- What are your beliefs about how people learn best? What is the purpose of learning theory in educational technology?
Throughout my educational career, I have felt an open classroom environment where students can speak on their comments, thoughts, ideas, inspirations without reservation is ideal. This type of environment works very well in a collegiate environment with adults. Since the world is actively changing, my classroom is in effect in a constant state of change. We speak about current events on how they relate to the topic we are covering, as well as how times have changed throughout the past 50 years. Since this term I am teaching two Communications classes we speak about how communications and styles have changed throughout the past 50 years. I have students (especially my teenagers) watch a few episodes of Mad Men to note the dramatic changes that have taken place. Not just in technology, which is commonly the theme, but in styles of how women and men interacted with each other and the roles they had. It really opens up some amazing conversations and I sit in the middle of the classroom and engage each and every student in these discussions. Always, I bring the conversation to terms they are learning in the chapter and constantly compare terms to scenarios they will remember from their favorite TV shows or movies. When it comes to the test, they remember and effectively learn their material based on these conversations.
By utilizing respondent behavior by eliciting an involuntary reaction to the stimulus (Driscoll, 2005) of the students recalling the material that coincides with a specific memory enhances their learning. I've measured the success of the students learning by lecture and memorizing terms versus this type of learning and have found great success in my learning by association methods.
The purpose of learning theory in educational technology is finding the best way people learn while keeping them interested in new technologies and up to date on those educational methods that will assist in their learning.
Driscoll, M. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction. (3 ed.). Allyn & Bacon
By utilizing respondent behavior by eliciting an involuntary reaction to the stimulus (Driscoll, 2005) of the students recalling the material that coincides with a specific memory enhances their learning. I've measured the success of the students learning by lecture and memorizing terms versus this type of learning and have found great success in my learning by association methods.
The purpose of learning theory in educational technology is finding the best way people learn while keeping them interested in new technologies and up to date on those educational methods that will assist in their learning.
Driscoll, M. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction. (3 ed.). Allyn & Bacon
Cassie,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post. The organization of your classroom sounds very effective. I believe that it is important for students to be able to share their comments and ideas in a learning environment without any reservations.I have noticed from my own students how they tend to remember what was stated in a class discussion versus a class assigned reading. I also believe in maintaining learner interest in the technology while utilizing effective educational methods.
Janel'
Cassie,
ReplyDeleteGreat Post! In my experience students love sharing and an open classroom. I believe students have to feel comfortable and safe for learning to take place.Have you even thought about having them blog about the class discussion?
Teri
Great post Cassie! Thank you for sharing your viewpoint. Your classroom sounds engaging! It might be really cool to integrate an online discussion board into your course to extend the conversations from class. (You could use a free one to try it out!) This also might allow some less comfortable students the opportunity to contribute their thoughts. You could ask them to elaborate on something that was brought up, or think deeper on a particular topic, or simply reiterate what was discussed. This could engage them on another level! I love using technology as a supplement to instruction, when it will benefit the learners!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post. Learning definitely takes place when students have the freedom to express their opinions, and when they listen to a very interesting lecture rather than memorizing words and terms. Some educators do not have an open forum wherein their students can freely speak out their opinions. One of the main reasons is the time constraints. They have to cover a whole syllabus in a few months. Therefore, they say they don't have the time to have a student interjecting their ideas and losing the focus of their lectures. I think that even when students interject things that are not related to the subject matter (which happens frequently), the educator can still use that moment to turn it into a meaningful discussion wherein lessons can be learned. Educators are naturally creative so I think that we can all do this.
ReplyDeleteHi Cassie! I enjoyed reading your post. I see that memory plays a major part of your students success. Whether it is something from their favorite television shows, or something that came up in the classroom discussions, the experience they remember helps them to learn the topic of the course. As you mention above, Driscoll (2005), believes memory plays an important role in learning as well. It appears that the communication in your class helps everyone learn at the same pace although some may have better memories than others. Great job!
ReplyDeleteHi Cassie,
ReplyDeleteNice blog. An open classroom is an excellent way to engage students. I'm really impressed with the way you use Mad Men episodes to spark the students' interest in dramatization. I used videos of the Running of the bulls in Spain to spark interest in the cultural aspect of the Spanish language.