Constructivism in Practice

This week I learned about constructivism and constructionism theories used in the classroom. Constructivism states that each individual activiely constructs his/her own meaning. Constructionism states that people learn best when they build on external artifacts or something they can share with others. My classroom theories are based on contsrtuctionism. My students use technology everyday to produce products on the computer and 3D models of their products, power point presentations, and tri-fold displays.

A concept that teachers could incorporate into their classroom is the ability to allow their ability to allow students to generate and test hypotheses. Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski (2007) state "when students generate and test hypotheses, they are engaging in complex mental processes" (p 202). I feel that constructionism and generating and testing hypotheses go hand and hand. When students generate and test hypotheses they are in control of what they want to learn. This allows students to stay in equilibration.

A great activity that I use in my classroom is I have my students reverse engineer a product to see how the product functions and how they can improve it to make it better or easier to use. This allows the students to be engaged in problem solving, invention examine, experimental inquiry, and decision making. For the most part, the students have full control over all these aspects in their reverse engineering project with some guidance from myself.

Reference:

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

Cognitivism in Practice

Cognitive learning theories allows a student to make a connection with what he or she is reading with a visual artifact. Wheather the artifact is a painting, an image, or a video the students have the ability to make a connection with an image and the text. Cognitive learing theories could allow a student to process and retain information for a longer period of time. In the video clip “Spotlight on Technology: Virtual Field Trips” Dr. Orey discusses how using virtual field trips in the classroom can create an enriched environment for students.

Using the technology of virtual field trips correlates with cognitive learning theories because it allows the students to put visualizations to text. This can help a student retain information and make it eaiser for a student to recall on such information at a later time. Giving a student the opportunity to make connections with what he or she is learning, such as virtual field trips, makes processing and recalling information easier for the student.

Does anyone have insight on cognitive learning theories? Do you use this method in your classroom and if so; how?

References:

Laureate, Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Spotlight on Technology: Virtual Field Trips [DVD]. Baltimore, MD: Author

Behaviorism in Practice

When a teacher uses a behaviorist teaching method they have positive rewards for right answers and use reinforsement for wrong ones. A behaviorist tends to use technology to reinforse what is being learned. In the book Using technology with classroom instruction that works by Howard Pitler, Elizabeth R. Hubbell, Matt Kuhn, and Kim Malenoski they talk about how using technology can keep track of a students' effort and how using technology for homework and practice provides the student with a better understanding of what he or she is doing and learning.

These strategies correlate with the behaviorist method because it allows the students to use technology to reinforse what they are learning. I feel that technology can be a powerful tool and students should use it as much as possible. Students now days are brought up in a technological era and that is what they are comfortable using. Using technology as a guide (or a helping hand) will allow the students to learn what is being taught while receiving reinforsement throughout the activity or project.

For me being a high school engineering teacher I, along with the students, have technology surronding us. I use technology such as a computer and a projector to demondtrate to the students then they turn around and use a computer, software, and sometimes tutorials to complete an assignment.

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

Intergrating technology reflection

For me being a technology educator I use technology on a regular basis. Technology is incorporated into my class room for my students to learn and hopfully enjoy. One activity I enjoyed from my masters class; Understanding the Impact of Technology and Education is the wikis we had to build as a team. I have never worked with wikis before and to learn what, why, and how they are used was worth while. We worked in groups of 10-15 students and we had to build our own wiki page with everyone contributing to a page within the wiki. The cool thing about the activity is we used technology throughout this process by means of communicating with one another; noit to mention we are from all parts of the world.

My knowledge for technology is always expanding. For the engineering curiculum I teach I am getting trained yearly to stay current with colleges and industry. I continue to use cutting edge technology which allows me to teach this technology to my students.

Since I am a technology teacher a long term goal that I set for myself on a yearly basis is to stay current with the curriculum and technology being used by todays engineering industries and colleges. It is my goal to make sure that the students that do continue on to colloge or industry and a good grasp for what is being applied in todays world as far as technology goes.

My PodCast

Partnership for 21st Century Skills

I recently visited a blog titled Partnership for 21st Century Skills where there mission is to help schools collaborate with business, community, and government to get 21st Century Skills into the classroom. The 21st Centruy Skills include:

Information and communication skills (information and media literacy skills; communication skills)
Thinking and problem-solving (critical thinking and systems thinking; problem identification, formulation and solution; creativity and intellectual curiosity)
Interpersonal and self-direction skills (interpersonal and collaborative skills; self-direction; accountability and adaptability; social responsibility)
Global awareness
Financial, economic and business literacy, and developing entrepreneurial skills to enhance workplace productivity and career options
Civic literacy

The problem that these people are seeing is that students are not prepared for buisness standards, and even college, when they leave high school. I was surprised to see that there are so many buisness involved with 21st Centruy Skills. Some of the buisnesses involved include Pearson, Intel Corporation, Adobe Systems Incorporated, Apple, Dell, and LEGO Group to name a few. What helps 21st Centruy Skills market themselves is to have name brand buisnesses get involved and support them.

The idea behind 21st Centruy Skills is great. An issue that I see is some of the skills they accept schools to perform are unable to due to the lack of teachnology. For example, one of the skills frame work is Media Literacy. They expect students and teachers to understand both how and why media messages are constructed, examine how individuals interpret messages differently, and apply a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal issues surrounding the access and use of media. Than it is expected that the students understand and utilize the most appropriate media creation tools, characteristics and conventions. I use to teach video technology and there are teachers in my school that expect students to create videos for an assignmnet. I would have a hand full of students come to me each year to eighther help them with creating a video, transfer the video to a computer from the camera, and/or create a DVD for them when they were finished. Teachers have to understand that not all students have access to a camera and/or the proper software to produce a video. What the teachers are expecting the students to do is great but they have to be very careful with what they are asking. Maybe they can team groups together so every group has atleast one person with access to a camera and one person with access to video software (and not the video technology equipment.

Here is a link to 21st Century Skills:
http://www.21stcenturyskills.org

Using blogs in the classroom

Though I am familiar with what blogs are, I have never set one up myself. Since I have started my own blog site I have noticed how helpful a blog can be. Posting a blog allows me to ask a question and receive a number of answers from a number of different people from around the world. What a powerful tool to have at our disposal!

I have been thinking how a blog would work in my classroom. I feel that the students could benefit from using a blog just as long as they do not abuse the privilege of it. I teach high school engineering and my students could benefit from a blog by posting questions they have, in regards to a project or activity, and receive answers from real-world engineers. Also they could use a blog to post questions about what to expect in college, or what is expected when they get into the real-world, or request information on a certain engineering pathway they may be interested in. I feel that the students would most benefit from a blog in this manner. I am not sure how else a blog would help?

Is there anyone that is a teacher that uses blogs in their classroom, or is there an engineer that has some ideas to how a blog could help a student in a high school environment?