Personal Learning Theory Reflection
My personal learning theory has not changed dramatically throughout since the beginning of the course. I now have a better understanding of major learning theories, however, and have discovered that each of them has a place in my classroom. When I first developed my personal learning theory, I believed strongly in aspects of both the constructionist and social constructivist theories. Looking back, I still believe in the constructionist concept that “ideas are most likely to be created when learners are actively engaged in building some type of external artifact that they can reflect upon and share with others” (Orey, 2001). I also feel that students must interact and collaborate with others, thereby supporting the social constructivist notion that learning is a social process (Orey, 2001).
While my belief in both the constructionist and social constructivist theories has remained strong throughout this course, I have become much more familiar with both the behaviorist and cognitivist learning theories. I was surprised to find that I support aspects of these learning theories as well. For example, I have always believed it to be important to provide students with frequent positive reinforcement, but did not realize that this practice is actually a form of behaviorism. In addition, many of my lessons involve graphic organizers and visual explanations of concepts to help students make connections with material. These support the theory of cognitivism, which I was relatively unfamiliar with. All students learn differently, and it is important to incorporate ideas from a variety of learning theories in order to reach all students.
I have used technology in my lessons since I began teaching a few years ago, but I continue to learn more about the wide variety of resources available to enhance learning. This course gave me the opportunity to explore new technologies, such as Voice Thread and Webspiration, and also helped me understand how these technologies support various learning theories. I have found myself thinking more about how the use of technology in my lessons will support my learners based on the various learning theories.
Technology Tools and Instructional Practice
I have already incorporated new technologies into my classroom as a result of this course. My students just completed an assignment using Webspiration, and the lesson was very successful. They enjoyed working with the technology and did a terrific job presenting their graphic organizers to the class using the interactive white board. My goal is to continue to find ways to incorporate new technologies discussed in this course. Although my students use Microsoft Word frequently and are very proficient with the technology, I have not yet utilized the graphic organizers available within the software. I would like to use these graphic organizers to help students make connections between concepts we learn in social studies. One area we focus on frequently is cause and effect, and how the events of one civilization impacted others. My students could easily use Microsoft Word’s cause/effect pattern organizer to illustrate this concept.
I would also like to use Microsoft PowerPoint in a different way. This is another tool that my students are very familiar with, but generally, the slideshows they create are filled with text. I plan on having students create presentations regarding an upcoming topic using only visuals in their slideshows. Then, while they present their visuals, they will explain to the class the connections between the images they chose and the content, thereby focusing on nonlinguistic representations of the material. I feel I now have a much better understanding of the reasoning behind the implementation of learning activities and technologies, and am eager to incorporate new and creative ways for students to interact with the social studies content.
Long-term Goals
One goal I have is to have students create nonlinguistic representations of material on a more regular basis, and then present these to the class. There are so many different ways to approach the idea of nonlinguistic representation. Students can use Webspiration, Microsoft Word graphic organizers, and Microsoft PowerPoint, just to name a few. This will allow for greater creativity on their part and will also facilitate more hands-on learning. Meanwhile, students will be working to create products more frequently, which will help them to better understand concepts. Doing so will accomplish the same goals as teacher-centered lecture, but will be more meaningful and have a greater impact on my students since helping students to use nonlinguistic representation has strong effects on achievement (Pitler et al., 2007).
A second goal of mine is to establish communication between my students and students in another area of the world, using a program such as ePals. This will broaden my students’ perspectives and help them to learn about other cultures and languages in an entirely new way (Pitler et al., 2007). As we learn about various ancient civilizations, my students become very fascinated with other cultures and intrigued by the vast differences amongst these cultures. I strongly believe that partnering with another classroom in a different part of the world would open their eyes to another culture in a way not possible just by studying the culture in the classroom. Today’s technology tools provide opportunities for unique learning experiences that may not have been possible even ten years ago, and “keypals” is a perfect example of that.
References
Orey, M. (Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved November 5, 2010 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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