Connecting the Pieces

Looking back over everything I have learned during the last seven weeks, I have had several “ah ha” moments. To start, I was pleased to find out a lot of my personal theory of how my students learn was reinforced by the research and major theories of learning we studied in this course. That is not to say my classroom is the perfect learning environment. I know that there are some modifications I need to make. Foremost is how I plan my instruction. It’s fine to say I understand the theory but it is how it is placed into practice which is most important. That starts with the planning stage. I now see the importance of including learning theory and research into planning instruction. Some additional modifications I would make would be to create more focused structure (i.e. rubrics, clearer expectations of outcome, etc.) to my student-centered lesson plans in order to make the learning experience most effective for my students. Finally, I plan to modify how I have been applying the Social Constructionist theory in my instruction. I now have a better understanding of how to construct my lesson so that the group has a real sense of interdependence and expectations for how the social unit should succeed.

When the new school year begins I have some immediate changes I plan to make regarding my instructional use of technology. I have used a lot of technology in the past but most of it has been used within a teacher-centered instructional presentation. I plan to make the paradigm shift to using technology as a learning tool where the students are using it for active learning (Laureate, 2009). One tool I plan to use to achieve this is Voice Thread. Because this application merges images with flexible social interaction, it becomes an invaluable tool to be used in the art classroom to support the interpretation and analysis of art. It can be used as an instructional but most importantly as an active learning tool. Its ease of use encourages students to utilize Voice thread to construct their own multi-media presentations. Another tool that I will use to enhance my student’s learning is Kidspiration. My school has had this program available to teachers and students alike for years. I received basic instruction on its use years ago but I was never told why it was such an important program. It was never connected to learning theory as it was in this class. Using this technology tool in the art room will enhance my students ability to identify similarities and differences, summarize and take notes, create advanced organizers, all while practicing their nonlinguistic representations. Research shows that these are important strategies to master and this technology tool will help students to gain both guided and independent practice in their use (Laureate, 2009).

There are two long term goals I have for my instructional practice regarding the integration of technology into the art classroom. First, revolves around access to the technology tools. I have only two computers in my room and for my students to be actively engaged and interacting with the technology, it can be quite challenging. Our school does have a fully equipped computer lab but it runs on the same schedule as mine and thus is always filled with another class when I am teaching a class. We also have a portable lab top lab but it is often hit or miss to find an open slot that coincides with my schedule or that they are actually functioning. So, my goal is to either rally for a change in the school’s specialty schedule in order to allow for flexible use of the current lab or write a grant for money to purchase a mini lab that could be used by teachers needing additional computer time for students working on cooperative project building.

My second goal is to have my students move toward using electronic portfolios. I have recently begun to use paper portfolios with my students as a form of assessment and have found much value in how they focus my student’s learning experience. The idea of an electronic portfolio lends itself to a greater transformative experience through critical reflection (Stansberry & Kymes, 2007). Our school district is in the infancy stage of setting up electronic portfolios as a feature on our Moodle sites. I hope to have the chance to pilot a portfolio program which allows students to provide written reflection on their work and select artifacts to enter as evidence of learning. In addition, because I see most of these children for five consecutive years, the portfolio can follow them and demonstrate their level of personal growth over time. Instead of looking at what seems like random ideas they can start to see the scope and sequence of their learning. As I become more familiar with the application I hope to have a feedback feature that would open up portfolios to the learning community for comment; for example, reinforcement from the teacher, the exchange of ideas between classmates, and the viewing ability for parents and other experts.

I always felt that I was exposing my students to a lot of technology for the purpose of engaging them more fully into the learning experience. This class has taught me the importance of putting the technology into the hands of the students as an active learning tool instead of just using it for instruction, that thoughtful planning must go into every lesson to truly consider the outcome I want for my students and the best instructional practices I need to use so they can achieve success, and finally this class has taught me that just having “cool techno” in the classroom doesn’t make learning happen, it involves making clear connections to learning theory, instructional practice, and the correct technology tools.


Laureate Ed., Laureate Education, Inc. (2009). Instructional strategies Part 2. Baltimore, MD: Laureate Ed., Inc.
Laureate Ed., Laureate Education, Inc. (2009). Technology: Instructional tool vs. learning tool. Baltimore, MD: Laureate Ed., Inc.
Stansberry, S., & Kymes, A. (2007, March). Transformative learning through teaching with technology electronic portfolios. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 50(6), 488–496.

Voicethread

I see so much potential for this application in the art room. Please view my first Voicethread, Overcoming Interpretation, and comment. It is about a problem I have with students not being comfortable talking about art.

Connected

Humans are social creatures. This does not suddenly change when students enter the classroom. Social learning theorists believe that we construct knowledge and understand the world around us, based on the interactions we have with others. We depend on others to guide us from what we already know, towards the information we are ready t0 learn. Each individual brings to the classroom their own personal context and culture with which they construct knowledge and understanding of the world around them (Laureate, 2009). Collectively a classroom full of children presents a wide spectrum of "experts" whose diverse strengths can contribute so much to learning as a whole. The United States of America, our country, is a fine example of that idea. Our motto, "e pluribus unum", "out of many, one", speaks loud and clear of the advantages that come from many different people, from many different backgrounds, working together toward constructing a common goal.

Educators have been using instructional strategies based on social learning theories for several years now. The jigsaw puzzle, numbered heads together, literacy teams, etc. are all wonderful examples of some of these strategies. How does technology fits in? The advances in communication, simulation, and the read/write web (Web 2.0), have brought the ability to interact and learn together to a whole new level. Even though I sit here alone in front of my computer, I have the ability to contact my friends, family, co-workers, classmates, world renowned experts, international peers.......I could go on and on. Most importantly, I can not only communicate with them but I can also learn with them by collaborating on projects over millions of miles. It is really amazing to think about. Overwhelming at times.

That is what brings me to a concern for utilizing these tools in the classroom. How do you focus students on the content so that they do not get easily distracted by the social aspect of many of these resources? As I explored many of our listed resources this week I found myself easily drawn away from my main purpose there (how to use it in my classroom). I was instead checking out what everyone else was doing and saying. Some resources kept me under better restraint than others but I feel it is something to consider when using them with students. I always complain about the filter system placed on our school network, but I can see how opening some sites can become a temptation to socially learn about topics not directly tied to the school curriculum. We are only human.....

Finally, I found George Siemens theory of Connectivism very interesting (Laureate, 2009). It seems to me as though in the future it will not be as important what we know, but instead knowing how to access it. I don't know about you but it conjures many Sci-fi movie images into my head. Excuse me...do you mind if I interface with your network a while? There are some benefits to being so interconnected as illustrated in this commercial.

Laureate Education, Inc. (2009). Social learning theories. Baltimore, MD: Laureate Ed., Inc.