Responses to Module 6

I responded to:

Steve Zollinger
http://srzollinger.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/zollinger-educ-8845-mod-6-blog-post/#comment-19

and

Jill Lewis
http://technibug.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/learning-in-a-digital-world/#comment-13

Module 6: Learning in a Digital World

           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.

My philosophy on learning has developed throughout my career.  My thoughts on the learning process were much different as a new college graduate than they have become in the last several years.  Overall, the theory of learning I most believe in is John Dewey’s Constructivism. This theory does best to combine some ideas from both behaviorism and cognitivism.  It is also modeled after the steps in the scientific method.  With a background in science, applying the concepts found in constructivism to the scientific method comes very easily to me.

According to Driscoll (2005), constructivism primarily encompasses the thought of learning based on experiences.  I believe technology can make a vast difference in how these experiences are processed.  Technology in the online environment allows me to interact with learners in ways other than through face-to-face communication.  Tools like blogs, wikis, and classroom discussion boards are examples.  Technology has also allowed me to work with a much larger diversity of people than taking a traditional class.  These abilities teach me how to better interact with the world around me.  I feel technology has helped my desire to learn to grow. 

Reference:

Driscoll, M. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction (3^rd ed.). Boston: Pearson Education Inc.

Module 5 Responses

I posted responses to the following:

http://srzollinger.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/zollinger-educ-8845-mod-5-blog-post/

and

http://jygreensblog.blogspot.com/2012_05_06_archive.html

Module 5: New Technologies

Briefly describe a situation in which you have encouraged people to use a new technology and have been met with resistance or disappointing results. What attitudes did these people exhibit? What behaviors did they demonstrate? Using Keller’s ARCS model, describe how you could change the motivation of these people, or learners, to encourage success.

While teaching high school science, our teachers received a new technology in the form of electronic voters.  I had worked in a previous school system that had this technology and had found I had really enjoyed using them.  I attempted to teach several other teachers how to use them but was often met with a lot of resistance.  These teachers felt like there was enough on their plates already and they just didn't have time to make use of this new technology.  I found it quite frustrating because I had found it was a great method for reviewing and could often save time when used.  I had also volunteered to help get them set up and to demonstrate their use.  It was somewhat disheartening to note how much some of them seemed to reel at the idea.

I believe a workshop with more time to adapt these new technologies may have helped more teachers to adopt it.  A few examples with fun activities might help to pique their interests.  The technology could then be used to help show teachers how it would relate to concepts they were teaching.  Confidence could be addressed on more of a personal basis by working one on one to help them see its different uses.  By seeing it in use they may get a sense of satisfaction as to how it could benefit them (Driscoll, 2005).

Jason

Reference:

Driscoll, M. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction (3^rd ed.). Boston: Pearson Education

Inc.

Comments posted for Module 4: Connectivism

Posted comments to:

1. Nicholas Lapoujade


and


2. Steven Zollinger

Module 4: Connectivism

1. How has your network changed the way you learn?   It has given me a vast number of resources to consult when I have questions.
2. Which digital tools best facilitate learning for you?   The digital libraries provided by Walden University and Capella University have been extremely helpful.  The use of a wiki and sharepoint systems within TVA have helped me learn a lot about the corporation.  Facebook has been helpful with maintaining relationships with many of my friends and family that I do not associate with on a daily basis.
3. How do you learn new knowledge when you have questions?  One method is to consult those within my networks who may have had similar experiences in those areas I have questions about.  I may also be referred to someone or somewhere else based on recommendations made by those within my current networks.

Module 3: Collaboration

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 I agree with Rheingold.  I believe humans are social in nature.  Look at how we exist in communities.  We group ourselves.  The person who lives separated from society is considered to be not normal.  I believe the continuing development of new technologies is allowing us to grow closer together and will continue to help us work more collaboratively to solve problems.

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

With a background in science, I like how the constructivist principles are modeled after the steps in the scientific method.  I believe technology allows learners more ways to experiment.  The Internet is very well interconnected.  Any type of experiments done will require a large interaction with multiple users.  The use of wikipedia as mentioned by Rheingold is a good example.   

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.

http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED527148.pdf (Boling, et al., 2011).

References:

Boling, E,. Holan, E., Horbatt, B., Hough, M., Jean-Louis, J., Khurana, C., Krinsky, H., &  Spiezio, C. (Dec 2011). Using Online Tools for Communication and Collaboration: Understanding Educators' Experiences in an Online Course. Online Submission, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Literacy Research Association (LRA) (61st, Jacksonville, FL). 17 pp.

Rheingold, H. (2008, February). Howard Rheingold on collaboration [Video file]. Retrieved from  http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/howard_rheingold_on_collaboration.html

Module 2: Cognitivism as a Learning Theory

After reading the blog posts from both Kerr (2007) and Kapp (2007), I find I agree with much of what was said between the two bloggers.  I agree that education should not be taught in terms of one learning theory or another but instead should be taught using a mesh of the theories.  From the behaviorist theory, I believe it has been learned the learner is not just, "an empty black box."  There are thoughts and processes within the user that matter in learning.  From the cognivist theory, I believe it has been learned the learner is not exactly like a computer.  Activities outside of the computer can have dramatic effects on how the information is perceived and processed.  I believe research should be continued on how the interactions between each of these theories can better be understood so the learner has the best opportunities to learn.


References:

Kerr, B. (2007, January 1). _isms as filter, not blinker [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/01/isms-as-filter-not-blinker.html

Kapp, K. (2007, January 2). Out and about: Discussion on educational schools of thought [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.kaplaneduneering.com/kappnotes/index.php/2007/01/out-and-about-discussion-on-educational/

Module 1 Blog

1. What are your beliefs about how people learn best?

From practice as a student myself and experience as a teacher, I have found that the methods in which people learn best seem to vary from person to person.  I do ascribe to the learning styles as posted at http://www.learning-styles-online.com/overview/. The majority of learners, however, seem to do best when the learning is interactive.  I am, also, a strong proponent for Garder's Theory of Multiple Intelligences. 

2. What is the purpose of learning theory in educational technology?

The primary purpose of learning theory is to discover the best methods on how to have  information be absorbed by learners and how instructors can best create experiences using technology to deliver this information.  For example, if an instructor discovers the majority of his learners are visual learners, then he/she will try to develop situations that use a lot of visualization to help cater to the preferred learning styles of his/her students.

Learning Theory in Ed Tech

Welcome.  This blog will be for my class, Learning Theory in Educational Technology.