Module 6

I believe that technology plays a major role in the way in which I learn.  Being a classroom teacher, technology integration is constantly emphasized on a regular basis within the job setting.  It is continually stressed that educators create an engaging learning environment that involves the use of many different types of technology tools.  This course has helped me to discover various types of tools and understand the importance of technology and its effect on how students learn.    This is especially important for the connectivism learning theory, because this theory accentuates the integration of technology to promote learning in the classroom. 

I believe that the online environment involves lots of independent learning.  Students need to be aware of when assignments are due and when certain reading topics should be read and they conduct this through their own independence of researching and viewing important information in the online classroom.  Communication and collaboration is important as well in the online environment.  Students must be sure to communicate with classmates and instructors whenever they have questions, better understanding, and for participation purposes.  Collaboration is also important in the learning process in the online environment.  Students need to know how to use various technology tools to assist with collaboration such as wikis, discussion boards, use of screencasts/videos.   In the traditional classroom, students see each other on a daily basis and they are able to have in classroom discussions about topics which help in the collaboration process.  Both the online and traditional classrooms have the same characteristics, the online classroom just maybe a little more demanding because the instructor is not right in front of you each day. 

My philosophy of learning is that there should be good communication, good forms of collaboration, and the integration of tools to assist students with the real world.  Communication should take place between teacher, students, parents, administration.  Collaboration should take place with students, teachers, and parents.  Students should be able to understand different points of views besides their own (Driscoll, 2005).  This can be obtained through effective communication amongst all learners.  Integration of tools that relate to the real world should be applied in the classroom for the students.  It does not matter whether an individual is in the online classroom or in the traditional classroom; they need to be able to have communication, collaboration, and integration of effective tools for the real world experiences.  Learning is what the person makes it to be, but in the process certain strategies have to be implemented to ensure that effective learning has taken place and students are learning the objectives that have been set forth. 

I believe that teaching and learning go together hand in hand.  While teaching, learning is also taking place, and when learning, some form of information is being taught as well.  Being willing to learn from others, fairness, and effective teaching are considered as critical points in teaching and learning.

Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology of Learning for Instruction (3^rd Edition). Boston:  Pearson Education,     Inc.

I responded to the following blogs: 

http://lylesedtech.blogspot.com/2012/08/learning-in-online-environment.html?showComment=1345954422696#c1465508495740629750 (Lyle Gier)

http://corablades1.blogspot.com/2012/08/learning-in-digital-world.html?showComment=1345954969164#c8586025560190025687 (Cora Blades)

Module 5 New Technologies

A situation where individuals were trying to adapt to change would be the incorporation of document camera as a teaching tool.  The document camera can be very viable because this tool allows for the entire classroom to view information of a selection all at the same time.  The use of this tool can cut down on the use of making paper copies which can significantly assist the teacher, and also it can ensure that the entire class is following along at the same time.  The teacher can connect this tool to the Smart Board and circle/underline keywords on the whiteboard to show the students.  The use of this tool brought on some negative vibes because some teachers were used to their students having a paper copy of a document in front of them.   For example, on the state assessments, students get to have the actual paper copy in front of them and can write on them, so just viewing the information on the whiteboard would hinder some students.   Some teachers were very interested in this idea, while some others preferred their old method of providing the handouts to the students.  

Using ARCS, individuals who preferred not to use this tool could be motivated by first, gaining the students attention.  It would be helpful to inform the teachers of ways that using the whiteboard/Smart Board can enhance the students’ attention, as the document can also be viewed on screen also.   Curiosity provides a source of motivation for students (Driscoll, 2005).  If the students become motivated, then the teacher has their attention.  Students can participate in the lesson by allowing them to go up to the Smart Board/ whiteboard and perform a task for the teacher. The use of this tool would need relevance and one way to show this would be that the incorporation of technology is part of the teacher evaluation system, therefore incorporating this tool could assist them in this area.  Teachers would need confidence in using this tool so they would need to see the tool is not difficult to use.  If teachers are comfortable with using a tool, then they are more likely to use it.  Lastly, this tool would provide satisfaction, where they would need less  copies if they prefer this, or if they still prefer the copies, then they can use the copies and the document camera also. 

Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology for Learning for Instruction. (3^rd Ed.) Boston:  Pearson Education, Inc.

I responded to the following blogs: 

http://daoprish.blogspot.com/2012/08/module-5-new-technology.html?showComment=1344474605170#c1261450705486355085 Daniel Oprish

http://juliekaplan.wordpress.com/2012/08/04/module-5-affective-learning-theory/#comment-93 Julie Kaplan