Reflection

My personal theory of learning has been based on the different learning styles I have encountered.  I believe that all students learn differently.  After completing this course and thinking back about my personal theory of learning, I have come to realize that my theory was not entirely incorrect.  During this course we learned about different theories and strategies that can be used in each lesson to teach every student.  There are nine different learning strategies to choose from that can be incorporated into lessons.  Using technology is a great way to help incorporate more strategies and to get the students more involved in learning.  I never realized how many different options there were to incorporate technology.  I also thought a lot of what I would learn would prove to be too hard for my kindergarten students.  I have come to realize that every technology tool we learned about in this class can be adapted so that my young students can utilize them.  I have no fear of letting my students use technology; I was just not up on it myself.  As a result of this course, I will definitely be making changes in terms of how I use technology in my classroom.

One immediate adjustment that I will make to my instructional practice regarding technology tools is this: I am going to let my students get more involved.  I am going to focus more on learning tools rather than instructional tools.  I am definitely going to introduce and continue using concept maps to my students.  This is going to help my students process and organize an assignment better.  Also, using visual representations will help kindergarten students make connections and enable them to store the learned information in their long-term memory. 

Another technology tool I would like to use in my classroom is virtual field trips.  Due to budget cuts, our school district has slashed all field trips.  Using virtual field trips will allow me to give my students the opportunity to experience things outside of the school. 

One long-term goal I have is to use technology as a learning tool instead of an instructional tool.  I want to get my students using technology more and get them more involved in learning.  I am going to start creating lesson plans that are designed to get the students involved.  Another long-term goal is to make sure I stay more up to date with all the technology available.  I always thought I knew a lot about technology, but after taking the last two courses I really did not know how much was out there for students to use. That being said, I am so excited to find new technology to incorporate into my lessons.  I know I still have a lot more to learn, but I feel more confident in using different types of technology now.

Voicethread

This is the link to my voicethread.  I chose to use documents based on large class sizes and with limited technology.  I have never done this before, so I hope you enjoy.

www.voicethread.com/share/1701154

Social Learning Theory

According to Dr. Orey, a social learning theory occurs when students actively engage in constructing artifacts and conversing with each other.  It is said that conversation helps students understand.  For my part, I do believe that students work better when they are placed in groups and are encouraged to communicate with more knowledgeable others (MKO).  Teaching others helps the learner develop a deeper understanding of the content.

The cooperative learning strategy goes hand in hand with the social learning theory.  According to Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn and Malenoski, cooperative learning focuses on having students interact with each other in groups in ways that enhance their learning.  The use of technology is huge in cooperative learning, because it allows groups to work together even when they cannot make face-to-face contact.  It can also help facilitate group collaboration and provide structure for group tasks.  Examples of use of technology for cooperative learning groups include: multimedia, web resources, keypals, webquests and web site creation.

I do incorporate a lot of cooperative learning in my classroom on a daily basis. In fact, I believe that it is a very important component.  However, I honestly have not done it with the use of technology.  I teach Kindergarten, which means I have to spend a lot of time on the fundamental building blocks of education.  However, I do believe my young students could do a cooperative group learning project with technology if they were given the proper guidance.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Social learning theory). (2011). Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Orey M.

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