Begining at the End: Reflections on Learning

As I look at the past seven weeks in this course, I realize I have come a long way, technologically speaking.  I am walking away with a quiver that has many more technological arrows: VoiceThread, Lucid Chart, and Jay Cut to name a few.  At the same time, I have discovered new ways to use all of those “old technologies” in new ways.  For example, I have learned how to take PowerPoint off the screen at the front of the class and place into the hands of the students, allowing them to direct their own learning.  Beyond the tools themselves, I have learned about the theories behind their application.  For the first time in my career, I actually understand the accepted learning theories of the day enough to apply those findings to my classroom in a way that is transforming my teaching.  In the following blog, I would like to discuss several of these revelations and explain how they will affect my classroom.

After studying each learning theory in depth, I believe that there is not one clear winner.  By this, I mean that each learning theory, from Behaviorism to Connectivism, has pieces that are essential to any modern classroom.  To expand further, I do not believe a teacher can be successful by relying on just one of these theories.  If I only used Behaviorism in my classroom, I believe students would not only be missing valuable learning, but they would rebel at a structure that does not match everyday life.  On the opposite side of the spectrum, I do not believe a classroom can run strictly on Social Constructionism, as there is a time and a place for working on something alone.  Therefore, I see my own classroom as cycling through all of the learning theories we have discussed, as they all have value at different times.

That being said, if I had to choose the one that I rely on the most, it would have to be Constructionism proper.  Although I do not believe you can run a class using only this theory, I see great power in building upon your own knowledge in a way specific to you.  I believe there is a lot of power in creating a “tangible” finished product that you can be proud of and share with others.  This is reflected in my decision to integrate technology that allows students the ability to create and share their work.  It has also been beneficial to understand the learning theory behind various pieces of technology as this seems to make the tools purpose clearer to me, and therefore, my students.
 

This has created a paradigm shift in my instructional practice.  I have always felt that technology integration is essential in a modern classroom.  However, I let the technology dictate the learning strategy and guide instruction.  I now realize that this could be akin to a hammer guiding a carpenter; it just does not make sense.  My new plan is to select the learning strategy that will give my students the best chance at learning the information.  I will then determine what the best piece of technology is and how it should be used to target that strategy.

As previously mentioned, I feel as if I have a lot more technological tools to work with.  This is not only in breadth but also in depth.  In other words, I not only learned about new software, but also how to use the ones I already relied on in different, much deeper, ways.  One type of technological tool I would like to implement into my classroom has to do with concept mapping.  I have often used concept maps on paper.  However, this always has me in the driver’s seat and students simply filling out a worksheet.  I have now seen the power of software like Lucid Chart and Spider Scribe and can see how students could benefit from creating their graphic organizers.  I am also interested in the concept mapping presentation program Prezi and cannot wait to put it into the hands of my students.

 

A second set of technology I would like to get my students into is that of video creation.  Looking at websites like YouTube, this seems to be a trend that is not going away.  In terms of actual implementation, I think that the first step is to create some stop animation films using digital cameras.  In this way, students can think more about what they are doing while creating their artifact.  It will also give us a chance to get our feet wet with online editing software like Jay Cut before moving into actual footage.  I believe this type of technology not only increases engagement, but increases learning.

This all sounds great on paper, but how am I actually going to start getting all of this into my classroom?  I have come up with two long-term goals to help me with both the pedagogical and technological aspects of changing my teaching.  The first has to do with Marzano’s Nine Researched-based instructional strategies.  If the research is correct, and these strategies really do show as much growth as they claim, then they should be prevalent in my classroom.  However, as we have been warned, no one should try to implement all of them at once, as we will get overwhelmed and gain no mastery.  Therefore, I have chosen two of the strategies to focus on in my teaching: 1) Identifying similarities and differences and 2) Creating non-linguistic representations.  My first long-term goal will be to be intentional about implementing at least one of these every week during the next year.  This also means researching new ways and new technology that allows me to incorporate them into my classroom.

 

A second long-term goal has to do more directly with technology.  During the next year, I will implement technology at least once a week.  In defining the technology tool, I would like to make it clear that this does not mean I use PowerPoint in front of the class.  This means that the technology is used as a learning tool in the hands of the students.  If this goal matches with the previous goal then I believe that is even better. 

By posting these two goals on the wall in my classroom, I plan to follow through with them not just because I said I would, but because I feel that they will actually make a difference in my teaching and my student’s learning.  I also feel that their integration into my weekly planning will reinforce the learning theories and learning strategies that we have looked at over these past few weeks.  In addition, I hope that their implementation will allow me to add even more technological tools to my already expanded repertoire.  Now I guess it is time to stop writing about it and go do it!