Blog: 6711 EDU Final Reflection

At the beginning of the course, my personal theory of learning revolved around the actual learning envrionments of students. The theory of learning begins with the students’ environment inside and outside of the classroom. Referring to a student’s home environment, there must a sufficient amount of discipline and structure because these elements are going to be evident in a normal school setting. The amount should be at a level where the student is motivated to reach certain goals of his or her young life, especially academic goals. If students are able to have a solid base at home, then they will be able to place most of their focus on being successful academically and that is where their teachers come in. The course has deepend my knowledge and understanding of learning theories by making me realize there is more than one. Educational specialists around the world have their own idea of what works within the frameworks of a classroom. Therefore, if a teacher is to able to recognize the potential of each idea, he or she can develop a learning theory that lead to academic achievements for students of all types. In addition, the use of education technologies can enhance any learning theory a teacher may have. Implementing research-based technological tools in a classroom gives the classroom 21st-century status. The status is necessary because it prepares students for the types of work environments they will be in once their academic careers are over and they enter the workplace. Teachers of 21st century classrooms will be exposing their students to new and innovative tools and how to conduct themselves when they are communicating via the tools making learning more feasible. Educational specialist Dr. Michael Orey of the University of Georgia mentions in a video short, the learning theory involves the students’ mind and how it is functioning during the learning process. His thoughts on instructional theory explain strategies for changing the learning environment to make learning easier for students (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011). So, when technology is included in the learning process, the factors of his learning theory become more clear and satisfied.


As a result of the course, I plan to make some adjustments to my instructional practice regarding technology integration, thus adding to my repertoire of instructional skills. I have an interactive white board in my classroom, so my goal is to use it in more depth. The interactive white board was manufactured by SMART® Technologies and along with the software comes access to the company's website. Dr. Orey conducts his educational practices in Georgia, and he provides and explanation of the difference between a learning tool and an instructional tool. He mentions how an interactive white board can be used as an instructional tool to introduce content in a more feasible and engaging way. For example, the interactive white board can be used to present lessons that can contain detailed information and vivid images that have the ability to enable student learning (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011). The website provides teachers with interactive lessons and activities that can be presented to a variety of learners, therefore making learning more engaging and fun. Also, our school has a SMART® specialist who provides teachers with workshops on how to use the interactive white board more effectively, so meeting with her will be a great interest of mine. Secondly, I would like to incorporate a classroom blog and/or website. The blog/website will provide students a more hands-on approach on how the class is being conducted, therefore allowing them to feel they have a hand in how the class is run, giving them some self-worth. Also, the technological can provide an avenue towards our classroom becoming "green", ridding it of unnecessary paperwork and eventually making it a paperless classroom environment.


The course has allowed me to develop long-term goals that will change my instructional practices regarding technology integration. My goals are to use the technological resources available to me to their fullest potential and have a paperless classroom environment. The technological resources will allow me to satisfy the factors of the different learning strategies learned throughout the chapter such as, the Nonlinguistic Representation strategy. The strategy involves using detailed images designed to help students comprehend content better. The strategy also has a connection with the cognitive learning theory and Paivio’s Dual Coding Hypothesis, discussed by Dr. Orey in a short video. The hypothesis simply states information can be processed at a higher level by incorporating images and pictures (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011). Secondly, once all of the instructional strategies and instructional tools are in place, I would like to promote a classroom environment that is paperless. I will have to send an inquiry to our technology department to find out how laptop computers are functional and available to classroom teachers. Our school system is very fortunate to have access to such resources, so I do not believe the request will be difficult to grant. Once the laptops are in place, I will be able to implement a classroom website which I will use to post the syllabus, calendar highlighting important dates, information about the course and the teacher, and a classroom wall. During the duration of the course, the following will take place:

• Lectures, on the anticipated content to be learned, presented via an interactive white board
• Assessments can be given where answers can be submitted via a provided hand-held device instead of pencil and paper
• Assignments can be given to students that will require them to submit them via email or classroom website
• Students will have access to their own grade and will be able make inquiries about graded assignments.
• Students will have the opportunity to use the interactive white board for presentation-style projects.

Once all of the factors are in place, I be in a position make our classroom paperless. I consider myself to be apart of the "green" movement, so I want to encourage my students to partake in the movement as well. I hope the transition can be so seamless that my students will not even realize they are participating in the movement. My hopes are for them to be fully engaged in the content they are learning, so they can better comprehend the information being taught, therefore increasing their chances for being academically successful in my class.


References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Instructional Theory vs. Learning Theory [Video webcast]. Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. Retrieved from
http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=6072034&Survey=1&47=8610090&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1


Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Cognitive Learning Theories [Video webcast]. Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=6072034&Survey=1&47=8554320&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1


Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program thirteen: Technology: Instructional tool vs. learning tool [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1