Non-negotiables in Teaching Today

Teaching to the way our students learn is a non-negotiable facet of teaching all educators and supporters of education must be willing to embrace. The way today’s students have evolved is a perfect example of this necessity. The students in classrooms today are completely different than those of decades past, with both groups being products of the time period and societies they live in. Since our society is different from the past, so too are our students, and so too must be our ways of teaching those students. Although there are facets of theories and teaching practices which will always be applicable someway in teaching any group, to blindly follow past theories is like trying to fit a square block in a round hole. Bearing this in mind, educators must be willing to adapt and change with their students to stay relevant and affective in the learning journey of the students.

Having said this, the inclusion of educational technology into the learning process and the adoption of newer learning theories such as connectivism must be accepted by teachers and educational supporters. Today’s students are constantly connected to information and often rarely seen without some type of web based device in their presence. As teachers we have to use this fixation with technology to our advantage instead of fighting it because, both society, and today’s students now learn with this constant access to information. Teachers and administrators need to look at these devices, not from the lens of them being a distraction, but as a valuable learning tool which can engage and excite today’s learners. Once again I am reminded of an old teaching adage which applies nicely to this idea. “If you cannot learn from how I teach, then I will teach in a way you can learn.” Education and its members have to adhere to this saying and change with the times or risk wasting a perfect opportunity to reach today’s students and those of the future.

Obviously the use of technology within a class can be very overwhelming for anyone who is not comfortable with technology. However, if this generation of students are in fact the digital age, then the use of technology to teach and motivate them is almost a necessity. I have had numerous opportunities when it comes to technology in my classroom (iPads in the classroom, first in my school to get a Smartboard, etc.) and have benefited greatly from these opportunities. Like most situations with these opportunities came the responsibilities of sharing my experiences and knowledge which I enjoyed. Although most of those experience have been very rewarding I do remember an incident where I felt I lost the focus of my fellow colleagues. I was teaching during a professional development about numerous technologies able to implement in the classroom and I quickly learned I had probably overwhelmed my group. Many of them were not comfortable with technology and that discomfort combined with too much information proved disastrous. Pertaining to the ARCS model I had left out a crucial piece of information: confidence. I was moving at a speed to advance for my group of learners which could have been easily avoided had I simply polled their experience/comfort level with technology prior to the development beginning. One I realized I had a group of learners not as comfortable with technology I could have adjusted accordingly and went a slower speed to ensure they did not check out due to a lack of confidence. Had I done this I probably would have created a positive experience with technology in their classroom which could have served as motivation for them to continue their learning about technology’s use the classroom.

In looking at this Mind Map of my connections there are some interesting patterns that I notice. First my learning has changes and my networking has evolved with it. Most of my learning is now internet based and many of the connections I use to influence and facilitate that learning are network dependant. Although that is probably expected with the nature of Walden's learning platform it is a far cry from the way I learned in my undergrad days at a brick and mortar university. Secondly, in my professional network there are numerous technologies which I use to connect to my students and fellow colleagues. I use a lot of technology in my teaching craft but I did not realize how much was intertwined with technology until completing this mind map. Digitial tools that work best for me are those which allow me to take in new knowledge and apply it to my goal or craft and when posed with new questions I now use my constant connectivity to help verify and craftt any responses I might have.  

Constructivist Learning and Technolgy Ed Tech 8845 MD 3

I do think that humans have a natural affinity for social learning yet, being a middle school teacher I do see some resistance to group work at times. I feel much of this resistance derives from negative social/group experiences had by the student. However, prior to that negative schema occurring, I do feel humans naturally progress in social structures and are highly inclined to group work. The difficulty an educator has is to to help these students get passed those prior negative emotions relating to group work and to begin to build positive experiences thus creating new schema.

            Technology seems to help students bypass some of the negative feelings they may have with group work, especially if that technology is current. The allure of using relevant technology often supersedes any negative feelings of the group work concept and I find that technology lends itself greatly to cooperative learning techniques. Delivering a lesson using constructivist approaches promotes the benefits of the technology by making the learning experience more student centered. Also, students can be eager to help those who may struggle with the technology creating opportunities for collaboration where some may not have existed if the technology was not being used. In a study evaluating the usage of mobile technology in a middle school math class one of the observations found were the surprising willingness of students to help those who were struggling with the technology. This excitement to use and help those less familiar with the technology not only promote cooperative learning but also can help to create a stronger bond between the classmates and educator within the class.

Resources:                                                

Franklin, T., & Li-Wei Peng. (2008). Mobile math: Math educators and students engage in mobile learning. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 20(2), 69-80. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12528-008-9005-0

Battles of Educational Theories

In the Blog post, "Out and About: Discussion on Educational Schools of Thought" http://www.uleduneering.com/kappnotes/index.php/2007/01/out-and-about-discussion-on-educational/ there is an interesting conversation being held by multiple educational minds and in this conversation the concept of the various educational theories is addressed. In this conversation, the speakers agree that there are various "isms" in education and that maybe the best school of thought is to utilize/employ the best of each of these theories instead of one or the other. I definitely agree with this idea for there are numerous ways to learn and to exclude completely any educational theory would be shortsighted. As mentioned in the original blog, learning encompasses many aspects therefore it makes sense that multiple theories should be incorporated in the learning process. I also think the division of the major theories into learning appropriate ages was well done too. Behaviorism definitely seems best applicable to a younger learner while cognitivism seems to fit a young adult learner, leaving constructivism to be the best approach for older/adult learners. The only issue I have with this post, isn't really an issue but a question/idea to pose. Undoubtedly there are numerous theories in education and each theory can overlap in ideas while still having offering something useful. However, I do feel there are some theories which possess contradictory approaches or elements. Bearing this in mind, how does one decide which parts of each theory to use in the education process when some of those theories have contradictory components.  

Changing the Culture of Education

If anyone was at the residency in MN this summer you may have already seen this video but I absolutely love both what is said and the illustrations. This video, by Sir Ken Robinson, is a very creative way of showing viewers where education was, where it is now, and how it must evolve to prepare for a successful future. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U

How People Learn and the Importance of Learning Theory in Educational Technology

There exists numerous learning styles and there are various ways people effectively learn. Much of my ideas of how people learn best revolve around the theories postulated by John Dewey. Much of his social learning theory focuses on the importance of experiential learning (learning through educative experiences) and the role of the teacher being more of a facilitator than a dictator of learning. Allowing people the opportunity to learn through experiences instead of rote memorization presents the learner with a practical application of the content being learned while allowing him the chance to associate that content with a memorable activity. This association makes it easier to recall the information thus increasing retention and the experience allows for a deeper level of understanding as well. The teacher’s role in this learning process is also a vital component of effective learning because the teacher is more of a guide through the learning journey instead of a dictator of content to be memorized. Through this role the student and the teacher go through the learning experience together allowing the teacher to help along the way and be an integral part of the learning process.  

This type of learning applies perfectly to educational technology because when learners are allowed to experience the technology (with some guidelines) then the experience becomes more memorable as does the content. Plus, the nature of technology forces users to experience the powers of that technology, and to dictate everything the learner is to do would stifle creativity while handcuffing the learner. Knowing effective learning theories such as this which apply to educational technology allows the teacher a better opportunity to craft a learning experience which will be engaging, effective, and educative.

Welcome

Welcome, ladies and gentleman, students and teachers, colleagues and guests. I am not exactly certain how this blog will develop or transform but my initial hopes are for it to become a place where teachers and colleagues can refer to for links, reviews, and ideas of various way to implement educational technology. I also hope this space can be a place for my students and myself to reflect on our learning while being a gateway for those not in my classroom to view the educational journey we will be on this year. This is my first attempt creating a blog, and although I know there will be some bumps and mishaps along the way, I look forward to the journey. I hope as I grow in my knowledge and usage of this technology so will yours through the readings and interactions of the content presented. Thanks for visiting and comeback often.

Sincerely,

Danny Wysong
MAED - Curriculum and Intruction
PhD - Education w/ Specialization in Educational Technology (Currently Pursuing)
7th grade Honors/Accelerated ELA Teacher
Forestrbook Middle School