Cognitive Learning...Helping Students Understand How They Learn

This week, the readings in my class concentrated on the topic of cognitive learning, the theory that learning is the process of organizing new information into existing understandings and the importance of increasing a student’s awareness of how they think in order to improve their understanding. As we have heard time and time again, it is essential to integrate as many senses when presenting information in order to incorporate the knowledge into the long term memory. Our brains are a network of memory, where each idea is connected to another, so the more that we can connect new learning to prior knowledge, the more likely it is to stick! The Dual Coding Hypothesis states that people remember meaningful images better than text, so the more that you can elaborate on an idea, the more likely it is to be stored in the long term memory. If students forget, it is because they have lost the connections that were made, or they never made the connection in the first place.

There are many tools that aid in the connection of these ideas. Concept mapping helps to support dual coding because it is a concrete visual representation of those connections and it assists a learner in seeing the gaps in knowledge that need to be filled and then provides a framework in which to fill them. An effective instructional strategy is to provide a framework for questioning, perhaps by presenting a essential question to get the thought processes going, and to vary your questions as to elicit inferences and require analytical thinking. This week, we also talked about how the best way to learn knowledge is to be immersed in it, such as a study abroad situation or an apprenticeship or jobshadow. Seeing as these are not always feasible, the virtual field trip is a cost-effective, time-saving alternative to assist in the formation of an episodic memory. Really, what is the downside of a virtual field trip? They are usually free, take way less planning then an actual field trip, take less time, they are good for the environment (less bussing), and can be shared with any number of students on your schedule. Especially if you can “go” on a virtual field trip on one of many sites that link to artifacts and other primary sources, such as video, diaries, and interviews. Students will remember what they see, and they will be able to use this as a basis for more learning.

And for all of you teachers out there… get your hands on a book on how to use Microsoft Word for the classroom! It is so much more than a simple word processing tool! Previously, I learned how you can perform a more refined search though the research tool on Word. This week, I learned about some note-taking tools that are available through Word that help students summarize and take notes more effectively. That, along with other brainstorming or notetaking software like Kidspiration/Inspiration, is another example in which students can improve their chances of retaining information…and isn’t that the whole point!?

Referencing:

Novak, J. D., & Cañas, A. J. (2008). The theory underlying concept maps and how to construct and use them, Technical Report IHMC CmapTools 2006-01 Rev 01-2008. Retrieved from the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition Web site: http://cmap.ihmc.us/Publications/ResearchPapers/TheoryUnderlyingConceptMaps.pdf

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

Behaviorism and Technology in the Classroom

So, I started a new class for my Graduate Certificate in Integrating Technology. This week, we are exploring instructional strategies that embed technology and how they relate to Behaviorist Learning Theory. Remember Skinner and the Stimulus/Response theory that most of us learned about in our Psych 101 classes? Well, we are concentrating on how technology can help teachers apply those principals in their classrooms. One way is to reinforce effort. Students need to see a correlation between increased effort and increased success. One way that my textbook suggested was to have the students create spreadsheets to give themselves a concrete visual showing the correlation. This spreadsheet is completed by the students after they rate themselves on the amount of effort they have given before a test and the score that they receive on the test. I love this idea! First of all, the students are rating themselves. I have found that consequences and reinforcements are very effective when they are self- imposed and self-assessed. I also like this idea because the reinforcement is the success itself, not some external reward. Being a teacher of the Gifted, I see the long term consequences when students attribute success to their intelligence and not to their effort. If you are interested in reading more on how this correlates to the Gifted student, there is an interesting article in Scientific American Magazine that talks about how to bring out the potential in Gifted students: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=coaching-the-gifted-child
The other concept that was discussed was the use of technology in homework and practice. A big part of behaviorism is reinforcement. In this aspect, we are talking about the reinforcement of skills. One idea was the creation of spreadsheets to reinforce and practice math concepts in relation to graphs. Because the graphs are computer generated, the variables can be easily changed so that the students have more of a chance to compare and analyze various graphing representations which would lead to the reinforcement of the mathematical concept. Another idea that was presented was the idea of using web resources and multi-media to reinforce and practice a needed skill. These resources provide immediate reinforcement or correction and are able to be easily differentiated in regards to skill level so that students are able to drill and practice at their instructional level. Personally, I have found a multitude of highly engaging Apps for my I-Pad that I use with my son to practice his spelling words and sight word practice that reinforces these skills, and he loves it. Visit www.apple.com/itunes and do a category search in education. A final resource to consider is the use of communication software where students are able to reinforce each other’s learning in a collaborative environment.

My Understanding of the Importance of Integrating Technology Has Vastly Improved...

So, as I mentioned before, I am getting a Graduate Certificate in Teaching with Technology. My first class is drawing to a close, and it is time to reflect on what I have learned from this experience. My goal in taking these courses was to improve my effectiveness as a teacher in the 21st century, and I feel confident that I am on my way to making some improvements in the way that I deliver my instruction. The first week, we learned the difference between using technology to teach something differently and using technology to teach different things. That is an important distinction that I think that many educators don’t fully comprehend. We are teaching students that are immersed in technology for the majority of their waking hours when they are not in school, and teachers need to do more than have students make a Powerpoint. In the past weeks, I have learned how to create a blog, collaborate on a Wiki, and produce a podcast, and I have received some great ideas from both my class resources and from my classmates on how to best use these Web 2.0 technologies for educational purposes. I have learned more in these seven weeks than I have in all of our “technology-based” professional developments times in the 14 years that I have been teaching. What this class has made me do is take the time to learn things that I felt that I just did not have the time to sit down and learn before. I have learned that students need to be taught to be discriminate consumers of information on the Web and that they need to spend more time investigating problems that they discover instead of being vessels that we teachers fill with our knowledge. I better understand the need for lessons that require creative thinking and problem-solving and collaborative learning if our students are to be efficiently prepared to compete in a global economy. I know now that my most important role is as a facilitator in a classroom with investigative learners. I am looking forward to my next class and the new information that I will learn that will help me to continue to grow as a teacher. I vow to always try my best to keep up with the technology advancements that are made, even after I don’t have to do it for a class, so that my students will always benefit from being in my class. One obstacle will always be the funding available and the willingness of our technology department to help implement or install different programs. I have set two goals:

Number 1: I will continue to utilize the information that I get from following the technology for teaching blogs to which I subscribe. We teachers are our own best resource, because only we can understand what our students truly need and what truly works. www.freetech4teachers.com has so many FREE resources that I can personally use in my classroom, or that I can pass on to my students, their parents, or other teachers to use. Seeing as cost is not an issue, the technology department will be more willing to help me to install any necessary software.

Number 2: We have a technology committee at school that functions as an intermediary between the teachers and the technology department and the administration. I have joined this committee so that I can advocate for the teachers who are trying to use “controversial” social media to teach. Through this committee, I will continue to push for more technology in every classroom. This committee also writes grants to request additional funding for technology. I will continue to seek out and apply for any grants that will help our school obtain more technology.

Digital Use of Students in the 21st Century

Preparing Our Students for Their Future Workplace...

I am taking a class about Integrating Technology in the Classroom.  Through my class, I was introduced to the website of a group called the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills whose mission is to “encourage schools, districts, and states to advocate for the infusion of 21^st Century Skills into education.”  The student outcomes that they target are the 3 Rs (which we should all be familiar with …Reading, (W)Riting, and (A)Rithmetic) and the 4 Cs (Critical thinking, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity) along with Life and Career Skills and Information, Media, and Technology Skills.  A lot of the information reiterated what I have been made more aware of these last few weeks… we are not preparing our kids to compete in today’s or tomorrow’s  global economy.  I was surprised by the states that have adopted the initiative, 16 of them to be exact, and the fact that it is endorsed by the US Department of Education.  I was surprised to see that West Virginia, a state not usually associated with educational reform,  was mentioned several times as being a state that has gone so far as to change their state assessments to incorporate critical thinking and problem-solving.  I am also surprised that I have never heard of the 4 Cs.  Our district is much more focused on the formal, high-stakes tests, especially now that there is a push for teacher accountability for scores.  What I didn’t agree with was the blatant E-Learning endorsements that were given though many of the resource links.  Public schools are in competition with cyberschools and there is not enough data to support whether online learning really is an effective teaching tool for the core subjects, let alone to support that online learning is a better way to teach the 4 Cs.  What this means for us public educators is that we need to integrate more technology, critical thinking, STEM skills, and collaboration into our core curriculum should we want to produce students that are ready to compete in the global market.  The website did have a number of great ideas about incorporating 21^st Century skills in the classroom.  Check it out for yourself:  http://www.p21.org/

And Now I Find Myself Entering the Blogosphere...

I am the Gifted Support Teacher for grades K-12 in my school district. I believe that the best use of a blog for me would be as a class portal and online filing cabinet.  The biggest benefit for me is the control that I will have over what gets posted and when it is posted.  There is a link on our district website for my Gifted program, but if I want anything published on it, I have to submit it to our technology person and wait until he gets around to uploading it.  With a blog, I will be able to post things at my convenience without concerns over whether it will be uploaded in a timely manner.  I plan on implementing a Gifted blog where I can post pictures and videos from recent competitions and events in which we have participated.  This way, parents and the students can be kept up to date with what is going on in G.A.T.E.  I would also like to have the students post a description of their experiences, tips, and advice for the different events and competions where other students can comment.  With the search feature on the blog, students in future years will be able to search the posts of past years to get an idea of what to expect going into a new event.  I could also list links to resources for the parents and students to access at home.  I like the idea of the online community that it will create that will incorporate the parents of my students, my students, and myself.  In a broader application, we could include other Gifted students from other schools...oh, the possibilities!

And then in Third Grade...

I am taking a technology class online.  This is the first class that I have taken since I finished my Master's Degree almost 10 years ago.  It has got me thinking about how the use of technology has changed the way that we need to teach and the way that students learn.  I loved school as a child, and I have tried to think about how technology was used when I was in school.  Besides the previously mentioned SR-80, I can not remember much technology at all.  In 1983, I was in the third grade and we got 10 Commodore computers in a computer lab in the school.  We went there once a week with our homeroom teacher, who, in retrospect, probably did not know any more about computers than we did.  We did typing exercises where we had to type the sentence on the screen.  Something about a brown fox jumping over something because it was a sentence that had every letter of the alphabet?  There was a lice outbreak in the third grade and they quarantined the students with lice in the computer lab because it was the room that was used the least.  How funny!  We have 4 computer labs at our school where I teach now, and I can not imagine using the lab as a quarantine unit!  I remember that the printer used the paper that had a perforated line with holes on either side that you had to carefully tear off before you turned your paper in to the teacher.  Ms. Yorkgitis was definitely not using the computer to teach different things instead of teaching the same things differently!