As a result of my learning in this course, I have developed an even more eclectic theory of learning than previously. I believe that behaviorism can be very helpful in managing behaviors in the classroom, especially in respect to positive behavior supports. But, I believe that behaviorism is not a strong enough theory to explain learning in general. Students must be actively engaged in their learning, and make their own meaning from the world around them, including their peers. Students do not learn in isolation, they need language, adults, and their peers to help them taking events in their lives, reflect upon and make meaning from them. Social interaction is key, along with being actively engaged in learning, for students to be able to make the most connections to their prior knowledge, and therefore make the most meaning for themselves. It is the job of teachers to provide opportunities for students to be actively engaged in their leaning, including making products to showcase their learning. Teachers need to focus their attention of what the students can do, not on what the teacher can do to present information. Students are not simply sponges to absorb information, they must take information and apply it to their own lives so that it makes sense to them, and is generalizable to other aspects of their lives and knowledge. Learning is useless if it is not applied in some way to the real lives of students.
As a result of this course, I am more committed to using social media to expand the communication and learning of my students. I am committed to using Edmodo to help my students share their learning with others, and modify their work based upon feedback they receive from others. These skills are very important, and will help my students to be highly engaged, active members of the classroom, and community. While my teaching practices will stay largely the same, my experience with technology in this course has helped me to think of new ways to incorporate technology in projects for my students which will better help them learn real-world skills along with the assigned curriculum. Edmodo will be a very helpful tool for my students because it will allow them to learn how to post work, and give and receive feedback. Another tool I plan on implementing in my classroom is Voice Thread. This tool, like Edmodo, will help my students make their work available for others to view and comment upon, but it is able to reach a wider range of groups. Edmodo is limited to only those within the group to which the student is assigned, but through Voice Thread, the students can share their work with family and friends outside the immediate school community. This broadens the group from which the students can interact and learn, thus broadening the knowledge base available to the students.
My long term goals are to incorporate the use of Voice Thread and Edmodo into my classroom throughout the school year, and across the curriculum. I will begin by teaching my students basic computer skills such as logging into the computer, and how to access and navigate around a webpage. From there I will teach my students how to use Edmodo to access new projects and information to complete individual and group projects to share with others within the group. The students can then learn how to give constructive feedback to others, and receive feedback in order to edit and revise their work. These skills will help them all year long to create projects to share with others.
By the end of the school year, my goal is for my students to be able to access and use both Edmodo and Voice Thread on a regular basis to create products to showcase their learning. These skills will help my students to be actively engaged in their learning, and share their learning with others, which is an important 21st century skill.
Resources
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.
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