A Reflection

The name of the Walden University Course I have been studying is, “Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology.” In this course I renewed my knowledge of learning theories and rediscovered which ones I particularly liked and used. I began with the thought that I was an eclectic teacher incorporating many different learning styles into my lessons, assessing lesson to lesson which theory worked best to produce given outcome. In that manor I still find that my teaching approach has not changed. However, I have found many new technology sources for use in my classes. I particular liked concept mapping in the online program Spinscape. This particular program allowed me attach tags and links to other sites with just a press of a button I could travel around to related sites on the net enriching the learners experience. I also liked http://www.voicethread.com/ . I liked this site for learners because it was a great way to them to create artifacts for assessment and also gave them a global collaborative platform in which to publish their work and receive feedback from more than just me.

In the future I would like to incorporate the use of http://www.youtube.com/ and http://www.xtranormal.com/ a text-to-movie program in my lesson plans. To do this I will need to get an administrative account password to allow me past the schools filters, and a projector or SMART board for my room to display advanced organizers (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, 2007), and student artifacts when a project is finished. I will also need to organize my large classes into functional collaborative groups and plan for time in my schools computer lab. All in all a doable objective it just takes a little time and planning.

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

Social Learning Strategies

What is social learning? The Laureate Educational DVD explains the theory as, “students actively engage in constructing artifacts and conversing with others” (2009). Social learning is also explained by Dr. Michael Orey as,” individuals engaged in social activities” (2001). In my course of study this week at Walden University, I examined several technologically based leaning strategies that further students social learning. Please see the list below for how these strategies support the social learning theory.

Facebook – Face book is a social networking site where students can meet and share Ideas. It is generally used for personal social networking. However, with the business world going global it is important that students learn to incorporate this kind of communication into their lives, the good thing is that most students are already involved with this kind of site.

Webquest – This is a wonderful site that supports social learning by offering pre-prepared well organized collaborative learning projects that span a myriad of subjects, I even found one for choir. The site also allows teachers and student to develop their own Webquest and share them with a larger community on the internet.

Google Docs – Google Docs is an efficient way to collaborate on documents. A document can be centrally located on the site and then many people can go to the site to read and or edit the document. It’s a great tool for social learning.

Edublogs – This site supports social learning by opening up a forum for sharing thoughts and opinions on the internet. It has great controls which allow host to monitor and or reject comments left on their blog. You can also post links to your favorite sites or even upload daily podcasts to make your site more appealing and useful to others.

Voicethread – This is also a great tool to for social learning. Pictures and verbal illustrations can be placed on the website, and then others can view your pictures and leave verbal, text or video comments about your pictures. The resulting projects make wonderful artifact for classroom uses and assessment. Check out my new voicethread at, http://voicethread.com/share/525956/

Social learning, it’s the wave of the future!

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program eight. Social Learning Theories [Motion picture]. 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/