Before this class, I thought that as long as I was using technology in my classroom, students would be better off because I was using technology. I have come to learn that it really depends upon how you use that technology as a teacher that will determine how effective the technology will be. This course made me rethink many aspects of my teaching methods. For example, I never thought about how a person or student remember information or how the brain works. Today I think about certain aspects of how my teaching will affect the learning process of my students on a daily basis and it has changed the way I teach many different lesson thus far.
In my science classroom, I use a projector with a PowerPoint presentation often. I always have a summary of what the students are supposed to be learning about up on the screen. I have come to realize that this is not always the best way for students to learn since I am (or the students) just reading the words off the board. What I am doing now is that I only put pictures up on the board that show the students what I am talking about and this allows me, as the teacher, to elaborate more on the picture. This makes the PowerPoint presentation a learning tool rather than an instruction tool, which allows the students to better understand the information presented (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010) . Another tool that I use is a SmartSlate. In the past, I rarely let the students use this tool on a daily basis; however, I have learned that if the students use it more than I do, this instructional tool becomes a learning tool.
Two technology tools that I would like to use with my students in the future are blogs and VoiceThread. I would use blogs as a homework assignment, where I would post a question in the beginning of the week and the students would have to post their thoughts by Thursday and we would discuss as a class by Friday. By having the students post their thoughts on the blog, they can see what they think and what other students think and can create great discussions. VoiceThreads are a great tool that I would like to use in the near future. They will enable me, as a teacher, to make an application that is very similar to PowerPoint but I can insert my voice along with videos. VoiceThreads also let people comment on certain parts of the thread as well, which can be used as a very powerful tool. I would use VoiceThreads in two different ways: one way would be to introduce a project, and another would have the students make a VoiceThread on a topic that we are going over in class.
My long term goals over the next few years are very simple. The first one is to use PowerPoint presentations as a learning tool instead of a instructional tool. My second goal is to have more web 2.0 applications projects throughout the year in my classroom. The way I am going to make sure that I am going to fulfill the first goal is I am going to save all of my old PowerPoint presentations to a USB drive and put the USB drive at home, then delete them from my school computer. This will ensure that I will not use the old presentations in the up and coming years and will hopefully encourage me to make new presentations that have very little writing and are mostly pictures. For my second goal, I am planning on making one web 2.0 project per year for each class I teach. If I make one project a year within a few years, I will have many web 2.0 projects that I can use in my classes.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. Baltimore, MD: Author
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Teachers across the nation are constantly assigning projects that have the students make an artifact or solve a problem which forces the students to interact with one another, and this an example of the social learning theory. Social learning theory states that students learn through interactions with others in social situations in which they have to make an artifact or solve a problem (Laureate 2010).
The best example of the social learning theory I have seen is watching my daughter learn about the world around her through social interactions. For example, when my daughter is thirsty and wants some milk, she will run to the refrigerator and tries to say the word milk. My daughter knows through interactions with me and my wife that the milk is kept in that location and knows if she says that word, there is very good chance that we will open the refrigerator and get her some milk. My daughter knows this because of the interactions she has had with me and my wife. She is also solving a problem if the fact that she is thirsty and/or hungry. Another great example of how my daughter has learned through interactions is when she gets her hands on my wife's iphone. She will pick up the phone, hit the button and unlock the phone. She will flip through the different pages of applications that are on my wife's phone. My daughter will also hold the phone up to her ear and say hi. My daughter learned how to use my wife's phone by watching my wife use it and mimics her actions when she uses the phone.
As a seventh grade Social Studies and Science teacher, I assign a lot of group projects. For the most part, these projects work out very well and I highly recommend teachers trying hands-on projects where students create and object or solve a problem while in groups. These projects do take a lot of time and can be hard to incorporate into the school year. Grouping students can also be difficult due to personalities of some students, but the outcome is usually awesome. The reason why these projects turn out so well is because the students take ownership of the project and want to do well.
I know that students can learn a lot from one another under the right conditions. I have witnessed this in my classroom with the many different projects that I assign throughout the year. I have also noticed how learning can take place with interactions by watching my wife and daughter interact on a daily basis. Overall, I feel that people in general can learn a lot from each other under the right social situations.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. Baltimore, MD: Author
The best example of the social learning theory I have seen is watching my daughter learn about the world around her through social interactions. For example, when my daughter is thirsty and wants some milk, she will run to the refrigerator and tries to say the word milk. My daughter knows through interactions with me and my wife that the milk is kept in that location and knows if she says that word, there is very good chance that we will open the refrigerator and get her some milk. My daughter knows this because of the interactions she has had with me and my wife. She is also solving a problem if the fact that she is thirsty and/or hungry. Another great example of how my daughter has learned through interactions is when she gets her hands on my wife's iphone. She will pick up the phone, hit the button and unlock the phone. She will flip through the different pages of applications that are on my wife's phone. My daughter will also hold the phone up to her ear and say hi. My daughter learned how to use my wife's phone by watching my wife use it and mimics her actions when she uses the phone.
As a seventh grade Social Studies and Science teacher, I assign a lot of group projects. For the most part, these projects work out very well and I highly recommend teachers trying hands-on projects where students create and object or solve a problem while in groups. These projects do take a lot of time and can be hard to incorporate into the school year. Grouping students can also be difficult due to personalities of some students, but the outcome is usually awesome. The reason why these projects turn out so well is because the students take ownership of the project and want to do well.
I know that students can learn a lot from one another under the right conditions. I have witnessed this in my classroom with the many different projects that I assign throughout the year. I have also noticed how learning can take place with interactions by watching my wife and daughter interact on a daily basis. Overall, I feel that people in general can learn a lot from each other under the right social situations.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. Baltimore, MD: Author
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