Social Learning

Social learning is built through human interaction. (Kim 2001) With social learning there are many ideas and ways to implement lessons so that students are actively engaged and are able to build their cooperatively learning skills through communication. (Orey 2009)

In order for students to learn through the social learning theories students must be presented with tasks where they are able to work individually and together to create or complete the task. Dr. Orey mentioned the zone of proximal development where students will not be able to achieve success outside the frame where they are able to learn on their own. (Laureate 2009) When students work cooperatively they are able to support each other if a student is struggling with a certain concept.
Throughout the years I have been able to implement stations and Web Quests in my classroom where students have specific jobs for completing their tasks. With these jobs there is a clear boundary of who is responsible for each part of the workload and the students are able to complete tasks while developing their 21st century learning skills. Also I am able to integrate technology in the units with Web Quests students work to complete. Another strategy that was mentioned in our learning resources what that of Jigsaw learning. In my classroom students are grouped and given topics/parts of units to learn and teach to their peers. This is a great way for students to become masters of different areas of content and present it to their peers in a manner which they will understand.

Social learning can be successful in any classroom if it is managed and implemented in an orderly fashion. The teacher must be involved in monitoring group/partner work and stay abreast of the progress of each group. I don’t feel that social learning should be implemented everyday in a middle school classroom but it does help to differentiate learning for students and allows them to take ownership of their success.

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/index.php?title=Main_Page

Constructionist use of Technology

Following the constructionist theory one will think of learning as a building block process. All learners build on the four stages of constructionism. These stages involve assimilation, accommodation, equilibration, and schema. (Orey, 2009) Building these blocks will have students create artifacts for learning. They can use technology to create these blocks and work on assimilating their new knowledge.

Using technology will allow teachers to create a constructionist type classroom by teaching students how to build their blocks. Problem-based learning or learning by design develops units of study where students are able to create long term memories while they are learning.(Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007) During problem-base learning or learning by design units the teacher is there to help facilitate the learning while the students are making the discoveries.

References:
Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Main_Page

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

Cognitivism in Practice

Working with students who have many different learning styles creates many challenges for teachers. With the instructional strategies of the cognitive learning process one can see how to address students’ memories when developing lessons. Dr. Orey discusses that the key points to the cognitive learning process is elaboration and short-term memory. (2009) I know that my students need to see and hear information as I am presenting it to them. Having students make connections to the information in a lesson to their personal life, other subjects, and different areas will help with their short-term memory. In order to make connections I could use concept maps to present and connect information. I could also have my students make verbal connections when we are discussing information in class or they could write in their journals different connections they think of while the lesson is implemented.
All of these ideas are important for students’ learning in the cognitive learning theory. The students need to be able to recall information from their short-term memory in order to use the information again when it is stored in their long term memory. The cognitive learning theory presents key information for students to process and retain content that is taught to them throughout the course of the year. If students can be presented information and create connections they will be more likely to retain the information in the long run. Are there other ways out there to elaborate and make connections of content for the students?
The cognitive learning theory is about connections students make to retain information. These connections would work wonderfully in my room through concept maps and advanced organizers. I am planning on using the concept map I am creating on poetry for my unit that is coming up in January. This will incorporate technology into my unit and increase the connections students make with the terms, figurative language, famous poets and types of poetry.

Laureate Education, Inc.(Producer). (2009). Behaviorist Learning Theory [Motion Picture]. Bridging learning, theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.

-Meghan

Behaviorist Practices

The instructional strategies discussed this week are directly related to the principles of the behaviorist learning theory. Being able to condition students through reinforcement and punishment are the key strategies of the behaviorist learning theory. According to Dr. Orey the most powerful technique of operant conditioning is reinforcement. (2009)

On my team I use spreadsheets from Microsoft Excel to keep track of the students store points. Our store is a behavior reward system in which my students earn five points a day for following our team rules and procedures. When students are disruptive or unprepared store points are taken away. This spreadsheet allows us to analyze student behavior during the week and reward them for coming to class prepared and following the rules/procedures on a daily basis. Twice during a trimester students are allowed to shop the store which continues to reinforce positive behavior; the more points the students have the more candy/soda they can buy.

We also use several learning tutorials for reinforcement of skills through the program Study Island. This program allows students to receive enrichment and remediation based on their skill level. It is an Internet based program that students have access to at home and during the school day. I feel this program is another example of the behaviorist learning theory because the program provides immediate feedback for the students. Also it is a technology based program in which students are able to use to strengthen their skills.

The Internet4Classrooms tutorials in the resources for this week are tutorials I use with my classes when we are in the computer lab and they finish working on the assignment for the period. Students seem to enjoy working through these programs to develop their skills.
There are many technology programs/tutorials that follow the behaviorist learning theory available for use in classrooms. These programs/tutorials can provide students with help to strengthen their skills in different subject areas if they are used on a regular basis. Also I agree with Dr. Orey that these programs/tutorials should be used for more than remediation and to raise test scores. (2009)

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/index.php?title=Main_Page

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