As I was reviewing this weeks learning resources, I was in awe of the amazing advances we have made in educating our students. By working to utilize technology in a way that makes learning and experiencing the world more accessible, we are better preparing our students to be successful in the "real world".
That being said, I believe that the technology used in the classroom is only truly effective if it expedites the process or is simple enough to be truly impactful. For example, using a spreadsheet to chart and graph data (as described in the vignette) is only effective if the technology used in simple enough for the students to use as to not get bogged down by the technology. Otherwise, the experience is ruined by the monotonous details of the technology used.
One strategy I found to be particularly useful was the idea of virtual field trips. By creating these field trips to have students experience information rather than simply learn about them, allows the students to internalize and grow from it. As for teacher, these experience further enhance cognitive learning theory. By reinforcing concepts via experiencing them allows the brain to more fully absorb and stash them into memory. I was struck my Michael Orey as he stated that people don't forget things, rather they forget how to access the knowledge further reinforced that idea that teachers need to create numerous, meaningful connects to ensure multiple pathways of retreiving information.
Katie,
ReplyDeleteYou brought up many valid points. One comment that struck me to be very powerful was the fact of meaningful usage of technology. It is essential for students to have a foundation of the technology so the focus can be on the educational task at hand. Your points were very valid. I think through effective modeling and rubrics, students can find that confidence to be successful with technology. I think the graphing experience in and of itself is an essential task where students can grasp concepts and retain them long term.
Virtual field trips are very powerful. You brought up a point to me about how we can assess their effectiveness. Like anything else, I think we need to give them fair enough usage time within our class then assess potentially by the end of the year to test their validity. I recently did a virtual field trip on Ellis Island. In about a month, I want to bring up a discussion about Ellis Island and see what they have retained- whether it was from the actual book or the virtual field experience. Great analysis of ways we as educators can integrate cognitive learning theory within our daily practice!
Kourtney
Katie,
ReplyDeleteI like the emphasis on the point that the technology use cannot become tedious and bog down the student. When I was reading about spreadsheets to track effort, I had the same thought that you did about it being a huge process to go through to record effort. While I understand the benefits of getting students to correlate effort to achievement, I wonder if there isn't a better way to go about it? Looking at the use of time it would take to get the system set up and have the students become proficient at keeping track of the data, I wonder if the time could be spent in a better way? I do not want to diminish the possible benefits of tracking progress, but I do think that there needs to be a balance in how it is used. - Bryan Horn