Growing My Instructional Practice

As a result of my learning in the Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology course, I have come to understand the true merit that lies in each of the learning theories.  An educator should take all of the theories into consideration when planning his/her lessons although one or two may become the dominant theory informing the educator’s practice.  As stated in Week one of this course, my personal learning theory most closely resembles the Social Constructivist theory, and in light of the coursework I have completed, I now understand how to best use technology in order to support my personal learning theory. 

    First and foremost, my personal learning theory is now more informed by my understanding of how students learn and are more likely to remember what they have learned as a result of all the learning theories presented in this course.  The beginning week of this course, Dr. Patricia Wolfe (2011), reinforced the importance of understanding that learning is “the act of making connections and strengthening them” (Laureate Education Inc.). Providing students with an assortment of opportunities for knowledge acquisition that tap into the various learning styles will provide the best platform for students’ brains to form and sustain a network of connections to that knowledge which is more likely to enter into long-term memory.  The Behaviorist approach, though not my chosen focus for a personal learning theory, still holds tremendous importance in classroom management.  Reinforcing desirable behaviors in the classroom communicates a students’ positive progress and establishes norms that will serve to motivate students to reach set goals for both behavior and achievement.  My knowledge of the Cognitive Learning theory provides me with an awareness of the limits of my students’ short term memory and the types of information that are most likely to be stored in the long-term memory.  Understanding the limits of short term memory will allow me to be more conscious of scaffolding my lessons, and I will certainly strive to create as many opportunities for episodic memory as possible for my students since it is the powerhouse of long-term memory networking. 

    Since my personal learning theory is rooted in the social constructivist learning theory, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to better understand these theories and now possess some technology tools that will support this theory in my classroom.  Some immediate changes in my instructional practice will revolve around the importance of providing recognition and feedback to my students.  By using sites such as Edmodo.com and ClassDojo.com, I can provide immediate recognition and feedback in a timely manner.  ClassDojo will aid in the facilitating opportunities to reinforce positive behaviors and highlight stellar performance.  Edmodo will help streamline an online classroom environment that allows for class discussion, peer feedback, surveying students, and tracking class assignments and due dates. 

    One long term goal that I have is to use the power of VoiceThread in my classroom as a means of establishing a social learning culture in my classroom.  One way in which I intend to use VoiceThread is to enhance my vocabulary instruction.  I can post a series of pictures that represent one of the vocabulary words for the current unit on a VoiceThread and have students respond with his/her opinion as which vocabulary word is being represented in the picture.  Using a VoiceThread to have students voice his/her opinions allows students the opportunity to listen to others ideas and then form and express his/her unique perspective.  When students become familiar with how to navigate VoiceThreads, I could then challenge him/her to create a VoiceThread for a given set of vocabulary words or another area of study. 

    A final long-term goal for my instructional practice is to convert my current approach to units of study within my curriculum into Problem-Based Inquiry.  I can begin this process by exploring how the current units of study link to open-ended questions that address real-world challenges and problems.  The units of study then become a springboard for thinking and deeply considering how literature reflects the challenges of our society.  Students will then be tasked with addressing these problems in a collaborative, student-centered learning task.  One way to approach these units would be through the construction of a Webquest that asks students to research and construct an artifact that tackles the problem presented.  Other educational technology could be employed by students as a means of organizing information or as a tool for creating the artifact he/she will use to address the problem of the unit of study. 

    The Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology course has expanded my repertoire of instructional skills which will ultimately serve my students and teaching practice very well.  I now possess an artillery of educational technology tools that will help me in providing my students with both engaging and relevant learning experiences.  Additionally this course has given me a wonderful collection of technology tools that will aid me in better facilitating instructional strategies that are proven to increase student achievement.  My instructional practice has been transformed as a result of this course. 



References:

Glazer, E. (2001). Problem Based Instruction. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on

    learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved <insert date>, from http://

    projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/


Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program one: Understanding the brain [Video webcast].

     Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com

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