EDUC-677I-7 Final Reflection

As this course comes to a close I can reflect back on the beginning of the course and see all of the learning and growth that has taken place in just 8 weeks. Whenever I begin this courses I come in thinking I am up to date on current technology and I am always surprised at how many new resources that I am introduced to that I was not previously aware of.

We began this course by defining our personal theory of learning. When I created that personal theory I stated that I taught from a constructivist perspective and tried to incorporate that theory into most of my lessons. Now, at the end of this course, I am still confident in my previous personal theory of learning but I think that I would add more emphasis on social learning theories if I was to write it again.

I have already began thinking of ways that I can incorporate this new hybrid social-constructivism approach to teaching for the upcoming school year. Two technologies that I would like to incorporate to achieve this are group power points and Voice Thread. With power points I really see students reinforcing their own learning by presenting their research and projects with the class. With VoiceThread I see so many opportunities for students to express themselves and communicate effectively with comments and questions online. This skill seems invaluable as it becomes more and more a part of everyday life in and out of school.

In regards to continued growth I would really like the opportunity to be a leader in the field of educational technology within my own school and eventually beyond. To achieve this I plan on inviting my other classes to join in with the lessons that I think best utilize the technology that I have been learning about. I also am setting a goal to stay as current as possible with new and developing educational technology so that I can implement it into the classroom as soon as possible so that it is relevant to and applicable to the technology students will encounter out of school and in the future. I plan on achieving this by staying updated through online periodicals and also by continuing communication with other teachers who are also passionate about integrating technology into the classroom.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed the learning and communication that took place in this course and I can't wait to implement some of the new strategies that were presented. I also am taking away a new view on what works best for me as a teacher and how I can use my personal learning theory to do what is best for my students, give them the best education possible.

Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

So this week we have been discussing and learning about the social learning theory. Our DVD and online text went into the benefits of having children learn things in collaboration with other students. Many of these experiences are often found in a project based environment and that is known as social constructivism. Our text offered a myriad of ways that we can use technology to not only give students tools to create with while they are collaborating, but also tools that help students connect with each other in and out of the classroom.

My favorite example from our text that was provided was having students create a multimedia project as a group, specifically a curriculum video. This just seems like the perfect project to get students to achieve a lot of the goals of social learning. Students are utilizing strengths to take on different roles, they are directing and learning from each other, and they are researching and discussing their research before they present it in a final project. All of these skills are great for the 21st century and have real world application.

I also think webquests are great, especially at the elementary level. The internet can often be too big for kids to find information and with webquests it makes the content more accessible and can keep them on track to meet the learning goals. It's great to see kids work together on these projects, because I see a lot of discussion happening related to the webquests and I think that is a key to having concrete learning experiences.

One other example that our text provided was connecting with other classrooms or experts for collaboration. I believe that this will be the future of education that has students all over the world connecting and collaborating to create things and learn from each other. Tools like Skype and VoiceThread are great examples of this technology. If you would like to view my VoiceThread that I created here is a link to where you can view it... http://voicethread.com/share/527280/ .

I'm hoping that other teacher see the possibilities for learning and growth with connectivism and social learning theories implemented in the classroom. Current and future technology is making it that much easier for students to connect and create things which are skills that they can use and will need for the jobs of tomorrow.