My reflections on Learning with Technology

Previously I stated that my personal learning theory might be entitled Cognitive Constructivism. I believe that every individual should be responsible for their own learning. That their natural curiosity should lead the way to building and refining knowledge and understanding. In a sense, my teaching is only as effective as their learning. The two sides must connect in the learner's mind.
Through the study of different theories I have come to the conclusion that instructional and learning epistomologies are not a set of guidelines to follow. Instead they are hypotheses which allow us to consider how, when and in what circumstances optimal learning is most likely to occur. And, it reinforced my hypothesis that no one theory alone can seek to prepare all our students for a future that we can only imagine. Lever-Duffy & MacDonald (2008) seem to sum this up best when they advise: "(A)s an eclectic instructor, you can choose to implement those parts of the theories that best match your learner's needs and the characteristics of a particular lesson's specific objectives."

However, focusing in on each theory did assist in a better selection of strategies and tools. Being more specifically selective and better able to account for my choices has allowed me to see my immediate goal of revising the level of technology I use in my classroom. As somewhat of a technophile myself, I know I can often become dazzled by the latest innovation. I am eager to jump in and test it out with my students but, at times, this means that I am not thinking carefully enough about how the tool might actually be (or not be) enhancing their learning.

In the short-term this means that I must take stock of the tools that I am using and cut back on those which maybe superfluous and/or beyond the students' needs and abilities.
As a longer term goal it means making a more conscious effort to integrate technology into my pre-planning; keeping the learning objective at the core and ensuring that the technology actually fulfills that objective.

To ensure more seamless integration I will need to increase individual access to technology. Currently my students have limited access to cumbersome and out-dated hardware. The students lose valuable time just dealing with the mechanics and, in this day and age, that should no longer be the case. It is a little like my students having to turn pulp into paper and whittle their pencils to a point before beginning their essay.

In order to achieve my goals I will need to stay abreast of new technologies and their applications for learning. Maintaining a strong personal learning network and regular scholarly reading will be crucial to developing my own knowledge and understanding and to empower me to present a much stronger case to those who make the funding decisions.

References
Lever-Duffy, J., & MacDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical Foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

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Practical Social Constructivism

I have a young learner in my class this year who has taught me a lot about constructivism and socially constructed understanding. He was introduced to me as a hyper-active student with severe language delays and concentration difficulties.
Firstly, I noticed that he had not yet developed his ability to self-talk. That little voice inside our heads that tells us not to speak too loudly to our neighbor in the cinema, or, in this boy's case not to make animal noises every few seconds during circle time. Since self-talk is a crucial part of constructing knowledge, I wondered whether he was finding it hard to build connections because of this deficit.
Soon we had him talking out the steps of each and every task and, before long, not only his vocabulary improved but also his ability to perform tasks independently. In the past, he had been addressed for his anti-social behavior on numerous occasions but stimuli-response behaviorism was having more of a negative effect.
His language development was holding him back from verbally interacting with other students. And his attention deficit was potentially eliminating any contributions he might have made if he were better able to follow the flow of the conversation. Nevertheless, with support, he was made to feel part of our class team. He was listened to and his peers (who were only 6) were amazingly patient and supportive in the way they not only included him but actually made sure he was fully understanding. The power of social constructivism was almost palpable.
Our young friend has made exceptional progress but so have his peers; having truly come to an understanding of their role as the More Knowledgeable Others (MKO).

Dr. Orey tells us the MKO can sometimes be a computer. He states that conversations help students concretize their learning and that these verbal interactions occur naturally when students are working together to construct an artifact. Multimedia technology supports the tenets of social constructivism in a myriad of ways. VoiceThread slideshows, for example, allow students to verbalize their thought process through a combination of visual and audio recordings. "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" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007). There exists a wealth of websites and technology tools which allow the learning to go far beyond the classroom. Perhaps the most exciting, yet challenging, role of technology as an instrument of social constructivist learning is its global application. "(T)here are many examples of Websites that facilitate correspondence and project-based learning between students and other communities" (Pitler et al., 2007).

Knowledge is being shared, critiqued, revised, constructed in ways we never thought possible 20 years ago. As Siemens puts it information abundance may well be reshaping education.