As educators, we know that there is no such thing as black and white. There are only shades of gray.
After spending last week revisiting the various learning theories espoused by educational theorists, I was reminded of the frequent swings of the pendulum and how the best teachers often don't rush to the sides, but rather find the middle ground and pick and choose the best parts of all theories to best meet the needs of their students at any given time.
With that in mind, I'd like to address each of the learning theories we discussed in turn and talk about how they might overlap with my teaching style, my opinions on technology integration and my desire to connect to students in many different ways.
Before I run through each of the theories, I need to define my beliefs surrounding technology integration. In the first class of this new session, we created a "working definition" based on the synthesis of several teams' definitions. It follows.
In my mind, this definition is in line with my beliefs and the current trends of organizations such as P21, ISTE and frameworks such as TPACK and FCIT's Technology Integration Matrix.
For me, PBL presents an obvious starting point for tech integration in my Spanish classroom. Using projects has always been a great way to engage students in content, and today's availability of technology makes it easy. I've often used projects in my classroom for summative assessments, and it might be interesting to try to take some of those ideas and expand them to the unit level. Perhaps the NETS standards could facilitate some of that planning.
As addressed in the presentation, constructivism has become an overused buzzword in the world of education, and it's hard to believe that most learning in today's classrooms isn't constructed. That said, there is a large part of my curriculum that revolves around the concrete rules of grammar. After recently watching a colleague teach a math lesson that revolved around the "proving of claims" about negative and positive numbers, I'm imagining lessons that involve something similar where students are using technology to research and critically evaluate web sites to construct rules for the operation of the Spanish language.
In the world language classroom, the benefits of Behaviorism are important and tangible, albeit unpopular. While Behaviorism often takes on a negative tone in today's dynamic educational environments and smacks of drill and kill, the fact remains that sites similar to Quizlet, Realidades.com or any other number of practice sites are very valuable to my students. The opportunity to use flashcard software, auto-correcting quizzes and repetitive practice exercises are motivating and beneficial. Keeping in mind the working definition of tech integration and the TPACK framework, the use of such sites is very much in line with my content and pedagogy. Furthermore I consider the use of things like Google Forms to not only be valuable for student practice, but it also informs my teaching practice and is an important piece of my formative assessment.
Connecting to content and others is very much in line with what happens in my classroom. in fact, our world language standards include an entire section called Connections. As I move forward with the integration of technology into my curriculum, I want to focus more on the connections between students and experts. I would also like to foster more collaborative efforts using technology.
This was the presentation we gave in class and it's not exactly a learning theory, it's more of a framework through which teachers can plan effective lessons. If one truly believes that technology should be used within the context of the curriculum, it's easy to integrate technology into almost every step of Gagne's Framework.
After watching this presentation, I'm determined to make this year the year that I begin to flip my instruction. A good part of what I do is presenting new grammar concepts, then asking students to practice at home. This seems like a natural starting point for flipping my classroom. By the end of the year, I hope to flip some my grammar lessons, offer practice at school and determine if it's as valuable as the current excitement for flipped classrooms indicates.
Performance assessments have always been at the heart of language learning, so there are definite opportunities to use Teaching for Understanding in my classroom. As technology has improved so has its role in these performance assessments. In recent years, I've been shifting away from the necessity to teach specific programmatic information (Power Point, Prezi, Flip Cameras, etc.) and focused instead on the big ideas behind them (Creation, Collaboration, Communication, etc.). As a result, I've been able to focus on the content.
All of these ideas have their merit and their place in my classroom. I hope I haven't oversimplified in my attempt to be thorough, but I truly believe that technology integration is a normal and natural part of my classroom. However, as I move forward, I do hope to improve my process as I choose appropriate opportunities for my students. I plan to use the TPACK framework and FCIT's Integration Framework to help me move toward purposeful and transformative experiences for my students.
Looks like it's going to be a busy year!
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| CC: DaveFayram |
With that in mind, I'd like to address each of the learning theories we discussed in turn and talk about how they might overlap with my teaching style, my opinions on technology integration and my desire to connect to students in many different ways.
Before I run through each of the theories, I need to define my beliefs surrounding technology integration. In the first class of this new session, we created a "working definition" based on the synthesis of several teams' definitions. It follows.
Technology Integration is the use of technology tools in education in order to promote the ethical application of technology skills while learning subject area standards and benchmarks. In particular, it must support four key components of learning: active engagement, participation in groups, frequent interaction and feedback, and connection to real-world experts. The focus in each lesson or unit is the curriculum outcome, not the technology itself.
In my mind, this definition is in line with my beliefs and the current trends of organizations such as P21, ISTE and frameworks such as TPACK and FCIT's Technology Integration Matrix.
Project Based Learning - Stacy, Melinda, Liz, Bebe
For me, PBL presents an obvious starting point for tech integration in my Spanish classroom. Using projects has always been a great way to engage students in content, and today's availability of technology makes it easy. I've often used projects in my classroom for summative assessments, and it might be interesting to try to take some of those ideas and expand them to the unit level. Perhaps the NETS standards could facilitate some of that planning.
Constructivism - Maureen, Yvette, Drew M
As addressed in the presentation, constructivism has become an overused buzzword in the world of education, and it's hard to believe that most learning in today's classrooms isn't constructed. That said, there is a large part of my curriculum that revolves around the concrete rules of grammar. After recently watching a colleague teach a math lesson that revolved around the "proving of claims" about negative and positive numbers, I'm imagining lessons that involve something similar where students are using technology to research and critically evaluate web sites to construct rules for the operation of the Spanish language.
Behaviorism - John, Devika, Ruchira
In the world language classroom, the benefits of Behaviorism are important and tangible, albeit unpopular. While Behaviorism often takes on a negative tone in today's dynamic educational environments and smacks of drill and kill, the fact remains that sites similar to Quizlet, Realidades.com or any other number of practice sites are very valuable to my students. The opportunity to use flashcard software, auto-correcting quizzes and repetitive practice exercises are motivating and beneficial. Keeping in mind the working definition of tech integration and the TPACK framework, the use of such sites is very much in line with my content and pedagogy. Furthermore I consider the use of things like Google Forms to not only be valuable for student practice, but it also informs my teaching practice and is an important piece of my formative assessment.
Connectivism - Gagan & Anu
Connecting to content and others is very much in line with what happens in my classroom. in fact, our world language standards include an entire section called Connections. As I move forward with the integration of technology into my curriculum, I want to focus more on the connections between students and experts. I would also like to foster more collaborative efforts using technology.
Gagne's Events of Instruction - Isaac, Jason, Drew G
This was the presentation we gave in class and it's not exactly a learning theory, it's more of a framework through which teachers can plan effective lessons. If one truly believes that technology should be used within the context of the curriculum, it's easy to integrate technology into almost every step of Gagne's Framework.
Flipped Instruction - Dave, Nisha, Madhu
After watching this presentation, I'm determined to make this year the year that I begin to flip my instruction. A good part of what I do is presenting new grammar concepts, then asking students to practice at home. This seems like a natural starting point for flipping my classroom. By the end of the year, I hope to flip some my grammar lessons, offer practice at school and determine if it's as valuable as the current excitement for flipped classrooms indicates.
Teaching for Understanding - Katrina, Chad, Mary, Atul
Performance assessments have always been at the heart of language learning, so there are definite opportunities to use Teaching for Understanding in my classroom. As technology has improved so has its role in these performance assessments. In recent years, I've been shifting away from the necessity to teach specific programmatic information (Power Point, Prezi, Flip Cameras, etc.) and focused instead on the big ideas behind them (Creation, Collaboration, Communication, etc.). As a result, I've been able to focus on the content.
All of these ideas have their merit and their place in my classroom. I hope I haven't oversimplified in my attempt to be thorough, but I truly believe that technology integration is a normal and natural part of my classroom. However, as I move forward, I do hope to improve my process as I choose appropriate opportunities for my students. I plan to use the TPACK framework and FCIT's Integration Framework to help me move toward purposeful and transformative experiences for my students.
Looks like it's going to be a busy year!
Jason: you write a well thought-out learning theory analysis. I like the beginning part where you discuss the fact that good teachers pick and choose parts of each learning theory to best determine what will work well in their classroom. I also think it is important to note that good teachers also don't choose learning theories that they either don't believe in or don't fit their personality/teaching style. One must use a learning theory and teaching methods that fit the person doing the teaching. I really appreciate all of your thoughtful responses.
ReplyDelete[...] sr. coleman's reflections I've got ideas. Skip to content HomeAbout Me ← 50 Shades of Grey (Matter) [...]
ReplyDeleteJason,
ReplyDeleteYour blog gave me ideas - ideas about things I need to move toward and ideas about things I need to do more often.
Things I need to move toward – connection to real-world experts. This thought came from your philosophy. “it (your teaching) must support four key components of learning: active engagement, participation in groups, frequent interaction and feedback, and connection to real-world experts.”
Things I need to do more often – use of google forms from your paragraph on behaviorism. “I consider the use of things like Google Forms to not only be valuable for student practice, but it also informs my teaching practice and is an important piece of my formative assessment”
Thanks.