Reflection of EDUC 6712

In fact, everything I learned in this course is valuable to my teaching career. This course has increased my teaching skills to better prepare my students for their future. Learning about the QUEST model, will help me teach my students in an efficient way to transform the information into better thoughts. As (Eagleton & Dobler ,2007) stated, “The QUEST model provides a framework to support and encourage both teachers and students to gather information and transform this information into new ideas.” (p.277) Embedding the new literacy skills into the curriculum is essential, however, we must keep in mind that the old literacy skills reading, listening, writing, etc. are the fundamental. The QUEST model approach will allow students to become more self-directed – a skill that they need in their future work places. Moreover, working on the unit plan throughout this course gave me an idea of how to teach my students through inquiry-based projects. This course has helped me realize how important it is for my students to learn how to locate, understand, and use the information they acquire from the internet. I also realized the significance of preparing my students to be literate with internet resources and encouraging them to ask deep questions and evaluate the information critically and transforming the information in an effective way.

One of my professional goals I would like to pursue is embedding the new literacy skills into the whole curriculum. I want my students to become proficient at locating information, evaluate resources, and transform the information effectively. Since in elementary grades we teach all subject areas, I would teach science and social studies through inquiry-based projects to make their learning meaningful and prepare them for the professional work place in the future.

Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the Web: Strategies for Internet inquiry. New York: The Guilford Press.

EDUC6711- CourseReflection

At the beginning of this course, in application week one, I said that the teacher is the individual who is in charge to transfer the knowledge to the learners, therefore , it is very important for us educators to implement the appropriate learning style that suites our students minds to ensure success for all learners. I also said that because I work in a diverse community, and most of the students are bilingual. For this reason, I need to incorporate all the learning styles in the lessons because those who do not speak English well, learning through aural or reading/writing learning styles would be ineffective. Thus, I will not change my teaching philosophy; however, I will improve my teaching style with the new instructional strategies I learned throughout this course. Moreover, I would always teach my lessons based on my students’ learning styles.
Throughout this course, I learned many instructional strategies that will benefit my students. I have learned about many tools that I never heard of or used before. One of these tools is the c-map tool. It is an advanced organizer, which will help my students focus their learning better on the lessons. Another technology tool is the voice thread, which I believe will enhance my students learning.
My two long-term goal changes that I would like to make to my instructional practice is I would like to use the nonlinguistic representation strategy because I believe it will help my bilingual students learn better. Moreover, to enhance my students’ achievement, I will provide them with immediate feedback.
In fact, this course has provided me with many strategies and technology tools that can benefit my students’ learning as well as me.

Voice Thread

Here is the link for my voice thread http://voicethread.com/share/530469/ please let me know if did not work.

Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

Cooperative learning as stated by (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, 2007) “focuses on having students interact with each other in groups in ways that enhance their learning.” (p.139) Dr. Orey also emphasized that context and culture are critical in constructing knowledge and understanding of the world around us. Cooperative learning is an essential part of learning. Learning through the cooperative strategy, helps students make sense and construct meaning of what they are learning. Collaborating occurs in many ways, it occurs through technology, and technology plays an important role in cooperative learning. As (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, 2007) stated, “Technology can play a unique and vital role in cooperative learning by facilitating group collaboration, providing structure for group tasks, and allowing members of groups to communicate even if they are not working face to face.” (p.140)

Technology provides many tools that facilitate cooperative learning among students. Web 2.0 like blogs, wikis, voice threads, etc. can make it possible for learning to occur anywhere across the globe. Through technology, collaborative learning takes place anytime and anywhere. Moreover, building a website can enhance collaborative experience as pointed out by (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, 2007)

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program Eight. Social Learning Theories. [Motion Picture]. Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. Baltimore: Author.

Constructivism in Practice

From this week’s resources, I have learned new strategies that correlate with constructionist/constructivist learning theories and embed technology. Constructionism as Dr. Orey explained, “is a theory of learning that states people learn best when they build an external artifact or something they can share with others” The instructional strategies presented in this week’s readings provide educators with valuable tools that allow students to learn through generating and testing hypotheses. The six tasks that can be utilized by teachers to help students generate and test hypotheses as presented by (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, 2007) are: “systems analysis, problem solving, historical investigation, invention, experimental inquiry, and decision making. “ (p.203) When students are engaged in one of these six tasks, they are actually, “engaged in learning and the process of creating an artifact.” Moreover, generating and testing hypotheses is correlated with Project-Based Learning that was explained by Han, S., & Bhattacharya, K. (2001), “Project Based Learning is a teaching and learning strategy that engages learners in complex activities.” Also, (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, 2007) stated that, “when students generate and test hypotheses, they are engaging in complex mental processes, applying content knowledge like facts and vocabulary, and enhancing their overall understanding of the content.” (p.202)

This week’s readings provided us with examples of how to implement the strategies in our classrooms. One of the examples that attracted me is the example by Dave McDivitt. In this example, students investigated the causes that led to the war by using web resources and gaming software in the form of interactive applets and simulations (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, 2007) Each student takes on the role of a country leader who makes policy decisions for the country his/her are leading.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Program seven. Constructionist and Constructivist Learning Theories[Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Han, S., and Bhattacharya, K. (2001). Constructionism, Learning by Design, and Project Based Learning. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved May 27, 2009, from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Cognitivism in Practice

The instructional strategies: “Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers”, and “Summarizing and Note Taking correlates with cognitive learning theories. The components of cognitive learning theories as stated by Dr. Orey (Laureate Education, 2009) are: Limited short-term/working memory, Elaboration, Dual coding hypothesis, and Network model. Cues and questions replicate elaboration method. Questions as explained by (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski, 2007) “perform the same functions as cues by triggering students’ memories and helping them to access prior knowledge.”(p.73) The elaboration method, Dr. Orey said it builds numerous connections to stored information. Moreover, advance organizers according to (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski, 2007) “help students focus their learning.”(p.73) This instructional strategy replicates the dual coding hypothesis that was explained by Dr. Orey (Laureate Education, 2009).
Summarizing and note taking instructional strategy according to (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski, 2007), “focuses on enhancing students’ ability to synthesize information and distill it into a concise new form.”(p.119) One of the tools that helps students to summarize a lesson is the concept mapping tool. Virtual field trips are also helpful for all learners. With virtual field trips, students can have the same experiences they would have on actual field trips. Virtual field trips are very helpful in social studies and science lessons; students will be engaged in many activities that provide critical thinking.
References
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Program number 5. Cognitive Learning Theories[Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Program number 6. Spotlight on Technology: Virtual Field Trips [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author

Behaviorism in Practice

The reading of this week enriched me with many instructional strategies that entrench technology and correlate with the principles of behaviorist. While I was reading, I came across many strategies that attracted me and made me think of how I will implement them in my classroom.
Many students do not see the connection between effort and achievement, thus many students who do not put effort into their work end up as low achievers. Students who struggle in certain subject areas, blame it on many other factors; for example, some students will say I am not smart, therefore they will not put any effort. Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski (2007)pointed out that, “Many attribute their success or failure to external factors.” (p.156) Students need to understand the importance of correlating effort to achievement. Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski (2007) stated that, “effort is the most important factor in achievement” (p. 155). There are many instructional strategies that reinforce effort and help students understand the relationship between effort and achievement. One of these strategies is creating a rubric that helps students understand the meaning of effort using spreadsheets such as Microsoft Excel. When students look at their charts, they can clearly see the correlation between the effort they put and the results of their achievements. This strategy also relates to behaviorism because it reinforces the behavior of putting effort. In addition, homework and practice is another example of behaviorism because students that do their homework and practice, achieve better and score high on their tests; whereas students who do not do their homework or practice, usually score low on their exams. Moreover, students who do their homework are usually rewarded extra points while students who do not do their homework are often punished. For example, students that do not bring their homework will lose their recess for the day. Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski (2007) point out that, “Having students practice a skill or concept enhances their ability to reach the expected level of proficiency.” Practicing what students learn is very important and plays a role in their achievement. Using technology can utilize and provide students with the opportunity to practice the skills they learned in the classroom. The reading for this week provided a great amount of web resources that enhances students’ learning.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA:ASCD.