Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology: Reflection

As a result of being actively involved in this course, my personal theory of learning has remained the same. I entered this course under the premise that cooperative learning and project building best serve a child’s educational development. After being in this class for eight weeks my hypothesis was supported under the theory of social constructionism. Studies have proven that students do, in fact, learn better when they are working with their peers in a joint effort to produce a representation of their knowledge.

This class has also brightened my knowledge about technology tools that can be easily implemented into a lesson plan for student use. Take for example Wiki. Wiki is a collaborative tool that would allow students to break down a project into smaller parts in the effort of creating a great and presentable whole. Another technology tool that I plan to implement into my classroom is Voice Thread. I thought that this was one of the coolest ways for students to present information and also a cool way for them to take a virtual field trip someplace that might not be cost efficient. The introduction of Voice Thread made me feel like my past students have missed out on many experiences because I was not able to bring the trip to them. However, now that this class has given me a great understanding of the tech tool I no longer have to feel uneasy about issues like that.

In my classroom this year I plan to use more technology when at all possible. When I was being introduced to Voice Thread I promised myself that I would use it in the near future with my English classes. The near future is this coming week so I hope that it goes well! Another goal that I have after this class is to recognize that students learn best from each other and to not be afraid to let them talk freely about concepts, as I always worry that their conversations will drift off topic.

Voicethread

The link provided is to my voicethread account. My first and only post thus far deals with a schoolwide issue that is common in the district in which a teach.

https://voicethread.com/?#u1348404.b1385986.i7342108

Cooperative Learning the Social Learning Experience

This week in Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology, the idea of cooperative learning as a social learning experience was explored. Social learning theory basis itself on the idea that learning occurs in a social context. That is that students learn from each other. Cooperative learning is an extension of this ideal in that students are learning together by working on a group goal or project to display their comprehension of the topic.
In this social learning environment of cooperative learning, students are engaged in a groups activity that addresses a preset objective. In these groups common characteristics that might be noticed are that students are more likely to be encouraged to complete tasks, students are more readily able to assist one another, their motivation in terms of thoughts about the concept will be increased, and often times there is much discussion as well as debate about the topic. In this cooperative learning environment it is important to see the majority, if not all, of these characteristics presents because the group itself is not just given a grade for the objective but also each group member is graded on their comprehension and contribution to the learning environment.