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