Changes [Dec 08, 2006]
Andrea AdamsWhat's Happening
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Dennis Ray
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Changes [Dec 08, 2006]
Andrea Adams
Points Worth Considering (ideas or topics that caught your interest)
Learning Text highlights change, and experience as key components to learning, or change as a result of experience. Brevity is good so I (Rich) tend to like this explanation of learning but I am also interested in what is being left out of this concept. Any thoughts?
How does learning occur?
Do these 3 types of learning occurances encompass all of what goes on in your classroom or are we missing something?
There would be numerous Instructional Design Models to choose from - do you have a favorite?
Educational Technology defined
The Technology Integration Process - a table (page 18) of questions to consider as teachers think about integration issues: I (Rich) found this table to have interesting questions to consider.
Contentious Thoughts (something you may not agree with or critically question)
The PIE model that is used in the text is a pretty obvious scheme (as Dennis mentioned) - so are we missing out on anything with this simplistic model?
Personal Stories (memories that surfaced while reading)
Other resources
Integrating New Technologies Into the Methods of Education - IN TIME - Check out this source for video examples of instructional ideas
http://www.intime.uni.edu/
An IN TIME Geography example where students plan a European vacation http://www.intime.uni.edu/video/021mihs/8/
Posted at Sep 05/2006 07:04PM:
Dennis Ray: I thought that the construction metaphor was very fitting. Just like a house, we may have a vision of what we want, but we need to have the flexibility to change that vision to fit the circumstances. The concept of experience as a key to learning applies to the teacher as well as the student. Our experience with the success of the lesson serves to provide us with the learning necessary to modify that lesson's appeal to cognitive modalities and available technology media to better suit our students' needs.
While the PIE method seems like it would be the norm, I've often left off the "E" portion (evaluate) until testing has taken place. I would imagine I (and my students) would be better served if the evaluation was far more frequent.
My greatest concern stems from not knowing what technology best suits the situation. I look forward to future chapters that may offer hints as to what media works best with any given content/grade level. I also worry about having appropriate amounts of the technology available to implement more learning-centered instruction.
With the teacher's manner of instruction being central to the learner's experience and the stakes for student achievement raised ever higher, I am concerned that teachers are not often enough made aware of not only the hardware and software currently on the market, but how to best apply them in the classroom. We need to become as versatile as the computers that we have come to rely upon.
The authors seem to be set to demonstrate ways that learning can be increased in effectiveness, efficiency, tranfer, impact and appeal through the use of technology. I am most interested in how it can increase efficiency, transfer and appeal as I have so much content to cover in a year to be prepared for SOLs, but to still make the learning something students can trasfer and apply to their life and they are interested in learning.
The NETS conections may make me reflect on the work I did a little over a year ago to earn my NETS*T certification. I just hope I can still access what I did.
It is very frustrating to locate an instructionally appropriate technology only to find out that it is too expensive, doesn't work on a Mac, has a manual 250 pages long, or contains some other obstacle to being as effective or efficient as needed in the classroom. Dennis is right to be concerned about having appropriate amounts of technology available. How can he create a learner-centered lesson at Montevideo come late April when the labs and LCD projectors are all being used for SOL review?
I found myself re-reading this portion of the chapter summary: "Learning is difficult to measure and to consistently achieve because of the inherent differences in learners, content, and contexts." With that definition of learning, a 50 question multiple choice end-of-course test seems an awfully inappropriate evaluation tool. Sadly, the links at the top of most school divisions' technology resource page are to online test banks of mutliple choice questions instead of interactive learning activities. Many teachers are beginning to see assessment rather than instructional needs drive technology budgets and decisions. From my perspective that IS now the reality and makes the ITRT role much more challenging than it needs to be.
Effectively integrating technology into the classroom is an important issue that I found throughout chapter one. We need to be sure that each time we use an instructional technology that that we are benefiting the learning process. The technology should have a purpose and as stated on page 15 "accomplish the overall goal of constructing and delivering optimal learning experiences.” Sometimes instructors get caught up in the idea of using technology. In some cases technology is not always the best answer. I am interested in discussing ways to evaluate technologies and effectively implement those technologies into instruction.
chapter1.pdf