Reflection

I think that before this class started I was unaware of what my "Personal Learning Theory"was. I think that I just taught what I wanted to and how I felt. I never thought about what theory it fit into. After being able to explore all of the learning theories and how they apply to technology. What I realized the most through out the course is that there is no one theory that should be used in the classroom. If that were the case then do many students would be missing out on important information that they were not retaining.

An immediate change that I will be making to my classroom this year is to make sure that I am covering the information in multiple ways so that the students are getting the information in multiples ways. This will help them to retain the information and be able to apply it. A goal for future classes is to be aware of the strategies that I am using when I teach and make sutre that I am covering multiple strategies. I would also like to incorporate more technology into the classroom. I have discovered more about how useful it can be in helping the students learn the pertinent information.

Connectivism and Social Learning Theory in Practice

The social learning theory is a great theory. I think that by students working together and holding each other accountable they can learn a lot more and retain the information rather than listening to the teacher all of the time. By allowing the students to work together with less guidance form the teacher students learn through self discovery as well as from their peers. Sometimes their peers can put things in a context that is easier to understand.

Technology can be incorporated by allowing students to use blogs to communicate as well as a social networking site such as facebook. There are also a lot of other good resources out there that students can use to collaborate such as a Wiki or Google reader. The voice thread that we were asked to create this week would be great for students to use if you were in a classroom that had good computers and students were able to spend a lot of time on their work. THe truth is I don't think that applies to a lot of schools or classrooms. I think that the social theory works and can be used without technology, although technology is a very helpful tool.

Voice Thread

My Voice Thread...

http://voicethread.com/share/779519/

Constructivism in Practice

The constructivist theory is a very interesting theory. In college this was the only theory that we were taught, the college said that this is the only way teachers should be teaching. Well, as we all know there are many different ways of doing things. I think a great technology based project that utilizes the constructivist theory would be the virtual tour project that we just did. I would like to see students take a tour of a informational web site then construct a concept map diagramming what the web site has to offer. By doing this students are able to learn about the web site, technology as well as organize their thoughts into a visual model to help them remember the information.

Cognitivism in Practice

Cognitive learning theory is another theory that teachers should be using ideas from in their classrooms. The basic idea of cognitive learning theory is to gain the information, use the information then store the information into your long term memory. When students only hear or memorize information it is not being stored into their long term memory. I believe that a student should be presented with the information and in order to help remember it they should take notes, then they have something to refer back to. Next a student would organize the information into their own words. This can be done through concept mapping or putting together a presentation. After they have organized the information they need to reinforce it into their long term memory, this can be done through a presentation or a quiz over the information. The important thing to remember with this theory is that students need to use the information in multiple contexts so they are able to store the information ion different areas of the brain.

Behaviorism in Practice

The video by Dr. Orey brought up a great point that I had not yet thought of before; he says that technology is a great tool but if used in the wrong way it can be damaging to the students. In his example about how the low achieving students were being shown tutorials to improve their test score broke my heart. Luckily my school does not take it to that level. Technology is such a great tool and it needs to be used in the proper way. If a new tool is present the tool needs to be taught to the student as well as followed up with some activity to see if they understand the tool that was presented to them. I think the behaviorist theory is a great theory but I also think that it should not be the only tool used in the classroom. I do not think that any teacher lives by on theory and only uses that theory, if they did then their students are missing out on a lot of great things that education can give them.

A New Mind Set - Reflection

Because of this course I have been given the opportunity to learn new technological resources that I am able to share with my classroom. These resources will allow me to find new ways to keep the students interest in get in more involved in the classroom assignments. These resources along with new teaching strategies will allow me to make sure that I am teach to the 21st century learner.

My future goal are that I continue to educate myself on the resources that are available out there for myself and my students to use in order to become the best teacher that I can be. I also want to implement these resources into my classroom so that my students can continue to use these recourses in there future and understand how to use them. This course has helped me to curriculum and offer more knowledge in a different light to my students, I cant wait to see what the future brings.

Students and Technology Podcast

http://sheistand.podbean.com/

Partnership for 21st Century Skills

http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/images/stories/otherdocs/p21up_Report.pdf

Partnership for 21st Century Skills

This a great website. In this website it discusses the importance of teaching our youth the skills needed for the 21st century. The things on the site that really surprised me were what big name supporters there were. These are large companies, such as Apple. I think this is great that companies get in involved and make sure our youth are up to date on their technology and communication skills.

The only thing that I found a little disturbing was the focus on the core subjects. I am an art teacher and the subjects that are not core, such as art are sometimes that classes that help students make connections. It is also a good place for students to learn the skills that the need to succeed, like communication. A lot of communication is done in art, whether it is verbal, written or visual.

On this website it is asking teacher to teach the students the 21st century skill using 21st century technology. The students need to understand these skills by the time they reach the college level where they have to put these skills to work.

Art Teaching in need of Technology update!

Hello, my name is Shileah and I am an art teacher in Kittitas, WA. I have been teaching for 3 years now and I love it. I am currently working on getting my Masters in Integrating Technology into the classroom so that I may further help my students. I love art but prefer photography and love to teach it to my students. With photography being all digital there is a lot of technology that I still need to know. I hope this master program will help.