What are my beliefs about how people learn
I believe that learning is an individualized process. Most people learn best through personally meaningful experience that enable them to connect new knowledge to what they already believe or understand. A teachers main role is to facilitate learning rather than be the source of all knowledge. This means teachers have to deliberately help learners construct their own understanding, rather than simply tell them things that they are expected to memorize. I believe that teaching is no longer about helping students to accumulate knowledge that is passed on to them by the teacher; it is about helping students to make sense of new information, to integrate new information with their existing ideas and to apply their new understanding in meaningful ways.
The primary and essential purpose of educational technology is helping people to learn. Learning Theories provide an account of the key elements in the process of gaining new knowledge and the capabilities of how those elements interact (Januszewski, 2008). Learning theories (as they relate to educational technology) are useful to the extent that they allow us to articulate issues sensibly and to conduct inquiry to test hypotheses that flow from the theory.
Reference:
Januszewski, A. (2008). Educational technology: A definition with commentary, New York, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Siemens, G (2008, January 27). Learning and knowing in networks: changing roles for educators and designers. Paper presented to ITFORUM. Retrieved from http://it.coe.uga.edu/itforum/Paper105/Siemens.pdf
Links
Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age
http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm
Aligning Learning Theory with Instructional Design
http://michaelhanley.ie/elearningcurve/tag/learning-theory/page/3/
Quatrissia,
ReplyDeleteYou have a great looking blog! Congratulations!
While I agree that learning is achieved through discovery, I'm also aware that at times students require direct instruction (lecture). For me, lecture is only successful if kept to short lessons which vary according to need, and age and maturity level of the student. (Although I find it very interesting that professional development oftentimes includes lectures of longer duration). And, I also believe that each learner DOES learn differently, and knowing this, educators should provide opportunities for each learner to work within their strength, but also to increase their weaknesses at times. I'm a proponent of choice when building lessons (although in practice, working with sped students, who require much structure, I don't always include choice to the extent I would like to).
Where do multiple intelligences fit in with your educational theory, do you think?
To accommodate students with multiple intelligences I would continue training teachers to present their lessons in a wide variety of ways using music, cooperative learning, art activities, role play, multimedia, field trips, inner reflection, and much more.
ReplyDeleteI love the look of your blog!
ReplyDeleteI agree that educational technology, when used in a more student centered fashion, can be used to individualize the learning experience and make it more meaningful. Since you work with the little ones, have you had a chance to integrate technology for that purpose? My experience is with older students so I'm really interested in how you have been able to do so.