New week at Walden, new topic.
This time we looked at Connectivism and Social Learning Theories. To me, this has been the simplest, most intuitive set of theories yet. In our video, Dr. Michael Orey spoke of social constructivism where learners are engaged with other students in the process of constructing something, but they are also engaged in the process of conversing about the construction taking place. Dr. Orey said, "Its those conversations that the students engage in that really help concretize and help them understand something." In other words, coversations and bouncing ideas back and forth between people is the way we learn best.
Dr Orey also spoke of Social Constructivism where the learner has a zone of proximal development, which is the level of work that provides just enough challenge that a more knowledgeable other can provide the necessary support for the learner to be successful. The learner is dependent on the more knowledgeable other, and that is what makes this a social learning theory.
The strategies and tools that we examined this week tie in very nicely with social learning theories and with each other. For instance, the strategy of cooperative learning in our text, Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, is just about as social as you can get. In this chapter we studied the best ways to have "students interact with each other in groups in ways that enhance their learning" (Pitler, et al, 2007, p. 139). According to the social learning theorists, "By combining teamwork and individual accountability, students work toward acquiring both knowledge and social skills" Learners are responsible for their own learning as well as the learning of their group members. "This process results in a deeper understanding of the material and more potential to retain the material." (Orey, 2001).
Most of the tools that we looked at this week are based on cooperative learning principals. We read about a teacher who uses a movie-making project to teach about mathmaticians. The students are learning about the mathmaticians from each other. We also learned about web resources that allow students to interact with experts in different fields. How's that for a more knowledgeable other? Keypals allow us to expand our cooerative learning groups to include other learners or more knowledgeable others from anywhere. Webquests allow teams to work on problems presented virtually.
Website creation is one social learning tool that I have personally used in my classroom. In this activity, I had my students use a wiki to create our webpage, and it provided the opportunity for multiple classes to work on the same project at different times and to be able to communicate with each other regarding the project. I hope that my students got a better understanding of the material as they debated what should and should not be included on the wiki.
I really enjoyed exploring the social networking tools listed in our resources this week (Any excuse to get on Facebook is a good one!), but I worry about the classroom use of some of them. Facebook is wonderful, but I am an adult and I have enough wisdom to avi=oid many of its dangers. I don't think that putting my elementary students on there is a wise decision. I loved what I saw of SecondLife, but I would need more time than I possible have right now to explore it and evaluate its safety. Honestly, I would expect it to be blocked by my district's block-happy technology big wig. I wonder how long it will take other developers to create a similar platform that might be safer for educational useage with minors. I bet it will happen very soon. Can you imagine having students studying history to create the town, city, or settlement as it appeared at the time an event took place. Can you say "So long, diaramas!" For the digital natives we teach, this will be wonderful! It sure beats a poster or a shoe box.
The webquests I looked at seemed an aweful lot like virtual field trips with a problem to solve for groups. Is this a fair assessment? I don't know. Anyway, webquests certainly do involve having students work together on virtual problems, so learning will occur as they create a solution.
I am looking forward to exploring using Google Docs this coming year so that my students can comment and collaborate on projects and work on projects at home or on any school computer just by loggin on. Edublog will also allow the sudents to comment on other students' ideas.
As our book says, "To be prepared for the fast-paced, virtual workplace that they will inherit, today's students need to be able to learn and produce cooperatively." I love this quote. I hope that I can do my part to prepare them for this challenge.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). 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/
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
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I agree with you about Facebook. I would be afraid of using it with middle school. Those students are too tech savvy and I know they would find a way to use it in a bad way. I underlined that same quote.
ReplyDeleteI had a fourth grader who got on there (I have no idea how he bypassed the filter)last year, and the consequences were pretty severe. He was not allowed to use the computers for the rest of the school year (maybe 3 weeks), and I am not sure that I agreed with that outcome. It is hard to teach the technology standards when a student is not allowed to use the technology. That was kind of like forbiding a math student from opening his math book becuase he wrote in it. Anyway, my point is that they will find a way to get in just to see what will happen.
ReplyDeleteNancy,
ReplyDeleteYou explained the resources very clearly this week. I gained a better understanding of some things because of it.
Did you get a chance to read the online book section on Cooperative Learning? I think it does a better job of giving a detailed explanation of how to develop and maintain effective groups than our textbook. I am definitely using it to help me restructure how I use cooperative groups.
Nancy,
ReplyDeleteNice post - a great summary of our resources this week. Also, I like your follow up post about the math book. It reminds me of our earlier reading in another class that said something about restricting technology and compared it to removing all the pencils and paper in case a student might write a bad word! My district is "block-happy" as well and I get so frustrated. I do understand the need for concern - I have many students who would post totally inappropriate things without even realizing it was a bad choice - but no growth happens without a little discomfort! I think it is hard for us to be teachers at this stage of the game - the real world is roaring ahead of us and fear/money is holding the educational community back.
Shannon,
ReplyDeleteI did get to read that chapter. I have used the multi-aged grouping with 3rd graders and kindergarteners. All involved enjoyed that experience, and I think it was good for even the slowest of the older students to get the chance to be the more knowledgeable other for a change.
Jigsaw sounds a lot like literature circles, and to be honest, I have had trouble in the past trying to implement those. My classroom may be too "loose." I know they have great benefits if I could just get them started, but isn't getting started always the hardest part?
The send-a-problem scenario really interested me as the computer lab teacher at my school. I could see using a wiki or a blog to accomplish this task instead of an envelope. A problem could be posted on the blog or wiki and then I could assign groups to devise a solution. The groups would then submit their solutions (I would have the comments moderated to hide them from the other groups). Once the solutions were submitted, I could then have another group, or even the whole class decide on the best solution. This would accomplish the same thing as the activity as printed in our text, but would incorporate technology at the same time. What do you think?
Molly,
ReplyDeleteYou are right, and I think that the only thing that is going to change this is demands from the business community.
Nancy