My personal learning theory developed a few weeks
ago stated that students learn through hands-on experience and visuals as well
as modeling. I still believe in all of
those, however after having been exposed to the content of this course I need
to revise some of my beliefs. I believe
that it is important for learners to be exposed to a variety of instructional
strategies that align with different theories.
The teacher needs to consider the particular topic to be taught, the
learning styles of the students, the limitations that they face, and the
resources available to make a decision as to what strategy to use. The lesson must be engaging. Given the digital age that we now live in and
the immersion of our students in the technology, it is important for technology
to be used as a learning tool to get them actively engaged in their own
learning and allowing the students to develop essential twenty-first century
skills. Technology also provides more
avenues for use of visuals which I firmly believe is an essential element of
learning.
As a result of my exposure to this course one of the
immediate adjustments I would have to make is using technology as a learning
tool rather than an instructional tool.
The focus has always been on the instructor working the technology while
lecturing or teaching, but it is important to place the technology in the hands
of the students ad have them actively engaged in the use of the technology
(Laureate Education, Inc., 2011b).
Two technological tools that I would like to use are
the voice thread and animations. Voice
threads give the students the opportunity to express themselves and showcase
their work in a new and unique way. It
provides the opportunity for them to hear themselves and listen to their
thought processes, which is pertinent for them to develop their skills as
learners. Teaching geography involves the
teaching of a lot of processes and I would love to explore the use of animation
software to represent those processes.
It would allow the students to construct their own meaning in an
engaging activity, one that would create an episodic and emotional memory which
is an important catalyst for learning (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011a).
Nine clusters of instructional skills were presented
during the duration of the course. These
strategies are not new to me, however exposure to the materials presented in
this course has provided clarity in their use and implementation. The ability to use technology as a tool while
incorporating these strategies provides a fresh new perspective to the teaching
using these strategies.
Two long-term goal changes in relation to my
instructional practice are to deepen my technology skills and creating an
atmosphere in my school that fosters technology integration. To deepen my technology skills I plan to use
the text provided in this course and also attend workshops available to
me. There are so many applications to
Microsoft Word and Excel programs that I now realize that I am unfamiliar with
that can be used to create engaging learning environments. I received some interesting recommendations
on how to make my classrooms more technology friendly from my voice thread
assignment which I plan to explore and implement. Hopefully once the costs are explored it will
be a project that my school can fund from its own resources. I also intend to explore the possibility of
accessing a Smart board for my school and getting trained in using it. I will explore the possibility of obtaining
grant funding for that project.
My experiences participating in this course has been
life-changing. I complete it with a new
perspective on how technology can make a difference in the classroom. My perception of using technology in the
classroom was teacher-centered, however I have learned that I need to place the
technology in the hands of the students for learning to take place. I look forward to the next course and to
learning more.
References
Laureate
Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011a). Program thirteen: Technology:
Instructional tool vs. learning tool [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved
from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1
Laureate
Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011b). Program two: Brain research and learning
[Video webcast]. Bridging learning
theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved
from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1
No comments:
Post a Comment