Technology and Constructionism in Practice Together

A constructionist approach to learning is all about the end product. They should "construct" something when learning. It is taking an experience and putting it into their schema. Trying to keep their schema equal with their experiences. When approaching something new or similar to an all ready learned object the common thing to do is to assimilate the object. This is to gather the information about the object and then apply it to their current schema about that object.

Technology can play a part of the constructionist theory. The teacher can use a technology program to have the students show how they can construct their learning of the current subject. Many programs are a good choice for students to show their understanding of a subject. Power Point is an excellent choice for students to use. It is not just for the teacher to provide notes on a subject. The students can use it, and add in many point in a unit of study as a presentation. There are man web resources that encourage students to show understanding. They can construct simulations that would normally be to hard to implement and would be very costly(Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., Malenoski, K., Pitler, H., p. 213).

The constructivist theory is a very hands on theory. The students are involved in their learning of the end product. They must construct or build something to show their understanding. It can be brought into the current classroom by implementing new technology programs for the students to use as a culminating activity.

Cognitivisim in the Classroom

Cognitivism is an important part of classroom learning. It is all about the associations and connections of the lessons to the learner. Dr. Orey stated that cognitivism is the elaborations to remember things. People don't just forget things, but they forget how to retrieve the information from their memory (Laurete Education). When using technology in effort to support cognitive thinking the teacher needs to use lots of images, but also use text. Make it relevant to the students, so they can make connections. There are many powerful mind tools in technology. Some examples would be Power Point, Excel Spreadsheets, and concept mapping tools. These applications allow the students to focus on the solutions rather than the process. It is important for the teacher to try to give the students episodic events in the classroom. These events will trigger the short term memory to turn it into something that is worthy of storing in the long term memory. When the student thinks of something that relates to the event it will bring back the memories of the episodic event.

Using the instructional strategies of cues, questions, and organizers will use the cognitive form of thinking. The students will learn to be able to retrieve, use, and organize the information on the topic ( Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, & Pitler, p. 73). Cues and questions provide the same information to the students. They trigger or give them hints about what they will be experiencing or learning. Organizers help students learn in an organized fashion. They give the students structure in the lesson. There are many types of software and applications available to the students that would satisfy these areas. Word processing gives organization to note taking by having options of outlines or bullets. There is spreadsheets that shave time off of our Math lessons to get the end result instead of focus sing on the process. There are many types of concept mapping or organizational software such as Kidspiration, webspiration, and Rapid Fire.

When thinking of taking notes most students cringe, but if taught correctly and given the tools to be successful it can be a powerful thing to learn. Sometimes student based notes are not always good. How can we expect students to read our minds on what is important. Give them teacher created notes to guide them along. Give the students multiple examples on what are good ways to take notes. Microsoft Word can be used as a note taking tool. There are different applications teachers can teach their students to use for their notes. Again concept mapping or organizational software can be very helpful to organize thoughts. Even multimedia sources such as Power Point are useful to create cognitivism learning tools in the classroom.
Brandy Rainey

Resources
Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., Malenoski, K., & Pitler, H. (2007) Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009) Cognitive learning theories. Baltimore: Author.

Behaviorism References

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

Behaviorism in the Classroom: Reinforcing Efforts and Homework/Practice

Behaviorism can be linked to the current classroom through many different directions. From reading our text I can see a direct correlation of behaviorism through technology. By giving us examples of spreadsheet study vs. test scores it shows us a way to use behaviorism on an educational note not just for behavior. Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, and Pitler stated, "A powerful way to convince students that effort is truly tied to achievement is to show them data" (p. 161). It is important for students to understand that hard work is also rewarded. Using this strategy gives students an opportunity to use technology as an everyday piece of their learning. Not only does it give them behaviorism skills it also reinforces math, reading, and social studies skills. It makes them responsible for what they are learning.

Having students do homework is for them to achieve levels of proficiency (Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, and Pitler, p. 188). Technology can play a big part of homework and practicing because of the vast array of knowledge that is out there to find on any given subject. One way behaviorism could play a role in homework would be the learning part of it. When a student finally masters a subject or researches something interesting they would get an internal motivation to be happy for themselves. There are many websites that give students practice on drills and when they get something right the website rewards them with points, or a song, or a game to play. When you look at the grand scheme of things behaviorism is everywhere. We learn it a young age and continue to use for a long time.
Brandy Rainey

Well, bridging the gap has started. Getting into the learing theories and theorists. Hope everyone is starting this class in good health and good spirits. I can't wait until spring starts to show her little head. I am DONE with this cold weather! Give it a few weeks with high temps and no rain and I will be regretting that statement. My kids at school are acting like pod people. I always thought December was a bad month until now. They have started acting like crazy children. I hope they return my sweet kids soon! Talk to all of you later I am sure we will be using this often as communication.
Brandy Rainey