Thursday, October 8, 2009
Cooperative Learning Voice Thread
What great ideas I have been reading about this week! I am a huge fan of group work and interactive lessons that promote teamwork. That is how we most likely will have to work for the rest of our lives. There are not too many professional opportunities to work totally independent of others, rather most careers include teams even networks of colleagues that people must work with. Many sales careers even require internet networking to help build their market.
This makes the need for integrating technology in school lessons even more valuable. As our business world builds its reliance on these technologies and networking sites, our students need to be building their experience on these. Although I find that constructionism lends itself to using technology and social learning opportunities, it must be used in moderation just like all the other theories and styles we have been discussing. One specific modality can not be single handedly promoted in a classroom. A positive, interactive, engaging learning environment needs to use a variety of approaches and activities including independent learning opportunities as well as social learning groups.
It was encouraging to hear Orey specifically discuss mathematics in the video (Laureate Education Inc., 2008)as he explained constructionism and cooperative learning within the classroom. Many times math is left out of the explanations and it becomes difficult to apply what is being said to math. His statement, "teach problem solving and provide support when needed" (Laureate Education Inc., 2008), really struck a nerve for me. All too often teachers worry about scores and requirements and they forget about the learning to learn aspect of teaching. Students will really listen and think when they need an answer and cooperative learning problems based activities would provide a great opportunity for this. Students become actively engaged and have interesting discussions and questions arise throughout the process.
I will be looking forward to trying to use technology to create an interactive learning opportunity that students will have to work with partners to create a project. My initial attempt of using a VoiceThread will provide students with a new and unique presentation to increase interest and promote active engagement in a mathematics lesson.
Resources:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program eight. Social Learning Theories [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author.
This makes the need for integrating technology in school lessons even more valuable. As our business world builds its reliance on these technologies and networking sites, our students need to be building their experience on these. Although I find that constructionism lends itself to using technology and social learning opportunities, it must be used in moderation just like all the other theories and styles we have been discussing. One specific modality can not be single handedly promoted in a classroom. A positive, interactive, engaging learning environment needs to use a variety of approaches and activities including independent learning opportunities as well as social learning groups.
It was encouraging to hear Orey specifically discuss mathematics in the video (Laureate Education Inc., 2008)as he explained constructionism and cooperative learning within the classroom. Many times math is left out of the explanations and it becomes difficult to apply what is being said to math. His statement, "teach problem solving and provide support when needed" (Laureate Education Inc., 2008), really struck a nerve for me. All too often teachers worry about scores and requirements and they forget about the learning to learn aspect of teaching. Students will really listen and think when they need an answer and cooperative learning problems based activities would provide a great opportunity for this. Students become actively engaged and have interesting discussions and questions arise throughout the process.
I will be looking forward to trying to use technology to create an interactive learning opportunity that students will have to work with partners to create a project. My initial attempt of using a VoiceThread will provide students with a new and unique presentation to increase interest and promote active engagement in a mathematics lesson.
Resources:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program eight. Social Learning Theories [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Yes there are DUMB questions?
"Do we HAVE to think?" or "Can’t you just tell me the answer?"
These are two examples of those dumb questions that DO exist!!! Even though educators tell students “the only dumb question is the one not asked”, dumb questions DO exist, and these are two examples! Why would any teacher or person accept that type of lazy defeatist attitude? Anyone that does is definitely not operating under a constructivist theory.
Orey(2001) states that America's producing underachieving students that focus on memorizing facts and processes to get the "test" correct. We are creating a lazy group of children that do not know how to think! This is sad … and unfortunately dumb questions, comments or attitudes similar to those above are the culprit. It is too time consuming to allow the child time to think or resources to make conclusions instead teachers tell students the answers or outcomes without allowing any thought or exploration.
According to Piaget and constructionism (Orey, 2001), learning takes place when pupils are actively engaged and/or constructing. They are creating ideas and drawing conclusions and assimilating or accommodating for the information just observed. This requires thought and time to question, which is what makes the strategy of generating and testing hypotheses (Pitler, Hubbel, Kuhn,& Malenoski, 2007) so vital to a constructionist’s classroom. The students are not just provided the answer and then told how to think about it. They are given models or scenarios and must make observations and analyzations so they can draw a conclusion and/or work on a plan if necessary. An example provided in our text Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works (Pitler etal., 2007), required students to look at a financial situation where they had to decide how much money to invest and at what rate. The teacher provided the students with technology to do all the math calculations for them. This was a valuable time saver and enabled the teacher to then focus on the goal of the lesson. The computer did the time consuming work that would have required students use so much energy and effort and time that when they needed to look at the data, their systems were exhausted.
However, having that spreadsheet to make that information readily available provided the students with real time data that they could discuss, manipulate and make conclusions about. By doing this the students can play with many different situations and find the answer to the question instead of having the teacher simply state how they would do better and why.
Having technology do the intensive part of the project allows the teacher to have the time and willingness to attempt project based learning. I think of this much like the simple calculator in a mathematics class. Once it has been established the child knows the basic facts teachers can allow children to use calculators to do the computations so the student can use the brain power and energy to follow and find certain processes required. That is what technology can do in many situations particularly in many situations that have to do with collecting and displaying data.
Often times analyzing data is the standard that our students struggle with school wide yet almost every child can make any type of graph in any type of situation, they just do not know how to understand what the display is saying. The children have just routinely memorized the process of making a graph, they have become lazy and do not and can not think critically (Orey, 2001) of what that information says. Build this skill by insisting that the technology do the computations, collections and displaying so the child’s brain can be left to analyze and connect with the data. It is only through allowing these types of situations to occur that we will ensure a future of thinkers!
The television game show, Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader shows us all what these trivial facts do for us. NOTHING! A rocket scientist, (easily considered one of the most intellectual careers around) could not get past the first round on a fist grade level question. This genius was unable to spit back this trivia, and he is a genius doing remarkable things, this should prove that we do not need to know every little thing instead we need to focus on learning how to learn. My very wise brother has always told me the smartest people do not know all the answers but they know where to look to find them. That is my goal for my students, let them think about where to find the answer and ways to get there to learn the answer and eventually they might end up knowing many of the answers and without a teacher ever telling them one answer!
Good luck to all of us in trying to achieve this. It is a lot easier said than done especially when politics enters the real world of education but hopefully the few will prevail and teachers can begin to make a difference one student at a time! Perhaps even begin to create Americans that are not “underachieving memorizers” (Orey, 2001) but rather critical thinkers ready to conquer the world!
LORI POWERS
Resources:
Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved 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.
These are two examples of those dumb questions that DO exist!!! Even though educators tell students “the only dumb question is the one not asked”, dumb questions DO exist, and these are two examples! Why would any teacher or person accept that type of lazy defeatist attitude? Anyone that does is definitely not operating under a constructivist theory.
Orey(2001) states that America's producing underachieving students that focus on memorizing facts and processes to get the "test" correct. We are creating a lazy group of children that do not know how to think! This is sad … and unfortunately dumb questions, comments or attitudes similar to those above are the culprit. It is too time consuming to allow the child time to think or resources to make conclusions instead teachers tell students the answers or outcomes without allowing any thought or exploration.
According to Piaget and constructionism (Orey, 2001), learning takes place when pupils are actively engaged and/or constructing. They are creating ideas and drawing conclusions and assimilating or accommodating for the information just observed. This requires thought and time to question, which is what makes the strategy of generating and testing hypotheses (Pitler, Hubbel, Kuhn,& Malenoski, 2007) so vital to a constructionist’s classroom. The students are not just provided the answer and then told how to think about it. They are given models or scenarios and must make observations and analyzations so they can draw a conclusion and/or work on a plan if necessary. An example provided in our text Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works (Pitler etal., 2007), required students to look at a financial situation where they had to decide how much money to invest and at what rate. The teacher provided the students with technology to do all the math calculations for them. This was a valuable time saver and enabled the teacher to then focus on the goal of the lesson. The computer did the time consuming work that would have required students use so much energy and effort and time that when they needed to look at the data, their systems were exhausted.
However, having that spreadsheet to make that information readily available provided the students with real time data that they could discuss, manipulate and make conclusions about. By doing this the students can play with many different situations and find the answer to the question instead of having the teacher simply state how they would do better and why.
Having technology do the intensive part of the project allows the teacher to have the time and willingness to attempt project based learning. I think of this much like the simple calculator in a mathematics class. Once it has been established the child knows the basic facts teachers can allow children to use calculators to do the computations so the student can use the brain power and energy to follow and find certain processes required. That is what technology can do in many situations particularly in many situations that have to do with collecting and displaying data.
Often times analyzing data is the standard that our students struggle with school wide yet almost every child can make any type of graph in any type of situation, they just do not know how to understand what the display is saying. The children have just routinely memorized the process of making a graph, they have become lazy and do not and can not think critically (Orey, 2001) of what that information says. Build this skill by insisting that the technology do the computations, collections and displaying so the child’s brain can be left to analyze and connect with the data. It is only through allowing these types of situations to occur that we will ensure a future of thinkers!
The television game show, Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader shows us all what these trivial facts do for us. NOTHING! A rocket scientist, (easily considered one of the most intellectual careers around) could not get past the first round on a fist grade level question. This genius was unable to spit back this trivia, and he is a genius doing remarkable things, this should prove that we do not need to know every little thing instead we need to focus on learning how to learn. My very wise brother has always told me the smartest people do not know all the answers but they know where to look to find them. That is my goal for my students, let them think about where to find the answer and ways to get there to learn the answer and eventually they might end up knowing many of the answers and without a teacher ever telling them one answer!
Good luck to all of us in trying to achieve this. It is a lot easier said than done especially when politics enters the real world of education but hopefully the few will prevail and teachers can begin to make a difference one student at a time! Perhaps even begin to create Americans that are not “underachieving memorizers” (Orey, 2001) but rather critical thinkers ready to conquer the world!
LORI POWERS
Resources:
Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved 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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