Learning Theory and Educational Technology - EDUC 8845

Module 6 - Blog 6

Learning in a Digital World

Every semester at the school where I teach, I notice that some of my students stop coming to their classes by the end of eighth week. This is the point at which we have midterm exams. Whenever I see this drop-off in enrollment, I find myself wondering if both grades and student retention would be higher were the school to offer the same class online?

Learning is a lifelong activity that occurs intentionally in formal instruction and settings and incidentally through experience (Driscoll, 2005, p. 2). The social and communicative interaction between student and teacher, well as between student and student, is vital to classroom learning. Various prominent learning theories (behaviorist, cognitive, and constructivism) help provide some prospective. Moreover, learning theories are like windows of a house where you can look through multiple windows into the same room and get a different point of view form each window. A central tenet of most learning theories is that learning occurs inside a person (Siemens, 2004, para. 11). It is most important that, above all, learning occurs within us.To ensure success interaction both in and outside the traditional classroom, online learning requires adjustments on behave of instructors as well as students. Online courses often substitute classroom interaction with discussion boards, electronic bulletin boards, synchronous chat, and e-mails.

Traditional chalk and chalkboard classes may be best suited to those students who are not very tech-savvy as well as those students who prefer face-to-face communication with classmates and mentors. Along such lines, there are majors on offer that require more hands-on training during class, such as nursing, medical, and physical education.

If students are contemplating online options, they should first be encouraged to do a little research up front. Pre-enrollment counseling, informational interviews with graduates and professionals in their field, as well as talks with academic advisors are strongly encouraged in all such cases. The connections with their peers go a long way toward mitigating the isolation online students can feel if they never stray outside their tech bubble.

Curriculum and teaching objectives both play important role in ensuring a student’s success upon completion of a particular course. Instructors should communicate how they plan to strengthen analytical and communication skills. They must also model research ethics through different forums. Moreover, educators have to design curricula that incorporate advantages of different methods of instruction across the coursework. Ultimately, these needs to be a balance between traditional and online instruction.

Kinzer and Leu (1997) demonstrated positive effects of technology on both learning in a content area and learning to use technology itself. I believe that technology has positive effects on both learning in a content area and learning to use technology itself. Positive effects mean that technology can help in the following ways:

·         It can be effective in teaching basic skills

·         It can significantly improve scores on standardized achievement tests

·         It can provide the means for students with special needs to communicate via e-mail, and

·         It can help teachers accommodate students’ varying learning styles.

Lastly, I hope I will have more knowledge on how to use effectively technology in the classroom or online with the completion of my doctoral degree.  Therefore, I will be able to help my students in math and programming courses I teach in college.

Reference

Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Kinzer, C., & Leu, D.J., Jr. (1997). Focus on research -- the challenge of change: Exploring literacy and learning in electronic environments. Language Arts, 74(2), 126-136.
Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. Retrieved
from http://elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm



Learning Theory and Educational Technology - EDUC 8845

Module 5 - Blog 5
New Technologies

One of the technologies in my workplace that many colleagues have low self-efficacy in experimenting with is the Smart Board. In simple terms, the Smart Board is an interactive whiteboard that uses touch detection for user input in the same way as normal PC input devices. I feel comfortable of using the Smart Board in the classroom and I want to help my colleagues to use it in the same.

My ultimate goal is to help my colleagues to use the Smart Board as a tool to enhance technology in the classroom. I already talked to my chairperson in the Computer Technology Division to offer in service workshops for my colleagues. Truthfully, there are instructors who hesitate to use technology when it comes to the Smart Board at the college where I teach and they represent all five divisions the college has.

Many times, professors find themselves overloaded with responsibilities and they do not want to get involved in something else that they have to devote time and effort. Curiosity is very effective when it comes to motivating students. According to Keller (as cited in Driscoll, 2005), “To stimulate more lasting curiosity, instructions should employ techniques that invoke a sense of mystery and involve students in solving problems” (p. 334). Instructors who will attend the workshop will get into groups and they will have debates in the classroom that will maintain their attention. At the same time, the whole workshop will have a series of small exercises connected to each other. Every exercise will add to the next one and all of exercises will stimulate the curiosity of every participant.

In addition, it is not an easy task to motivate people without personal relevance in the learning task. Every lesson should be in a format that satisfies the personal goals of each student (Keller, as cited in Driscoll, 2005). These workshops will provide instructors with material that covers all the five divisions the college has. For example, the workshop will include material for the Business and Accounting Division. Therefore, instructors from this division can take with them at the end of every workshop material that they can use when they have to use the Smart Board in their classroom.

Furthermore, there will be always learners who are afraid of doing specific things. There should always be a strategy to introduce confidence in students (Keller, as cited in Driscoll, 2005). Every workshop is structured to instill the confidence of each participant. Every participant will know from the beginning of the workshop what is expected of him/her. I will be working with the whole group or with one on one colleague in the class to build the confidence of each participant. At the end of the workshop, participants should be able to complete a task by themselves.

In conclusion, every colleague will receive at the end of every training workshop a certificate of achievement for participating in the workshop. According to Keller (as cited in Driscoll, 2005), “A final and important point is that people do not look at rewards in isolation” (p. 337). My colleagues will realize that they did not only finish the workshop but they also gained knowledge at the same time of how to use the Smart Board effectively.

Reference

Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.