Social Learning and Cooperative Grouping

It’s time for workshop groups. Although these groups are suppose to be differentiated instruction they can sometimes lean towards cooperative grouping. Cooperative grouping is a great example of the social learning theory because students are working together and creating a product. Dr. Michael Orey states that cooperative groups allows for students to “see each other as a teacher and student” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010a). This shows that students take on more then one role in their learning and are given responsibility for their learning. They are socially aware and able to communicate with each other to facilitate their learning.

Cooperative grouping is also an example of Connectivism because it allows for students to use different networks for their learning (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010b). George Siemens states, in his discussion about Connectivism, it is “not just the individual learner but the broader environment they are located in” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010b). With cooperative groups students are not just individual learners but they are working with other people and the networks available to further their learning.

With technology we can do nothing but enhance our students’ learning. There are so many different tools available to be used for cooperative learning. WebQuests are an awesome way to engage students in their learning. In the book Using Technology in Classroom Instruction that Works it says “WebQuests are designed to use learners’ time well, to focus on using information rather than looking for it” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). Instead of just teaching the content we can allow the students to learn it themselves through the WebQuest. This of course is just one strategy we can use that allows for social learning and cooperative grouping at the same time.

The question now becomes how will we embrace the ideas of technology, cooperative grouping, and social learning together? What will us as teachers need to do to ensure that our students are learning to the best of ours and their abilities?

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Program eight. Social learning theories [Webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Program nine. Connectivism as a learning theory [Webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

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

Constructionist and Hypotheses

“Constructionist focuses on getting kids to build stuff” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010). Isn’t this the plan for any teacher? It is not like we just stand there and teach, teach, teach. Instead we teach something and then send our students off to complete some kind of activity. It may be something as simple as completing a graphic organizer or something more in depth like researching about something and creating a word document explaining what was learned. When we test our hypotheses we are conducting experiments. Those experiments are part of and leading to a final product of our learning.

This week I looked at the strategy of generating and testing hypotheses. This was a strategy that I look forward to incorporating more often. This time I was looking at the strategy in an aspect of using technology. This strategy is often thought of as a science resource (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p.202). This does not always need to be the case. Sometimes we can find ways to use this strategy in other subjects. We can have students make predictions, which is very much like generating a hypothesis. The students then work though their learning to test their predictions and come to conclusions.

One resource that I have been seeing used a lot while reading Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works is spreadsheets (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). This is software that I am not very familiar with. I have read different ways of incorporating spreadsheets and find it very interesting. It is definitely a strategy I want to learn more about and use them in the future.

Resources:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Program seven. Constructionist and constructivist learning theories [Webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

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

Cognitive Learning and Instructional Strategies

“Take out your paper and pencil, it’s time to take notes” I start almost every reading and math lesson this way. It is sad to think I never considered other ways of taking notes. I do feel that I effectively teach the process of note taking. I encourage students not to write everything that is on the slide, I tell them that if they hear me say it over and over it is most likely important and needs to be written down. I stress the importance of taking notes to study for tests. I never thought about using technology to help with note taking. Upon reading the chapter on summarizing and note taking in the book Using Technology with Classroom Instruction the Works, I have a whole new insight. We have students use word processors in the most basic way possible, to type things. I am finding that I am just a beginner in my knowledge of word. I am finding more and more ways to use something as simple as word everyday. Going forward I believe I will take the time to make tools for my students to help them advance with their note taking and summarizing skills. I believe that using the Track Changes options, as discussed in the chapter, could be a great learning tool for students as they learn to edit their work (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). This I feel does tie into the idea of cognitive learning. Students are process the information and creating their own ways of remembering the information. They are able to make connections to the material thought the elaboration we include in our lessons. Dr. Orey discusses elaboration as important strategy to help students remember information (Laureate, 2010) I know that when my students are note taking it is one step in what we are doing. I then extend to an activity to help my students make connections to the skill.

The second strategy I looked at this week was cues, questions, and advanced organizers. This I feel is something that is done without really thinking about. We as teachers do not set our students up for failure. We give them information that is important before starting any new topic. It goes back to making connections for the students. We usually start a unit with looking at prior knowledge and see what is already known before we move on. If we realize that our students have no prior knowledge what do we do? We change our plan to give them some prior knowledge. For example, this week we are working on a story titled “What Rot!” and discussing recycling. Students had some prior knowledge as most of their carved pumpkins from Halloween have recently rotted and been thrown away. To further their understanding of the concept I brought in an apple and corer. I sliced the apple and left it opened to the air. We have watched each day as our apples have changed. This is allowing my students to gain experience that they did not have before. It also connects to cognitive learning because it allows for dual coding and elaboration as Dr. Orey discussed in his lecture (Laureate, 2010). This whole activity was based around questioning on how things rot.

These two strategies will definitely allow for teachers to teach for understanding. Note Taking and Summarizing allows for the students to take in the information and study it or show they understand it. Cues, questions, and advanced organizers allow helping further students understanding by organizing thoughts and ideas in a central location. These strategies along with aspects of cognitive learning help students learn more by making elaborate and good connections.   

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Program five. Cognitive learning theory [Webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

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

Instructional Strategies and Behaviorism

“Homework is assigned to reinforce skills taught in class.” This is a line that I use often on progress reports and report cards. Students are assigned homework every night. I spent a lot of time making the homework to go off of the skills we are teaching that week. It allows for practice of those skills at home. It is very similar to the technique of drill and practice, which is often associated with behaviorist learning theory. We give homework not as busy work but as an extension to our lessons. It is like added teaching time but can be done without the teacher present. Look at most any school website that comments on homework and it states that homework is given to reinforce skills. (http://stcharlescatholicschool.org/Academics/homework.htm, and http://www.schools.manatee.k12.fl.us/801SRIKER/riker/homework.html for example)

As for reinforcing effort, this is something I had never thought about. But looking at it from the behaviorist perspective it is a way of reinforcement also. You give the students the rubric for effort and they are aware of what you are looking for. If they honestly grade themselves the first week and realize they are not putting forth enough effort they will work harder the following week to improve their grade. They will limit certain behaviors because they know it will affect their grades. You are reinforcing the behaviors you want present in the classroom by giving the students the rubrics. They of course are going to want to score highly and then the unwanted behavior, or lack of effort, will eventually subside or come to extinction.

So, these two instructional strategies do tie back into the idea of the behaviorist learning theory. They provide reinforcement and will allow for extinction or lowered unwanted behaviors. They also allow for punishment, because not doing your homework usually has a consequence. Also, low performance on effort can effect the students overall grade thus punishing them to having a lower score on report cards.