A VoiceThread about a problem in education.
http://voicethread.com/#u427478.b570737.i3050548

Social constructivism can be used in the classroom by utilizing technology and 21st century skills. The theory of social constructivism focuses on students constructing meaning from the information provided. The interaction allows the students to acquire a indepth understanding of the material. WebQuest are a great example of a social constructivism assignment. The students are required to create a product after researching, analyzing various resources from the Web. The students can collaborate to play a multimedia educational game on the unit of study. Students can utilize their area of expertize to create a competitive strategy. I use this method of teaching in the classroom quite a bit. It is important to have concrete directions and rubrics or scoring guides for the students to follow, otherwise the the project or objective is never met. Working with other teachers to create collaborative projects helps to create successful lessons for the students.

Constructivism in Pratice
Constructivist believe that students construct in their own mind to create an artifact or product. In order to allow the students to create the teacher must have a classroom environment that allows students to explore, research, develop, question, problem solve. Technology is tools that can help the students develop their ideas and construct a final project. In the text, Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, there are several examples of how to focus on Constructivist assignments that utilize technology. Chapter 11 focuses on Generating and Testing hypoheses, which according to Bloom's Taxonomy, higher level thinking. There are six task that can be used to create and test hyphtheses: system analysis, problem slolve, historical investigation, invention, experimental inquiry, and decision making. All these task correlate with the 21st century skills needed to succeed in current and future jobs. As a history teacher, I was interested in the web sites that are geared toward history. Web Resources are the most enticing as a history teacher. Finding a game that allows students to create a hypotheses, problem solve, is Construtivism in action. www.making-history.com Other web sites that are history related, focus on primary sources. Students can analyze the primary source and then create a hypotheses from the document. The student can research their hypotheses to construct an artifact as a final product. I noticed that Constructivism and Constructionism both lend themelves to science.
I thought it would be a good idea to colloborate with the science department to develop assignments that overlap in science and hisory. I would also like to see how Data Collection tools are used in a history class. The text mentions that students could use a digital microscope to record detailed images from an archeological excavation, but do not demonstrate how to find or create this for a class assignment.

The Coginitive learning theory works best in a constructivst classroom, which is the focus of this weeks homework. I believe that this type of learning will prepare the students for the 21st Century. The following are examples of learned skills that are necessary in the 21st century: Information seeking, Information presentation, Knowledge organization, Knowledge integration, and Knowledge generation (liyoshi et al, 2005). Each one of these techniques focus on higher level thinking or problem solving, by utilizing technology. In chapter four from Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, knowledge is referred to as cues, another name is schema. This is a great way to engage your learner. I have used a KWL chart and do not have a lot success with the "W," What would you like to learn. I usually use "K," for the students prior knowledge and "L," for learned information. Does anyone have any suggestion on how to successfully teach the students to write questions for the what section on the chart. In a constructivist classroom, students are expected to use thinking tools to help them create or solve. A few examples from Chapter four Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers are creating a spreadsheet to organize ideas, numbers etc., an advance organizer that focuses on answering an essential quesion, multimedia as a advance organizer or final product. In chapter six Summarizing and Note Taking, the students learn how to summarize using technology to help provide support for this extremely necessary skill. A specific feature on Word called AutoSummarize highlights areas on the document that can be altered, or activate the Track Changes on Word to show how the writing was altered. Both would be a great teaching tool for the students. Another great tool to use is Summary Frames where the teacher can ask questions.

I must say that the the suggestion from the authors to have each student download the software to his/her laptop is presumptious. My school has one computer lab for 1,300 students, no laptops. The other suggestion that I disagree with is the students should take notes as the movie plays.

I love constructivist teaching. Even before the dawn of technology, I have used cognitive tools in the classroom. I use Gardner's multiple intelligences, which lend themselves to this style of teaching. Technology allows students to continue to rich for the stars, just in different solar systems than in the past.
Cathy

Week 2 Behaviorist Methods

This week we learned about the Behavorist theory. This theory focuses on actions and the behavior can be changed from reinforcement and punishment. Behaviorists want to see a measurable outcome, since they believe that people can change from exterior responses.

In the reading from “Using Technology with Classroom Instruction That Works” (Pittler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski, 2007) two strategies focused on how to incorporate technology in the classroom to assist the students. The first section "Reinforcing Effort “ helps the student understand the importance of effort put forth in the class. It was found that students come to class with preconceived notions about success or failure, based on bogus information. To help the students visualize his/her habits, each student creates a spreadsheet on his/her work habits, which directly correlates with the grade received on an assignment. The students are taught a rubric based on efforts and then are asked to create and fill out a spreadsheet on his/her study habits. The students conference with the teacher about to assess the progress. Behavorist focus only on the actions, but "Reinforcing Efforts" acknowledges that students may have negative self efficacy and that this will affect the student. This method does not focus on instantaneous rewards,which are required of the Behaviorist theory. Tracking a breaking down the habits and studying them and reflecting upon your actions does lend itself to Behaviorism

The second strategy "Homework and Practice" shows the importance of practicing new concepts, especially in math. (Marzano et al., 2001, p. 67) state that "typical students need about 24 practice sessions with a skill in order to achieve 80 percent competency." Technology can assist in creating pertinent homework for the students to digest the new concept. The next day it is imperative that the teacher follow up on the homework. There are many technology resources provided to help with reinforcement of a new concept. Again, Behaviorist believe in clear cut directions that breaks each component down, and give explicit directions. One of the recommendations on issuing homework is to articulate purpose, outcome and give homework policy. The technology allows the student to use various ways to enrich his/her knowledge.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Behaviorist learning theory [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology . Baltimore : Orey.

Marzano, R.T. (2007). The art and science of teachig: a comprehensive framework for effective instruction. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Developmenet
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