Social Learning Theory and VoiceThread

Voice Thread is a great learning tool that I can use in my classroom that will allow collaboration between my students and me. The topic I choose was learning to identify what type of reading question they have been given on the SAT. These questions can be dived into two categories, big idea questions, and small detailed questions. This concept of big-little question types is an essential test-taking skill for students to learn because the reading strategy they choose will work best when coupled with one of these two types of questions. This VoiceThread contains a series of questions taken from the SAT Practice Test 1. I will model how to determine if a question is a big idea type and then students will be asked practice labeling question types themselves. 

Here is the link to my VoiceThread

Constructivist Learning Theory, Teaching, and Learning

There is a clear relationship between constructionist learning theories, instructional strategies, and technology tools. Constructivism is a theory that states that because we are individuals, we actively are engaged in construction our meaning and according to Orey, is not very consequential enough for teachers to be concerned about (Laureate, 2015e).  There is more value for me in understanding the concept of constructionist learning theory which adds to constructivism by stating we take our previous knowledge to create new experiences by building things. As teachers, we employ instructional strategies and technological tools to help the student do their building. Schrock has skillfully illustrated the abundance of technological tools students can apply on their quest to build or construct including Android and Ipad apps, and Web 2.0 tools (Schrock, 2015). One interesting instructional strategy is having students create and test their hypotheses, not only in traditionally through science activity but in any content area (Pitler, 2012). This approach to construction is invaluable as it requires students to engage in complex mental processes, synthesizes their efforts using facts and vocabulary, and inevitably embellish their understanding go content (Pitler, 2012).

This module has inspired me to integrate constructivist-based instructional strategies into my teaching practice. One of the courses I teach that is traditionally not combined with technology is culture and cuisines. We typically spend our days, learning about world cultures and regional cooking delicacies. Even though this class daily invites kids to create a dish, I rarely use technological tools. The Buck Institute for Education, PBL Works website showcases project-based learning ideas with videos. One of the videos involved a group of middle school students creating their healthy-themed restaurant (Buck, n.d.).  I would like to use this idea in my class by having the kids create a culturally themed restaurant which would require them to use Google to research skills to scope out competition, use Word to write letters requesting funding, work with spreadsheets to budget project spending, use online shopping carts to buy furniture and kitchen supplies. Students would then be required to pitch their business plan using Prezi. The ISTE standards for students is very evident in this PBL activity (ISTE, 2016).

Students would become empowered learners, knowledge constructors, computational thinkers, and creative communicators. As a teacher, I would demonstrate that I am designing authentic, learner-driven activities and fostering an environment that takes the various ways students learn into account. Also, I would be a facilitator by offering technology to support student achievement (ISTE, 2008).
While following edublog on twitter, I found a fantastic teacher who is using technology help her students showcase a product innovation game (Twitter, n.d.-d.). By using video editing tools and Youtube, she was able to allow each team to showcase their invention. The public was invited to vote for their favorite product on the class blog page. This is an idea I can easily incorporate in my culture and cuisine class. If they know that their peers outside of the classroom will be seeing what they are making; it will motivate them to put their best foot forward.

Another application from the sources I researched in this module would be using Skype to bring in guest speakers from the countries we are exploring (Challenge, n.d.). For instance, we are currently studying food from Latin American countries, and it would be great for students to hear first hand from a chef in that region, ask him or her questions about food prep and menu choices. This would significantly enhance our curriculum.

McConnel uses Google Form to ask her class weekly to answer questions that require them to reflect on the lessons for the week using a Likert scale (McConnel, 2018). Also, there are questions asked to check for understanding.  She then addresses feedback on the following Monday.  I want to incorporate this idea into my classroom as well.

In Module 2, I choose to integrate HoC by asking students to learn to create a webpage using HTML. I want to integrate using Google Sites into our project as a way for students to showcase their creation by requiring them to summarize their process, showcase image samples of their design (Schrock, 2015). By using Google Sites, it will give them a much bigger audience for their work. As an extension, we can then analyze how Google uses the very same HTML to create Google Sites.

Resources:

Buck Institute for Education. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2019, from https://my.pblworks.org/resources

Challenge Based Learning. (n.d.) Resources. Retrieved April 26, 2019, from http://www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/online_project_based/

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2016). Standards for educators. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/standards/for-students-2016

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2008). Standards for students. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/standards/for-students

Laureate Education (Producer). (2015e). Constructionist and constructivist learning theories [Video file}. Baltimore, MD. Author

McConne, J. J. mcconnel@queensu. c. (2018). “Why Are We Doing This?”: Using Digital Reflection to Increase Student Engagement. Ubiquitous Learning: An International Journal, 11(2), 13–22. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.18848/1835-9795/CGP/v11i02/13-22

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E.R. & Kuhn, M. (2012). Using technology with classroom instruction that works (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD

Orey, M. (Ed.). (2010). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://textbookequity.org/Textbooks/Orey_Emergin_Perspectives_Learning.pdf

Schrock, K (2015). Bloomin’ apps. Retireved from http://www.schrockguide.net/blommin-apps.html

Twitter. (n.d.-d). Edublogs. Retrieved April 26, 2019, from https://twitter.com/edublogs

Behaviorist Learning Theory, Instructional Strategies, and Technology Tools

Behaviorism is only concerned with observable and measurable aspects of human behavior, changed as that result of a stimulus-response association made by the learner (Orey, 2010). As teachers, we try to promote the behaviors we feel exhibit the learning of new content. One of the ways behavior theory has been married with classroom instruction is through programmed instruction whereby in the pre-technology days students were given a book, and the response of the student lead them through the book turning to pages determined the student ’s correct or incorrect answers (Laureate, 2015a). I, remember using such a book in my seventh-grade language arts class! I highlight this instructional strategy because it demonstrates how it has morphed itself into a technological delivery system that is pervasive today, and that is the online tutorial (Laureate, 2015a). Online tutorials breakup content into smaller units of study followed by questions to test your understanding and depending on feedback from you, it may direct you to the next module if you show mastery or to new exposure to the same information.

Another strategy has been through contracts that the teacher makes with her their student to affect change in a student’s behavior (Orey, 2010). Again, this something I have used for many years as a teacher and is probably what most teachers associate with behaviorism. Typically it required collaboration between the student and the teacher, a pencil and a piece of paper. Technology today allows for a much more robust contract where students can plot their feedback about their mood, behavior, and effort; all of which correlates with achievement. Spreadsheets give students a chance to actively participate in understanding how effort impacts achievement (Pitler, Hubbell & Kuhn, 2012).  By promoting the active use of spreadsheet data collection, it supports the ISTE standard of empowering the learner because students take an active role in choosing, achieving and demonstrating their mastery of learning goals (ISTE 2016).

Another method that strategies and the technology tools work together to support student learning is through the use of multimedia whereby student work can be posted online thereby giving them exposure to a broader audience (Pitler, Hubbell & Kuhn, 2012). Thirdly, communication and collaboration software, i.e., video conferencing, audio recordings would give me a valuable way to champion the successes of my students. For example, I plan in the future to use what I have learned about podcasting to share sincere praise, recognized as positive reinforcement by behaviorist (Pitler, Hubbell & Kuhn, 2012). By doing so, I am demonstrating that I am a facilitator which according to ISTE means that I am proving that I am using technology to support student achievement (ISTE, 2016).  All these examples of strategies and tech tools work together to reinforce that behavior indictive for learning of new content by offering both positive and negative reinforcers.

Of the sources researched in this module, two have the potential for integration into my classroom. 

I teach SAT prep and Discovery Educations, WebMATH would be an excellent resource to help students brush up on concepts they were exposed (Discovery Education, 2016). This website clearly would be in my student's interest, authentically because they are interested in getting some exposure to math problems that will show up on the SAT (Moorhead, 2014). One of the most important ways to gain points on the SAT is understanding your content weakness. This website will help them gain understanding. Also, by asking them to create a spreadsheet to collect data about how much they practiced, I can hopefully help them see the correlation between their total effort score and their quiz scores (Pitler, Hubbell & Kuhn, 2012). Howard Pitzer showcased on his twitter feed and interesting article about how math teachers are now asking their students to try to work together to solve math problems collectively (Twitter, 2019).  I like this idea and will try ti I have selected a lesson on designing a webpage for my Hour of Code example. One way I can support the application of behaviorist learning theory is through positive reinforcement by showcasing their webpage design online for others to see and comment.  I may even offer negative reinforcement by allowing them a chance to collect a free homework pass upon completion of the Hour of Code.

References

Discovery Education. (2016). WebMATH: K-8 practice math problems. Retrieved from http://www.webmath.com/k8drill.html

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2016). Standards for educators. Retrieved March 30, 2019, from https://www.iste.org/standards/for-educators

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2016). Standards for students. Retrieved March 30, 2019,  from http://www.iste.org/standards/standards/for-students-2016.

Laureate Education (Porducer). (2015a). Behaviorist learning theory [Video file]. Batlimore, MD: Author.

Moorhead, L. (2014, September 3). There’s no app for good teaching. Retrieved from http://ideas.ted.com/theres-no-app-for-good-teaching/

Orey, M. (Ed.) (2010). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://textbookequity.org/Textbooks/Orey_Emergin_Perspectives_Learning.pdf

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E. R., & Kuhn, M. (2012). Using technology with classroom instruction that works (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Twitter. February 217, 2019. Howard Gardner. Retrieved March 30, 2019 from https://twitter.com/hpitzer.

Final Reflection and Blog Posting on the Impact of Technology

I have been waiting for a course like this for a while. I wanted to be challenged and introduced to technology I have not yet added to my repertoire or current practices that perhaps I haven’t utilized in the best way for my students. Blogging is a new tool for me to use in the classroom. Designed to be an easy publishing tool of the Read/Write Web, initially so people can upload personal journals for mass consumption, it will fit perfectly with what is a 21st-century student need, that is to collaborate and share their work with a broader audience to write for others beyond their immediate area (Richardson, 2010).   Also, podcasts are more familiar to me than blogging, but I have never used it in the classroom. I guess I like to think of it as an audio version of a blog. It is yet another way for students to share what they have learned with a limitless audience. Getting students to embed it into their Google Sites was a big break for me, and now, I have yet another fun and engaging way for my students to collaborate and share with others. The next step will be to have my students attach visual images to accompany and support their argument (Richardson, 2010).

My knowledge of the teaching and the learning process has been expanded by my learning these past eight weeks. Throughout the course, the idea of collaboration kept being presented as a benefit of technology and the Read/Write Web. Wikis, something new to me, is incredibly open to collaboration not only between students in the same classroom but with other students from around the world (Richardson, 2010). Another way my teaching knowledge has been benefiting from this course is the highlighting of 21st Century skills such as creativity and collaboration (Richardson, 2015).  It is critical that I continue to learn how to implement technology that asks of the students to demonstrate their 21st Century skills, vital because they are competing in the global arena now more than ever, and will be required to use these skills in their future workforce (Tucker, 2014).
What might you do to apply that knowledge to how you facilitate the changing classroom of the 21st Century? To aid my changing classroom, I intend to continue to seek out best practices as well as expand my use of many of the Web 2.0 tools introduced in class. For example, from the first day of my course, I will ask students to blog, present themselves to the rest of their classmates (Tucker, 2014). I also plan to continue to use a wiki to deliver lessons. Thirdly, I plan to collaborate with other instructors in the building, so I can be exposed to different ideas and get a sense of what my students may be doing with technology outside my class time.

This collaboration will also help me further a two-year goal I have that will be presented at the end of my blog. One Web 2.0 tool I plan to use but have not yet would be social bookmarking which would allow my students to classify and organize links to web sites or any source from the internet. What I like about this tool is the collaboration component. A potential roadblock for using this tool would be the potential for students to waste so much time adding bookmarks that are not appropriate or do not relate to the topic. To overcome this, I think I would give them several samples of bookmarks and ask them to rate the quality of them. Social bookmarking will assist my students in learning to work collaboratively and is supported by the ISTE Standards for Students, having them become knowledge constructors (ISTE, n.d.). I believe social bookmarking will be a valuable way to meet this standard.  Social bookmarking will likewise meet the standard presented by ISTE for educators, and that is educators as facilitators. Specifically, social bookmarking will challenge my students to come up with a design process by using tags in a way that will enhance their research stage (ISTE, n.d.). 
There are two long term goals that I would like to define and reach within the next two years. By June 15, 2019, I will have transferred all of my learning material for all eight financial units of study to a wiki platform. This goal will be accomplished by devoting 180 minutes every week and is realistic because I will have an extra planning period, the last four weeks of school.

The second goal is to collaborate with our entire building with the goals of integrating Web 2.0 tools in all subjects. We are fast becoming a 1-1 school with the whole freshman class recently offered Chromebooks this year. Next year we will have two entire grades with Chromebooks. To my knowledge, there has been little to no training for teachers to help them integrate technology into the classroom. I want to assist with that by creating a series of five-minute spotlight videos that teachers can access via our shared google drive. In two years, I will have assembled a representative group of students from each grade who will collaborate and produce 10, 5-minute videos for teachers and students to access that will help the school use their chrome books.

One issue I would like to study would be how teachers can best compete with students on their cellphones during class. We have strict policies for students who leave the classroom without permission, yet we haven't address when they do so by mentally checking out by checking the latest Snapchat posting, etc. Our department and I am sure the staff in our building have been left with no guidance from administration about what to do for students who are distracted by their cellphones when in class. There is no policy at any level that I am aware of. Teachers are left to figure out how best to deal with this situation and resorting to collecting thousands of dollars worth of devices isn't something we at all feel comfortable doing.  That has led to students getting inconsistent and mixed messages as they travel from classroom to classroom. I have struggled with this and have stopped short of implementing a no cell phone policy because I want them to use them during class because they compliment what I do so well. I feel that by studying this issue further, understanding what is happening to students when they are on their phones both psychologically and physiologically, we may be able to offer teachers a better perspective and perhaps help them integrate these devices into their instruction.

Utilizing Blogs in My Classroom

The purpose of using a blog in my classroom is to give the students another platform for showcasing their ideas and opinions about financial concepts we cover in class.  Blogs serves to enhance as well as deepen learning. (Richardson, 2010). It can also can help advance student’s reading by more clearly, being critical and analytical. In addition, it would allow me to do something I do not, and that is provide my students with a wider audience for their writing and expanding their audience also creates an opportunity to develop a stronger relationship with their peers and perhaps other teachers, parents and community members. (Richardson, 2010). A blog is free your students to use and has a pasting permanence without the fear of getting lost.

I teach personal finance, SAT prep. Adding blogging to my educational teaching arsenal is very worthwhile because I feel my students are being exposed to financial concepts that they will not need at the young age of 15 or 16. I believe that the most important people in their life at this point are their parents, who are fully engaged with saving and investing their money and all the caveats for being financially responsible.  One of ways I want to enhance what I do is involve their parents in what they are learning during the day. Blogging will allow parents to subscribe to their blogs, read what their child has written in real time, and most importantly offer comments and insight making our classroom a collaborative space with valuable input from outside our four walls. (Richardson, 2010). One recommendation that I want to adopt is having student create infographics through Piktochart for example, to support, enhance and highlight the ideas expressed in their writing combining new and motivating reasons for students to write (Rogers, 2015).

Lastly, incorporating blogging in our classroom will meet two distinct ISTE Standards for Teachers, facilitating and inspiring student learning and creativity as well as model digital age work and learning (Standards for teachers. (n.d.)). If students are given more choice as to what to write about they will become more inspired. Blogging could be a part of what they will do in the workforce.  For the students, two standards will be achieved, students will feel empowered, having more say on what to write about and having their responses be read by others as well as be knowledge conductors, producing creative artifacts to enhance their learning (Standards for students. (n.d.)).

References:

Richardson, W. (2010).  Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd ed.).  Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Rogers, J. rogers. jonathan@iowacityschools. or. (2015). Five Easy Ways to Bring Blogging to Your Classroom. English in Texas, 45(2), 38–40. Retrieved from https://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=111954149&site=eds-live&scope=site

Standards for Students. (n.d.). Retrieved January 16, 2019, from http://www.iste.org/standards/standards/standards-for-teachers

Standards for Teachers. (n.d.). Retrieved January 16, 2019, from http://www.iste.org/standards/standards/standards-for-teachers

Welcome to my first post ever!

Well, here I go and I ain't taking any hostages except you, the readers!

I am not new to education and education is nothing new to me. I began my teaching career as some of the latest and greatest technologies were about to be relegated to the Smithsonian. Does anyone remember you could make copies by simply turning a hand-crank? The crank was attached to a spirit duplicator. I remember it was as much fun as my mom's old fashion ice cream machine but instead of a frozen dessert you would end up with beautifully blue inked copies. I also remember breathing in the lovely smell of a freshly minted page, it would take me back to my days as a third grader, when after lunching our wonderful teacher passed out worksheets for us to complete. We would all settle down into our chairs, taking deep breaths of the aroma wafting off the paper. I am not sure what was in that spirit, but it did the trick, calming us down so we could refocus and start into our afternoon writing assignment.  Smelling it for the first time after all those years as I began my new teaching career was like a rite of passage for me. Like my 3rd grade teacher, I now had the privilege of making the dittos and it was me who was handing them out to a room full of rambunctious kids transitioning from lunchtime recess.

After 12 years of teaching, I left the classroom to pursue life outside of a school building. I wanted to live in the world that we busily try to prepare our students for. For the next 10 years, I had very little to do with education. Instead of using my creative talents to educate, I used them to renovate old houses and in turn, sell them to renovate my bank account. Things went splendidly well for me but after a while, I started thinking about what real impact I was making in the world. All my home renovations would one day be tired and someone new would be coming along to demolish and replace all that I have done, just like I did to the worker before me. I wanted to begin making lasting change again, you know, like that time I was a teacher . . .

Someone said to me that I belong in the classroom and three years after jumping back into teaching, I have to say I agree. Every day for me feel monumental. Everyday seems feels like I have written a new symphony. It is exhausting work. Gone are the 2x4s whose only communication with me were the occasional splinters. Now I have the privilege of working with young human beings who enter my classroom and, in this classroom, you will not find one lightly scented blue inked ditto, not a one! Instead, my students are greeted with a blueish glow of the new ditto master, a computer monitor, from which they can access endless content that could never be replaced with dittos no matter how fast I cranked!