This blog posting reflects on my perspective of personal theory of learning and how this has developed due to content that I have learned in the Walden University course the past seven weeks. I started this course by identifying my personal theory of learning in which I stated the need for using visual, auditory and kinesthetic examples for students of all learning styles to more easily engage and learn from. I also stated that learning needs to be student centered and that teachers should act as the facilitators to guide and direct their students through quality learning experiences of discovery.
At the start of this course my personal theory of learning was based on my teaching experiences and advice from other teaching mentors that I have had. This course has exposed me to four main types of learning theory, how they should work, how they can be applied to teaching practice and how technology can be used to aid the learning process. I also learned about ten tried and tested instructional strategies that have been proven to be effective at raising student attainment to varying degrees. This course has also introduced me to a range of different technologies that are both instructional tools and learning tools and I can use with my classes to increase the interest, engagement level and efficiency of the learning experiences that my students undertake.
The subject that I teach largely revolves around students following a ‘design process’ to design, develop and manufacture a working solution to a problem whilst learning the necessary theory for the course on a ‘need to use’ basis as they work through the design process to solve the problem. I have also learned that my classes are highly suited to constructivist and/or social learning theory. It suits constructivist learning theory because the theory states that students learn best when they are actively building or constructing something and this is main process that all of my students are working toward in all of their classes at the moment. I think that social learning theory is the next evolutionary step of learning that I will use with my classes, instead of working individually, I will have my students learn the content by cooperating to design and develop solutions to a problem. Cooperative learning has been stated as a strategy that “helps students make sense of, or construct meaning for, new knowledge by interacting with others” (Johnson, Johnson, & Stanne, 2000).
There have been two technology learning tools that have had an immediate impact on my classes, these have been VoiceThreads and the use of concept maps online using http://www.mywebspiration.com/. VoiceThreads have been a fantastic resource for my students to use and it has really improved the pace and motivation for my students to complete their work. I have used it to experiment with social constructivism by having my student share their learning by uploading videos or pictures of their final product with an explanation of what the problem was and how their final product fulfills the specified requirements of the end user. Students are then able to peer evaluate and comment on each other’s products, allowing everybody in the class to learn from each other’s experiences, perspectives and knowledge.
The other technology that was new to me and has helped me transform some of my teacher centered approaches to my students into more student centered learning experiences is the use of online concept maps . This technology is an online resource and allows me to create concept maps that students can interact, edit and develop either individually or in groups. I have found that this has really transformed the way that I teach new content to my students. I recently used this resource to introduce a new unit to my students where we started by looking at the fundamental functions of a house. In the past I have had an image drawn on the board and have just lectured to my students what each of these functions were and how it will impact their design stage of their project when they develop their own ideal living spaces. Instead I used this technology more as an interactive tool that students were able to add to and edit from their laptops in the class. I then used the instructional tool of collaboration to create groups of students and have each group research each of these functions in greater detail and then add summarized information to the classes concept map. Groups were also required to create powerpoint presentations to present and explain this information to the rest of the class. This activity was really effective at speeding up the research process (as in the past I had each student individually researching each fundamental function individually), and it allowed students to share expertise and develop many of the 21st century skills that students need to be leaving school having mastered.
In the long run I would like to become a master at using each of the ten instructional strategies covered in this course. Dr Marzano says in the video resources that teachers should aim to select and master one or two each year, and build up their skills and ability to select from these strategies to suit the learning objectives that the teacher wants the students to achieve (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011). I am very familiar with using non-linguistic representations, identifying similarities and differences, generating and testing hypo thesis and summarizing and note taking but I think I still need to focus on developing my skills and ability to use reinforcing effort, providing recognition, providing feedback and cues questions and advance organisers strategies in order for my teacher toolkit to be complete and fully functioning.
References
Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., & Stanne, M. B. (2000). Cooperative learning methods: A meta-analysis. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota. Retrieved May 4, 2006, from http://www.co-operation.org/pages/cl-methods.html
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Instructional strategies, Part one [video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=6072034&Survey=1&47=8842714&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1
