology allows students to spend more time interpreting the data rather than gathering the data-a process that can be tedious and error prone” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007, p. 203). Orey (2001) states that Microsoft PowerPoint or Word can be given to students and students will construct their own learning. Students are readily familiar with PowerPoint or Word due to them being digital natives. They will be actively engaged and at the completion of the project have an artifact they created on their own to share with the rest of the class. At the completion of an in-class lab or demonstration students can easily type their lab report, or create a chart or graph to display their results. 

Constructionist learning theory can easily be adapted into every teacher’s classroom. It is important and vital that students create their own learning and learning artifacts. Students need to be given first hand, engaging experiences to the concepts and skills they are learning in the classroom. As a result students will take ownership of their learning and truly learn the concepts or skills. That information will be stored in their long-term memories until the test and the end of the year state test. 

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). “Constructionist and Constructivist Learning Theories with Michael Orey. [DVD]. In Walden University: Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. Baltimore: Author.

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., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Cognitivism in Practice

Cues, questions, advance organizers, summarizing, and note taking are all great examples of cognitive learning theories. Orey (2010) describes cognitive learning theory, “as an information processing theory which involves sensory input, short term memory, rehearsal, and long term memory” (Laureate Education, Inc.). Technology is incorporated into cognitive learning theory to enhance student learning. 

Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers

The instructional strategy of cues, questions, and advance organizers, “focuses on enhancing students’ ability to retrieve, use, and organize information about a topic” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007). Cues are hints teachers use to help students reach the correct answer or desired response to a situation. Teachers use questioning as a way to assure that students are learning the concept they are currently studying. Questions trigger the student’s short term or long term memory in order to search for the correct answer. If a student answers the question wrong or has no idea about the correct answer the teacher knows that the student has not fully mastered the concept yet and can provide that student with some extra practice or re-teaching if necessary. Advance organizers or concept mappings are a great way for students to organize their thoughts. Students can organize their thoughts and research into subcategories that tie into the overall main learning goal. Technology can be easily integrated to enhance any students advance organizer. Students can use a word processing program to add tables and charts to their concept maps. “Technology in turn provides you with visual aids and multimedia resources that appeal to a number of students learning styles” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007). As students progress throughout the unit they are able to add or change their ideas on their concept map. Students can then use their concepts maps as a study guide for the upcoming assessment.

Summarizing and Note Taking

“The instructional strategies of summarizing and note taking focuses on enhancing students’ ability to synthesize information and distill it into a concise new form. Teachers work on helping students separate important information from extraneous information and state the information in their own words”(Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007). In order for summarizing to enhance student understanding they must be taught the rules on how to summarize information. “Technology can scaffold, or provide support, while students are learning the summarizing process” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007). Teachers can teach their students to use the Track Changes feature in Microsoft Word to summarize readings from the textbook. Once the teacher explains to students on how to set up the formatting students can easily on their own type in the sections they are reading in the textbook. This feature summarizes the section of the textbook that students type in, so they are left with the main points and can then take their own notes based on the summarized results. By having students type in sections of the textbook into a word processing document you are giving them an opportunity to practice their 21^st century skills. I had never heard of this feature before and I am going to try it out next time I have students take their own notes on a concept from the textbook.  

Teachers need to make sure they vary the formats students are using to take notes. Within my own classroom students take notes in several different formats. They use note-taking guides where they fill in the missing information, create their own foldables, create outlines and then fill in the important details, or take notes on their own. Graphic organizers or advance organizers are a visual representation of student’s notes. Teachers can incorporate different multimedia programs that enable students to summarize and take notes on their own. Students become fully engaged when they use multimedia programs to summarize and take notes on their assigned concept. Wiki’s give students the opportunity to communicate on an assignment online. Students can summarize their thoughts and ideas on the concept and post them so the other group members can read them and make the necessary comments. Blogs provide students with an outlet to summarize and post their thought about a concept online. Students can read each other’s ideas and provide comments to each other. Blogs allow students to learn from each other while practicing their writing and communication skills.

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Cogitive learning theory with Michael Orey. [DVD]. In Walden University: Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. Baltimore: Author.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.