I liked the way Dr. Orey deciphered the
difference between constructivism
and constructionism. The “v” word refers to the experiences a
learner has “unique to the individual’s mind” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011). The “n” word is based on “first
hand experiences” or “a theory of learning that states people learn best when
they build an external artifact or something they can share with others” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011). The use of technology to provide these
experiences is a good tool if the technology fits with the objectives and
desired outcomes. With everything that
is available in schools now, the types of projects that students can create is
overwhelming. Dr. Orey suggests using PowerPoint. It is a great starting point and most schools
no matter how light they are in the technology department, I think would at
least have access to Microsoft products.
If students know that their work is going to be viewed or shared to
others besides me, I have noticed a difference in their motivation, their
efforts, and in their pride.
In this week’s reading about generating
and testing hypothesis, I learned that it can be applied to more than science or
math content. Since I teach English / Language
Arts and Social Studies, I didn’t see how the chapter could apply to my
lessons. Out of the six tasks, (systems
analysis, problem solving, historical investigation, invention, experimental
inquiry, and decision making) several of them can be used to promote higher
thinking in my content (Pitler,
Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007). My concept map from last week on the three branches
of government was created after the students analyzed the parts by identifying
the elements and purposes in a systems analysis approach. Many web quests are based on a problem
solving tasks where students collaborate to task on a role, solve a problem and
present their findings in some type of presentation. Historical investigation can initiate a great
conversation when applied to history’s unanswered or unexplained situations or
by changing a variable. For example, last
year I assigned a writing assignment that meshed the elements of narrative
writing and incorporated events from American history. The question
they were asked is how the American Revolution could have changed if the
technology we have today was present back then.
I had writings of Paul Revere riding a Harley, Ben Franklin using laser
printers, Thomas Jefferson using a computer to write the Declaration of Independence,
and colonists using Facebook to communicate and look up information for better
farming. In either task, decision making
is evident when the student has to figure out how to proceed, organize and
determine an answer or present their findings.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (2011).Cognitive
Learning Theories. Baltimore, MD.
Pitler,
H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with
classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
§
Chapter 11,”Generating and Testing
Hypotheses”.
Hi Deborah,
ReplyDeleteVery nice post. I liked the lesson you did about the American revolution using technology we have today, students must have had a lot of fun working on this project.
Deborah, I think the V word is the perspective and prior experience that students bring to the class room with them. If we are intuitive or perhaps just lucky, we can use that to anchor our new information so that students can accomplish the construction part. Great for you that you are able to see how hypothesis and testing actually fits multiple contents. The scientific method is merely a process of solving a problem or answering a question and wow isn't history full of those? Absolutely your students can use those problem solving skills to think abstractly about past events and future outcomes. Science teachers love when other content areas integrate together. I love to talk about the biology of politics and history events. Many of our modern medical practices came about due to how society dealt with the spread of epidemics such as the Black Plague and the repercussions of war fare. I bet your students really embraced modernizing the Revolutionary War. What a fun way to make connections for them.
ReplyDeleteDiane
Dana and Diane, thanks for your comments. When we return to school on Monday, we will be starting our unit on colonization. I am working on their unit project now. I want to step it up a bit from last year. I am thinking of making their mock "Facebook" pages more interactive using Google drive so they can post on each other’s pages is if they were really plying the role of their Revolutionary War person.
ReplyDeleteI know I am more conscious now about hypothesis and testing can be used in history. Getting students to think "out of the box" is difficult but when they begin to grasp it, it is a great feeling for all of us!
I loved how you clearly laid out the difference between Constructionism and Constructivism. It is very easy to use these words reciprocally. When teaching students, utilizing any form of incentive is essential to their learning. We have to step away from lecturing students and let them experience more on their own. The idea of using PowerPoint is easy, yet engaging to students, as they produce something they are proud of. It does take more time to have students create projects, but in the end, their meaningful connections are what is important. I like your idea of bringing back history and allowing students to think how famous people would see the world today with the technology. I had my students pretend they were one of the lost colonists from Roanoke, and write a journal entry about their experiences in the Lost Colony and insights to their theory of how the people disappeared. In order to create their journal, they first had to research what was known in the past, and then predict their theories. I feel that my students really began to understand key concepts, as well as, work on their writing.
ReplyDeleteDeborah, I am with you when you say you werent sure how this would apply to your content. I too teach math and two things were brought to my attention, first using simulation software could pay great dividends to our students especially when they are so involved into gaming these days and second when using concept maps there were some examples that had videos attached to them. I thought this was such a great tool that could be used multiple times throughout a lesson. What do you think? It would be great for students to engaged in a project and be able to refer back to a video to refresh their mind about information they had recently learned. On your project I also think it would have been really cool for students to see a visual of Revere on a Harley because not only would the information have stuck in the minds of the kids they would also have got a good laugh.
ReplyDelete