Theories of Learning and Computer-Mediated Instructional Technologies

Lopez, Carrie

ET

Hung, D. (2001). Theories of Learning and Computer-Mediated Instructional Technologies. Educational Media International, 38(4), 281-287. doi:10.1080/09523980110105114. http://woulibrary.wou.edu.my/weko/eed502/Theories_of_Learning_and_CMI_Technologies.pdf

Explains different educational theories and argues that there is a place for all theories in educational practice. I appreciated this article, as I often feel that new theories are presented as "this NEW theory is the right one!" and I have often felt that there really is a little bit of all of the theories I have studied in my classroom everyday. So, I appreciated this article reinforcing what I experience.

The School Librarian and Leadership

The School Librarian and Leadership: What Can Be Learned?

Elias, Jenann

ET, IL

ROOTS LEWIS, K. (2016). The School Librarian and Leadership What Can Be
Learned? Teacher Librarian, 43(4), 18-21.

As library professionals we are surrounded by exciting research, brilliant minds, and amazing practitioners. Armed with these resources, we should "elevate library positions in schools, ensure deep student learning and keep libraries at the forefront of teaching and learning" (Roots Lewis, 2016). This can be accomplished in several ways.
First, being a leader means knowing what matters and why. It is not enough to just read research; the librarian needs to share and act on research. This can be accomplished by co-teaching and collaboration. Evidence shows that learning experience increased when classroom teachers and librarians co-taught students. As the librarian co-teaches, it is important to document student learning. Later this evidence can be used to showcase achievement within your program using photos, anecdotes, videos, and even graphs and charts.

Being a leader at a school also means knowing what matters to your principal and why. Determine what similar goals you have, and then build on them using your strengths. Keeping your finger on the pulse of the school can help. Listen to your principal (and other admins) and ask the right questions. Librarians, after all, are “all about matching people with great resources” (Roots Lewis, 2016). So whether it’s bullying, test scores, poverty, attendance, or any other topic, find articles, video, research, studies, and other relatable information and share them.

Always be careful to ferret out gems, because you don’t want to deluge busy admins. In fact, never go unprepared with only problems. Always come bearing possible solutions and an “openness to work out a better solution together” (Roots Lewis, 2016).

And remember to highlight your best practices. According to the late Donald Clifton, who studied leadership for decades, “What great leaders have in common is that each truly knows his or her strengths...and can call on that strength at the right time” (Roots Lewis, 2016). Documenting evidence of learning and providing snapshots of your program in regular intervals are best. This serves not only as a communication tool but an advocacy tool as well.

This author cited a number of other articles and sites to assist in documentation and advocacy including Evolving with Evidence by J. Valenza in Knowledge Quest 43(3), 36-43.

Histories of Personalized Learning

Michele Peabody

ET

Watters, A. (2017). The histories of personalized learning, Hackereducation OEB Mid Summit conference in Reykjavik, Iceland. Retrieved 6/2017 from

http://hackeducation.com/2017/06/09personalization

The author, “I am an education writer, an independent scholar, a serial dropout, a rabble-rouser, and ed-tech's Cassandra” argues that personalized learning has been around for at least a decade, and depending on your agenda, we define it the way we want to. Industries and tech companies agenda is the “personalized computer” and are succeeding in having education follow their lead.

Hip-Hop Education and 4 Other Approaches to Teaching and Learning

Zepnick, Jaclyn
ET

Emdin, C. (2014). 5 New Approaches to Teaching and Learning: The Next Frontier. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christopher-emdin/5-new-approaches-to-teaching-strategies_b_4697731.html 


Famed professor and pedagogy in the hood expert, Christopher Emdin, explores five different ways teachers can engage students in a more effective and exciting manner. Examples include: Hip-Hop Education, Reality Pedagogy, and the Flipped Classroom.

The first video especially lured me in as I have never heard of a science teacher using hip-hop and rap to entice students to learn about photosynthesis. It is inspiring to see new ways of teaching that actually make students want to come to class and engage. Christopher Emdin in himself is inspirational. 

What if Students Controlled Their Own Learning?

Kira Koop



ET = Educational Theory and Practice
CA = Curriculum Assessment
CO = Collaboration
AND

IL = Information Literacy and 21st Century Skills

Hutton, P. (2014). What if students controlled their own learning? | Peter Hutton | TEDxMelbourne. [Video] YouTube.com: TEDx Talks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMxqEkg3wQ0

This resource touches on elements of all four main sections of the course, but mainly resides within the category ET: Educational Theory and Practice. In this video, Peter Hutton describes the situation at his school, TC (for Take Control) in Australia, where the school experience is created by and for the students. Students sit on the panels for hiring teachers, they have input into the curriculum, and they choose their classes. There is no traditional homework assigned, instead, students are required to create a plan each week for 10 hours of "home learning" - whether that's completing a project begun in class, conducting an experiment at home, or any other idea. The school's default policy for questions or suggestions from students and parents is "yes", unless it costs too much, costs too much time, or interferes with another person's learning.

This is a radical approach to schooling, and it was fascinating to learn about this school's approach to learning. The idea that students are trusted to know what they wish to learn, after demonstrating a set level of literacy and ability, and are able to choose every single course they participate in (from 120 electives!) is wonderful and mind-boggling. I'm having difficulty imagining this strategy in place at the high school that I graduated from, which was a fairly conservative, religiously-based school. The more I think about it, however, the more I like the idea of empowering students in this way. Each child or teenager at this school must have a very defined idea of their own agency and their own power, which turns the current dynamic of authority-submissive in the classroom on its head. 

Great Video on Behaviorist Theory

Jeselyn Templin

CO

G., C. [Caitlin G.]. (2015, September 20). The breakdown: Behaviorist theory [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywfwHL18nFM

Summary:
Caitlin G’s video on Behaviorist theory effectively breaks down the finer points of both Behaviorism and Constructivism by explaining their relationship to one another and how they differ.

Evaluation:
The way she breaks down Behaviorism and Constructivism is very accessible to novices in the field. I appreciate the examples she uses, like Pavlov's dogs to explain response to stimuli, to make sure her viewers understand what she is talking about. By the end of the video I felt well-versed in the basics of Behaviorist theory and ready to research more in the form of scholarly articles.

TED Talks Education

Karen Rogers

ET
CA
CO

TED. (2013, May 11). TED Talks Education. Retrieved July 13, 2016, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dilnw_dP3xk

Summary:  This video has a plethora of educators, Bill Gates, psychologists, and students who talk about educational theory, new ways of looking at curriculum and assessment, and how to improve our teaching.  The speakers talk about the importance of relationships, inquiry, perseverance, how to motivate students, and ways to help teachers improve.

Review:  The video is incredibly empowering and inspiring.  It encourages teachers to change their traditional mindset and take some risks in education.  It talks about the problems faced in education and ways to improve them.  It talks about the importance of building up student confidence and passion for knowledge being even more important than talent.  I think it is something all people in education should watch before starting the school year.

Overcoming the crisis in curriculum theory: A knowledge-based approach.

Jana Brubaker

CT

Young, M.  (2013).  Overcoming the crisis in curriculum theory: A knowledge-based approach.  Journal of Curriculum Studies, 45(2), 101-118. Doi:10.1080/00220272.2013.764505

After reading a couple of articles that referenced Michael Young’s article, I thought that I would finally look at the article by him. Young believes that we have a responsibility to prepare students for their future careers.  This requires knowledge rather than just skills.  We need to teach students the knowledge of the past so that they can build on it for the future.  Teachers often put all of their stock in their own expertise, or in the student’s ability and motivation to discover.  Curriculum should find a balance between these.  However, curriculum is often constrained by people and politics, and choices limited.  The real crisis, however, is that curriculum theory fails to deal with epistemological questions concerning truth and, therefore, cannot define knowledge.  If we teachers cannot define knowledge for ourselves, the politicians will do it for us.  Students are entitled to knowledge; Young asks what a curriculum would look like with knowledge as its goal.  
In short, this type of curriculum would prepare students to engage in a dialogue with specific disciplines, and prepare them for this type of dialogue in their careers.  Overall, this was a fascinating article that challenges curriculum theorists.  It is no wonder there are so many responses to this article.  I completely agree that knowledge needs to be fully defined for education to be successful. Students need to be prepared to engage with the world of ideas; those ideas underlie every career path and discipline. If we do not empower them with this knowledge, they will remain at a disadvantage.

Transforming pedagogy: changing perspectives from teacher-centered to learner-centered

Jana Brubaker

ET

Dole, S., Bloom, L., and Kowalske, K.  (2016).  Transforming pedagogy: changing perspectives from teacher-centered to learner-centered.  Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based Learning, 10(1).

This article reviews the similarities and differences of problem-based learning and project-based learning, which was interesting to me.  Both are inquiry based, and have similar processes, but different results.  Project-based learning results in a product, or an artifact, while problem-based learning results in solutions rather than products.  One important similarity between the two is the role of the teacher as a facilitator or a coach.  Another similarity is that both are cross-curricular and emphasize student choice.  Both contain what is needed for deeper learning and content mastery.  This deeper learning transfers to other contexts.  

Although research is beginning to show that these models of learning produce deeper learning, they are difficult to implement in schools that are focused on standards-based learning and assessment.  Such a big change in pedagogy takes time.  Teachers need to be able to discuss, think about, and practice teaching in this way before implementing it.  The authors conducted a field study in which they offered an online summer course, with one week of field experience, on both models of learning.  After returning to the classroom, they interviewed the teacher participants to find out if they were using these models of learning. Sixty-four percent of the teachers said that they were still using the models due to the course and field experience and 100% said they would recommend those models to others.

Most of the teachers said it was a great learning experience for them.  They learned how to maintain order in an environment that appears more chaotic.  They were able to focus on critical thinking and problem solving skills in a new way.  They learned how to differentiate and allow students to take control of their learning.  Student participants also had positive experiences.  Classroom climate was reportedly better.  Student-teacher relationships improved too. Overall, the article helped me gain a better grasp of the differences between the two teaching models.

Education Practices in Several Countries

Gabrielle Thormann

ET

Doyle, W. (2016). How Finland broke every rule and created a top school system. The Hechinger Report. Retrieved from:

http://hechingerreport.org/how-finland-broke-every-rule-and-created-a-top-school-system/

A journalist writes an opinion piece about his child’s education in a remote corner of Finland.  Personalized learning is implemented, but few computers/technologies are present in this classroom.  Children have freedoms that are not seen in American classrooms, and students are guided to self-assess and peer assess.  Teams of trusted professionals have the freedom to ‘innovate and experiment,’ and teachers teach when have a masters in education, not after 5 to 6 weeks of training. 

Summary

This article is an overview of the best of the Finnish teaching system.  In between paragraphs and key points links to other related articles are inserted.  These articles reference overarching concerns such as the growing achievement gap between rich and poor as recently studied in 33 countries, as well as focusing on other countries’ educational issues: Estonia, China, Denmark.

Series Reading

Taylor, Andrea
ET, CA, IL
Series Reading Program: Creating a Culture of Reading. (2016, February 16). Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/practice/series-reading-program-creating-culture-reading

Summary: Walter Bracken STEAM Academy Elementary school is a Title 1 magnet school in Las Vegas, Nevada. They have found a way to help students be two and a half years above their grade level on their STAR reading assessments by fifth grade. They have done this by implementing Series Reading in all of the grades, supplementing curriculum. The school deciding to make a change from what they had been doing years ago when they realize that the students were not finishing the books they brought home. Series Reading is meant to help the students develop a connection to the books' characters, have a better idea of what book to read next, and increase their reading time and comprehension.

To accomplish Series Reading, each staff member at the school chooses their favorite book series. The series are then purchased and stored in the classrooms and staff offices. Six of every book is purchased so that multiple students can read the same book at the same time. The books have colored dots on their spines to indicate what reading level the series is. They also comes with a Series Bookmark that is a bookmark showing the title and covers of the books in that series. The school then uses the Accelerated Reader program to test each student on the book that they read. Next, when a student finishes an entire series they are rewarded with items such as dog tags, a charm to add to a necklace, a rubber duck, or a trophy. The school explains that as the students age it becomes less about the rewards and more about the excitement to read. Students receive a face bookmark in order to check out the books; this is done for the staff to know what books are out and need collected and it helps students know how much reading they have done.

Review: I think this is a terrific idea, although a school would have to have a substantial budget in order to get started. Not all schools would be able to incorporate this for that reason alone.  The series would cost a great deal of money, but so would continually buying incentives and prizes. The fifth graders are encouraged to donate their trinkets back, which would lower some cost, but not eliminate it altogether. Also, the article (and accompanying video) did not explain how the school accommodates students with learning disabilities. Perhaps the biggest issue with this is the lack of mention of a library! It seems that there is no library media center for students to go to.

Serving the underserved students; low-income and technology

Taylor, Andrea
CA, IL, ET
Zielezinski, M. B. (2016, May 19). What a Decade of Education Research Tells Us About Technology in the Hands of Underserved Students. Retrieved from: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-05-19-what-a-decade-of-education-research-tells-us-about-technology-in-the-hands-of-underserved-students

Summary: This article is about how to use the influx of hardware and software in schools to better serve underserved students. The sad truth is that there is an alarming number of low-income, minority, and special education students that are not  graduating from high school. In a study of edtech, it was found that access to internet sources was not enough; technology could not be used for remediation and drills and benefit these students. It is a problem when privileged students use technology for so much more, while underserved students are limited to drills. It is from this issue that five tips are provided.

The first tip is to not use technology for remediation. This means rather than using technology to drill kids into learning the standards for their grade level, schools should use technology to bring the students in. The goal should be to engage students in relevant ways, teaching them communication, collaboration, and critical thinking, not to just have kids memorize facts and equations.

The second tip is to have the students get creative by having them design their own digital content. Examples of this is how students can create their own film documentaries or use social media as a way to teach and learn. The biggest benefit to this is that students will create ongoing portfolios that they can add to for years to come.

The third tip is to use digital tools that incorporate interactivity. The best programs/apps are ones that allow students to come to their own conclusions and understandings, allowing them to see real life situations, and be able to use many forms of media.

The fourth tip is to view the students as experts and have them share their "expertise" with a real audience. This is shown to improve the quality of their work, encouraging creativity and ingenuity. Rather than write a small paper for the teacher, they have the opportunity to create a film for an entire community of people.

The fifth tip is to find the perfect blend of teacher and technology. The two must go hand in hand, and in order for digital learning to be effective the teacher plays an important role.

Review: I really liked this article because it went beyond the claim that low-income students have no access to technology or the internet. It realized that even with access there needs to be further steps taken to help these students thrive and utilize the technology appropriately. Any research done to help underserved students is a must, and I think this article does a great job highlighting five easy to achieve steps.

Evaluating a Behaviorist and Constructivist Learning

Samnath, Kayla 

ET: Educational theory and practice 

Sidney, P. F. (2015, October 17). Evaluating a Behaviorist and Constructivist Learning . Retrieved April 12, 2016, from http://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1136&context=gera

Summary:

           

            Author Paul F. Sidney (2015) discusses behaviorist learning versus constructivist learning. Sidney addresses the fact that constructivist learning aligns with the new common core standards. The goal is to teach students in way that will better prepare them for the future. In order to do this, real world simulation needs to take place within the class room (p. 02). With the implementation of new technology, it is key that educators learn which style will have the most impact on learners. Sidney goes into the major differences between the two educational theories.

            First he explains that the behaviorist view supports the idea that students learn the best through positive or negative reinforcement (p. 03). In other words, if a student remembers what the teacher lectured they will pass, and receive an A, whereas those who cannot will fail with an F. This reinforces student behavior to regurgitate what teachers tell them, versus them actually understanding the course content. Author Sidney asserts that “constructivist …learning constitutes more of a discovery learning aspect and aims students towards conceptual understanding” (p. 04). Constructivist theories are more aligned with the current common core standards. Common core standards want students to develop and construct deeper meaning out of course content. The goal is to have students actually synthesize the information they are being taught.

            Although Paul F. Sidney (2015) supports the constructivist theory of learning, he also understands why it is something that cannot just be implemented in the class rooms. He suggests that it is something that should gradually be injected in regular curriculum (p. 07). One major concern Sidney points out is student recall. Behaviorist theories assist students in memorization with repetition and reinforcement. It assists students in the mental storage of newly learned information. Due to this reasoning, Sidney suggests that classrooms implement both theories. This will give students the best of both worlds. They will get real world applicable experience and problem solving skills, they will still have that knowledge reinforced which will foster greater recall (p. 15).

Review: 

            Author Paul F. Sidney did a wonderful job explaining what both constructivist and behaviorist theories were. As a novice to educational theories, this was a great introduction. The article introduces both theories, as well as common core. Sidney explains rather simply how both theories are necessary in order to foster higher order thinking. I like how he didn’t not completely dismiss the behaviorist view in teaching. It is important to recognize that hands on projects might not align with all the students learning styles.

            I agreed with the author in that both theories can be implemented, however, this is not something that will happen over-night. It should be a gradual change, which will give students plenty of time to adapt.