Sunday, May 29, 2011

Module 6 Responses

I responded to Kathi Middleton at

http://klmiddleton.blogspot.com/2011/05/module-6-post.html

and Aisha Chadwick at

http://chadwickeds.blogspot.com/

Aisha

I completely agree with your statement that learning should take place in the classroom and in the real world as well. I think that technology allows us to bridge the gap between classroom learning and real world experiences. Simulations, skype sessions, and live streaming video make some experiences that learners would probably never be able to have possible.
May 29, 2011 7:12 PM

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Philosophies...how many of us have them?

 
       Distance education has moved from paper and pencil based asynchronous courses, to computer based courses that have the capability of being completed synchronously or asynchronously.  Until recently I had no real opinions about online education or distance education, I knew that it was a more convenient way for some people to obtain degrees, but I had never given any real thought to the design or implementation of online education.  Understanding my philosophy of distance education is an important part of understanding why I think and act the way I do about e-learning and technology.  With the lack of face to face interaction in distance education courses it is vital that the instructor develop a sense of community among learners.  I believe that the instructor has a responsibility to students to foster a community where communication is open, honest, and direct.  I believe in accessibility, whether through office hours, telephone conversations, e-mail correspondence, or instant messaging.  I think that instructors should provide multiple means for students to correspond with them, and encourage students to correspond with their peers outside of the requirements of the course.  Wikis, blogs, and instant messaging applications such as Skype are great ways to do this.  Both students and instructors are responsible for learning.  Instructors meet their responsibilities by providing clear and concise learning outcomes, course syllabi, course requirements, instructor expectations, and rubrics that will be used to assess student work and learning.  Students are responsible for learning, by keeping up with course assignments, communicating with their peers and instructor, and becoming an active member of the learning community.  I believe that any student in the online learning environment has to have a fair amount of intrinsic motivation in order to be successful. 

        My philosophy of distance education is not based on just one theory of education; instead it is based on my prior experiences, background knowledge, and a mix of what I believe to be best practices in education.  There will never be a one size fits all philosophy of education or design of education.  Instead each instructor must design their instruction based on what they believe in as well as what is going to best suit the needs of their students.  

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Module 5 blog responses

I responded to Gary Allens blog at

and
 Kathi Middleton at

The only thing to fear, is fear itself

Fear of the unknown can be one of the biggest detriments to technology in education.  Many veteran teachers are apprehensive when it comes to utilizing new technology.  Recently I presented during one of our professional learning days about the Senteo Smart Response software.  Most of the teachers in the session were veteran teachers who are used to giving typical paper and pencil assessments with the most technology used in those assessments being a Scantron assessment.  I had to convince these teachers that using the Senteo is simple and much more efficient than those typical paper pencil tests, as well as a way to help our environment.  None of the teachers were interested in doing it this way, they all complained that it would be much more work for them to convert their old assessments to Senteo assessments, for every good reason I had for them to use the Senteo they have five reasons why it would be too hard.  They had entered the room with preconceived notions and were prepared to argue their stance for their old way of doing things.  If I had known about the ARCS model, this professional development session could have gone a lot better.  I would have first gained their attention by randomly selecting one of their assessments to quickly input into the Senteo assessment.  I would have also gotten the members of the session actively engaged by asking them to bring their laptops so that they could practice using the software (Driscoll, 2005).  I would also get the teachers to see how useful this will be for them in the future, I would create a folder on our common shared drive for teachers to input their Senteo assessments  so that they can be modified in the future and used by other teachers as well.  I would build confidence by modeling the simplicity of using Senteo and creating a step by step tutorial for teachers to access after the session was over so that they could be sure that they understand how to use the software.  To create a sense of satisfaction I will have each teacher create a Senteo assessment that they can immediately use in their classroom. 
If I only knew back in January what I know now, I am certain that this professional development session would have gone a lot better, and the teachers would have left with a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction and hopefully most will have gone back to their classrooms and begun using Senteo. 

Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc

Friday, April 29, 2011

Connectivism



My network is not a very complex network, with many areas overlapping.  Although it is not a very complex network it has changed the way I think and learn because I am able to tap into a wide variety of resources of information.  I am able to access my contacts in various ways.  Before I had an iPhone or any sort of Smartphone I had to wait until I was near a computer to obtain information from the internet or check email.  Now that I have an iPhone I am able to instantly Skype chat with friends, family, colleagues, and classmates whereever I am as long as I have a 3G signal or wireless access.  I am able to access my coursework through the Walden app, and view the videos from the course whereever I am at.  I have watched videos in line at the grocery store, while working out, and even once while having a root canal!  My learning has become mobile.  I use digital tools such as blogs, GoogleDocs, and discussion boards constantly. The ability to interact and work collaboratively with my peers has greatly enriched my learning experiences.  Whenever I have questions or need clarification about certain things, I am quick to turn to my peers or other experts in the field, or to online scholarly articles.  Having a smartphone allows me to have my questions immediately addressed by performing a quick search. The way I learn and interact with my network has changed tremendously in the past 2 years, and as technology becomes more and more advanced I am sure the way I interact will continue to evolve. 

Reference
Kop, R., & Hill, A. (2008). Connectivism: Learning theory of the future or vestige of the past? International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 9(3), 1–13.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Module Three Blog Responses

I responded to Maria Rodriguez's blog found at

http://msrodriguez-design.blogspot.com/2011/04/module-3.html?showComment=1303017222913#c3500918257302258224

Maria provided some very interesting opinions about collaboration...most of which I agreed with.  :-)


I also responded to Stephen Anane Boakye at

http://www.ananeboakye.wordpress.com/

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Module Three Blog Post: Collaboration

I agree with Rheingold that humans share a basic instinct to interact and work as a group, although I believe that there are some exceptions to this ingrained instinct.  Some individuals are naturally introverted or may be completely anti-social.  Collaboration essentially eliminates the potential for individual rewards and self reward because of the design of most collaborative activities, so some individuals may not be naturally inclined to gravitate towards collaborative work because they may need or seek individual reward and recognition. 

Technology is a great facilitator of collaboration.  It can bring learners together from across the globe.  Applications such as Skype, Facetime, and messenger bring learners together because they are able to interact instantly and learn by doing. Students can work together simultaneously and create various projects. In the case study by Microsoft, it discusses how employees at EA used social networking to learn about one another, collaborate, share ideas, and create action packed games on a tight schedule (Microsoft, 2009).  It demonstrated how getting to know the other people within the company and having a place to quickly and safely share ideas increased productivity and learning within the company. 

Microsoft.  (2009).  Electronic Arts Embraces Social Networking to Create Better Games on Tight Timelines.  Case Study. 

Rheingold, H. (2008, February). Howard Rheingold on collaboration [VODCAST]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/howard_rheingold_on_collaboration.html

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Cognitivism as a Learning Theory

     In education and psychology learning theories attempt to describe how people think and learn, providing insight into the complex process of learning. Cognitivism seeks to look beyond simply behavior and explain brain-based learning.  I share the belief that each learning theory is not complete nor is it stand-alone in its own right (Kerr, 2007).  Each learning theory has its place in education and the strengths of each these theories is reason alone for them to remain and not be abandoned. I share Kapp's theory that learning is not one thing, but a multi-layer process that can not be described or encompassed by just one school of thought.

     Some learning processes are better suited for the behaviorist approach such as memorization, recalling, labeling, and recognizing.  Some learning processes are better suited for the cognivist approach such as rules, rituals, and routines.   Neither cognitivism, constructivism, or behaviorism fully explain the learning process and how children or adults learn (Kapp, 2007).  There is no one size fits all theory that will cover all aspects of the learning process, and as human knowledge is expanded and understanding of the brain grows, so will the understanding of how humans learn. 

Kerr, B. (2007, January 1). _isms as filter, not blinker [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/01/isms-as-filter-not-blinker.html

Kapp, K. (2007, January 2). Out and about: Discussion on educational schools of thought [Web log post].   Retrieved from http://www.kaplaneduneering.com/kappnotes/index.php/2007/01/out-and-about-discussion-on-educational/


I responded to the following blog(s): 

Sullus Teague

I responded to an additional blog, but I can not remember who it belonged to, so I am unable to locate it. 

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Module One Blog Post: Theories...How many of us have them?

Ask any educator what their theory of education is, and I am sure they will clearly respond with Constructivist, Behaviorist, Environmentalist, etc. etc.  But when probed on what all that theory entails and why they feel so strongly about that particular theory, well, that is where the water gets a little muddy. 

I can not say by any means that I am a strict behaviorist, nor can I say I am a strict constructivist.  What I am as an educator is an evolvist.  With each class and each group of learners my theory of education and philosophy of how children will learn best, evolves to meet the needs of those learners.  With my current group of learners I am using more of a constructivist approach.  I have a group of students who have come to me with a wide range of life experiences, some with very few experiences and some with a plethora.  Each of these children are unique with unique background experiences, and these experiences influence how they learn and how they interact with their environment.  Because of this I use a lot of cooperative grouping strategies where students are paired up or put into small groups where each of their strengths can be utilized.  I am a facilitator in this group, I guide children in the direction in which they should go, but I let them take on a big responsibility for their learning, because they are ready for it.  Next year, I may have a group of learners who is not ready to take charge of their learning or know the power that they yield within in themselves for learning, so I will change the theory that guides my instruction.  They key to any theory is that it is not the "quick fix" or the one size fits all approach.  Theory is just that, theory.  What we do with those theories is adapt them evolve with them and mesh them together to ensure that we reach every learner.

Below are some blogs that I found interesting about learning theory and educational technology. 

http://connectivism.ca/blog/2005/09/whats_wrong_with_established_t.html

http://michaelhanley.ie/elearningcurve/aligning-learning-theory-with-instructional-design/2009/05/21/


I responded to the following blogs

Charles Price

http://mrcsviewfromthetop.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-are-my-beliefs-about-how-people.html#comments

Stephen Anane-Boyake

http://ananeboakye.wordpress.com/2011/03/16/learning-theory-and-educational-technology-module-1-educ-8845/#comments