After reviewing the resources for this week I am realizing that many of the lesson adaptations that I make fall under the umbrella of cognitivism that I was not originally aware of. I often will display pictures or play media related to the topics that I am teaching to enhance lessons. My first goal was to make my lesson more engaging by adding these elements, but I also see now that they can make a lasting impact on how students retain and process the information that I provide.
Dr. Orey, from our DVD, explains how cognitivism looks at how learners take in information and what they are capable of processing, retaining, and using. By looking at how learners take in information, we as teachers, can adapt our lessons so that we are creating learning experiences that address exactly what our students are capable of. You wouldn't try and play a game like Call of Duty 4 on an old Commodore 64 computer, because there is no way that the machine could handle a game like that. Similar with students, by understanding the limitations and capabilities of the learning process we can create experiences that students can get more out of.
One of the main strategies that our DVD and text share for this is through organization. Our text, Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, talks in Chapter 4 about steps that students and teachers can take prior to learning and lessons that can help organize information. These tools can also help students to refer back to previous learning experiences to continue to build on what they know. One of my favorite suggestions from the text was using multimedia like powerpoints or video clips before a lesson to act as an expository advanced organizer that helps activate prior knowledge and develop a mental model to help them understand new information.
Chapter 6 delves into summarizing and note taking which relates to cognitivism as well since the purpose is to organize learning so that it is more digestible to the human brain. Our text offers several suggestions for classroom technology that can assist students in the art of note taking and summarizing. The one that I could see myself using in my 4th grade class is the note taking template created in Inspiration. I think talking notes is a great skill for students to have and by having a graphic organizer that students can fill in while they are taking notes gives them a framework and helps to keep them organized at a stage when note taking is probably something that they have not had much experience in.
By combining cognitivism with classroom technology we can use software and internet tools to help organize the learning that we want to impart. Many of the suggestions and insights are simple steps that teachers can take that can make the difference of a lesson that goes over students heads to something that they can remember and use for the rest of their lives.
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I teach 8th grade students. Many of these students come to me with background knowledge of a subject. Before I start a new unit, I will often show a Brainpop or United Streaming video. After the video, I pass out one note card to each table. Students are then asked to write 4 things they already know about the subject and 4 things they want to learn. It is a different way to do a basic KWL chart. I find that by activating their prior knowledge, students become focused more quickly.
ReplyDeleteJodi,
ReplyDeleteI really like this idea. I sometimes will have students do a KWL chart as a whole class. I like the idea of having small groups or even individuals writing things they know and want to learn. Perhaps students could share what they wrote and other students could add to their own list if they knew that or want to learn about the same thing. I agree that this helps students get focused and activates their thinking for that cognitive approach to teaching.
Jason, when you complete notes in your class, do all students have their own computers in the classroom for concept mapping on the Inspiration software?
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