Three ideas or learnings from the reading
It was interesting reading the differences in education between the 1800s and today. It is amazing how much education has changed. One idea that I agree with and work on with my students is making sure they understand the processes they are learning. So often students can follow the steps to get the correct result, but they do not understand what they are doing and they do not know if their answer is reasonable. According to the text, “sense making is important in learning if ideas are to be remembered and expanded” (Niess, Lee, Kajder, 2007, p. 42). Another idea focused on in the reading is the constructivist approach. I agree that learning is transferring from teacher-centered to student-centered instruction. It is necessary for students to do the thinking, discovering, and reasoning for themselves. This helps them develop life long critical thinking and problem solving skills. Finally, the chart on p. 48 comparing traditional learning environments to new learning environments shows how much times are changing. Students should be leading the learning and working in groups. Lessons need to be multisensory and relate to real world situations.
Two new ideas for integrating technology
Lesson 3.1 “What is Technology?” (p. 45) could be used with my students. My students have grown up with technology. It would be interesting to get their ideas on what technology is and how it has changed people’s lives. Another idea for integrating technology in my classroom is thinking how technology can help me present material in multiple ways. It is important for students to have several representations of information. By incorporating technology, I will be able to show students material in a variety of ways.
One concern about integrating technology
One concern I have for integrating technology is finding the time and having the knowledge to develop more student-centered lessons using technology. I want my students doing more of the exploring and work on the computer, instead of using technology has a whole class lesson.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I too like the constructivist approach, if a student takes on instruction and is self driven they really can perform. My only trouble with that is when either they are new to my classes and have now prior knowledge or when they do not have self motivation. Those projects then fail.
ReplyDeleteJennifer,if you have not explored the use of WebQuest, please do so. It may open some doors for you and your students to get involved in doing research and finding answers to content that they must learn, while using technology in an interesting way.
ReplyDeleteI find that with spreadsheets, I teach with a behaviorist approach when they need to learn the basics of using a spreadsheet. Then, I use the constructivist strategies to move to problem solving and using the technology as a tool to help solve the problem. This is great- it takes their minds off of the technology and into the THINKING! Joan