Social Learning Theory in the Classroom

When I think of the word "social", I think about lots of talking and sharing amongst a group of individuals. I am a social bird myself and did not realize the "social learning theory" was being implemented in my classroom. Dr. Orey stated, "the bottom line to social learning is students collaboratively working together" (Orey, 2010). This statement is true and can be proven with the strategies mentioned in this week's theory. For example, collaborative learning involves students sharing ideas and teaching one another different skills within a group. The students are able to openly share their ideas with their peers and help out those who do not understand. I love this strategy because so many students love to feel confident in what they know. The students enjoy taking on the role as the teacher and "feeling great about helping their classmate" (Orey, 2010). The students feel more comfortable around smaller groups when going through the learning process because there is room for error and mistake. Where as in a whole group setting, students feel pressured to have to know the correct answer and the correct way of finding the answer. There are so many types of personalities and learning styles in the classroom, so one type of instruction does not work for everyone. This brings out another plus for collaborative learning because of the different styles coming together to meet one goal.

The next strategy Dr. Orey mentioned that also goes along with collaborative learning is the "jigsaw". The "jigsaw" strategy involves each student researching a specific subtopic in their group and bringing back information to share with their group members. Again, this allows for the students to take on the role as the instructor and teach their group members. The teacher acts as a support for the groups and not the primary source. This gives the students more confidence in what they are learning and have learned from researching. Students whom get accustomed to working together in groups and taking on leadership roles prepares the students for the 21st century. In small group settings, the students are able conduct critical thinking and problem solving which are skills needed in order to survive in the corporate world.

I will continue to use the "social learning theory" in my classroom and implement the technology resources available. The partnerships in our school's community do not permit for many hands on, collaborative experiences for the students. I think if there were ways to incorporate the curriculum into what the students see around their neighborhood will give them a more meaningful experience and opportunity to learn. This ties in with the connectivism theory and how students connect their learning to real life experiences.

Resources:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Program Number 7: Social Learning Theory [Webcast]. Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. Baltimore,MD: Author.

Utilizing "Constructionism" in the Classroom

Dr. Orey presented many strategies for teachers to use in the classroom in order to utilize the "constructionism theory". The theory consists of students forming their understanding of content by constructing project based instruction. The students are given opportunities to explore and get hands on experiences with the content being taught.  There were several strategies that Dr. Orey gave this week and the strategies that caught my attention were the collaboration, innovative assessment and authentic tasks. 

I think collaboration of students with their peers and teacher is very important. In the collaboration with their teacher, students should take on the role as researchers and teachers as the resource or guide. The teacher should introduce the content thoroughly enough in which the students become intrigued and want to learn more. When the students are engaged in the new topic, the teacher acts as the guide and assigns specific tasks. Usually, I allow for my students to write down everything they know about the topic and follow up with conducting a web search on the topic. The students write down what interests them but also goes along with the topic. The students begin to collaborate with their classmates, sharing information and showing their new developments. Students enjoy sharing their information found through research and this allows for whole class collaboration. 

Assigning authentic tasks is hard for some content areas but hands on activities work as well. I like for my students to create some type of hands on craft or project from their content. This allows for students to find out more information than what is provided in the textbook and explore outside of the topic, making connections. The constructivist theory suggests that students already have certain ideas grouped into categories in their heads. In order to further their knowledge on these categories, students conduct hands on, authentic tasks that enables them to make real life connections.

I have never used the innovative assessment, but as Dr. Orey explained more in depth what it consists of,  I would like to use this in the classroom as well. This strategy allows for students and teachers to give assessments. The students will develop and create assessments to look at their understanding of the information. The students can create peer assessments to test each other on the content which will allow for students to see what their peers feel are the most important concepts of the unit. The teacher assessments should be ongoing and consists of observational assessments. This will take the idea of paper implemented assessments and teachers will be able to see the understanding of content through the utilization of constructionism in the classroom.

References:

 Han, S., and Bhattacharya, K. (2001). Constructionism, Learning by Design, and Project Based      Learning. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved <03/23/11>, from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/ 

Cognitive Learning Theory and Virtual Field Trips

This week's resources allowed for me to see a virtual field trip put into action. The teacher brought out in the video that when the students went on the physical field trip there were locations closed. The mentioning of the closed location and its importance to the study of Abraham Lincoln grasped the students' attention. Dr. Orey stated the importance of elaboration in the classroom and managing the amount of information for the students (Laureate, 2010). Students go through a dual coding hypothesis process that allows for students to take visuals and connect them with words. "Students are able to remember the visual rather than the text" (Laureate, 2010). Putting the two together will create room for more connections to develop in the student's brain. The learning process in itself is a process and the students have to be given the opportunity for the learning process to be completed. When students are able to attain the information, the ideas begin to connect and create more ideas.

In order to have success in the learning process the students must have "elaboration"(Laureate, 2010). This is when students make as many connections that they can. Due to the large amount of connections, the students are able to identify the information better. In class, I like to use authentic connections with the students. Anytime that I am able to make connections with activities they do in or outside of school helps them to remember the information better.  The technology that is in the schools today allow for you to give more visual connections for students such as the teacher and the virtual field trip. The students will be able to recall the full image of the theatre in which Lincoln was shot and respond effectively during assessment. I understand the importance of getting students to attain the information and store the content in their long term memory. Dr. Orey brought forth many great points and strategies in order to help teachers stray from paper and pencil.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Cognitive Learning Theory [Webcast]. Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Behaviorism Integrated with Instruction

I think behaviorism and instructional strategies have a strong relationship. In order to ensure that each student is getting the same opportunity to learn the teacher must apply the behaviorist theory. The teachers implement their classroom management plan and conduct lessons using those guidelines. I agree with Mark Smith in the article, "learning is manifested by a change in behaviour"(Smith, 1999). I see this theory in place every day throughout my classroom. I can see the change in the student's behavior due to their gain of knowledge. Even the student's thought process changes over time and the student begins to think differently. Instead of coming to the teacher for an answer, the student researches. I think this is also helping prepare the students for their future in the real world. 


My colleagues and I meet once a week to discuss instructional strategies that seem to work for our students. Two of our strongest strategies in the classroom are hands on activities and repetition. The students are always given a chance to do an activity whether with a lesson or by chapter. This strategy engages the students and allows for them to learn a great deal of material at the same time. Repetition is useful in every subject are which allows room for integration of subjects. My fourth grade team has a weekly grammar sentence for students to complete. The students have identified parts of speech and corrected capitalization for more than twenty-four weeks now. The students have progressed tremendously and I agree with Smith that this strategy increases learning. The strategy that made me reflect on my teaching strategies is, "learning is helped when objectives are clear"(Smith, 1999). I have ran into problems in the classroom in which my objectives were not clearly stated the first time and I had to go back to correct myself. I love the fact that I teach two different classes the same thing so that when this happens I can make the changes for the second class. I am in agreement with Smith and the strategies that will help students learn and demonstrate a change of behavior.