VoiceThread
This is my artifact of this week’s experiment with a
fascinating Web 2.0 tool called Voice Thread, which was very new exciting for
me.
Italian Grammar Made Easy – Cenerentola Project-
Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice
This week I explored the Social
Learning Theory and the Cooperative Learning Theory. I found these theories to
be very insightful and like the behaviorist, cognitivist, and construcionist
theories, they correlate very well with my current teaching practice. As I
researched these theories I began to reflect on how they correlate with each
other. Through my research I have found that the social learning theory (SLT)
includes cooperative methods of teaching.
Dr. Orey (2011), defines the Social
Learning Theory as a method of learning in which students are actively engaged
in constructing artifacts and conversing with others (Laureate education,
2011). Whereas, Johnson, Johnson, &
Holubec (1986) Defined Cooperative learning as, “working together to attain
group goals that cannot be obtained by working alone or competitively. The main
purpose is to actively involve students in the learning process; a level of
student empowerment which is not possible in a lecture format” (Orey, 2001a, p.
3). Providing students with teamwork and accountability enhances their
knowledge and social skills. Through collaborative learning students become
more motivated, engaged, concepts and ideas are elaborated and clarified
through the immediate feedback of their peers. These are just the few benefits
of this learning theory, there are many more and as technology evolves rapidly,
the need and importance of implementing this theory rises as well. Students
thrive for communication. It is vital to them that they be able to communicate
with their peers.
It is
evident that both learning theories correlate with each other because they both
involve students obtaining knowledge through some type of communication. These
two theories complement each other very well and are very helpful in the long
term meaningful retention of knowledge and 21st century skills that or students
will need to succeed and thrive in this global workforce.
However, many educators have
difficulty implementing the Social Learning Theory and the cooperative learning
theory because they have experienced situations where students did not work
equally to complete tasks, or that this type of learning is to time consuming
and difficult to assess, also many educators fear that they will lose control
of the class in this learning environment. As we progress deeper and deeper
into the 21st century, teaching strategies, methods, and technology will
continue to change. Thereby, drastically affecting the way we teach. Teachers
can no longer rely on the lecture teacher-centered approach to reach their
learners. Lessons now need to be more student-centered where the teacher is the
facilitator of knowledge and students are the active learners. Dr. Orey
(2011a), mentions proper grouping as very important part of cooperative
learning. He also states that it is important to set clear expectations of each
student in the group. Furthermore, he suggests a jigsaw puzzle approach to
collaborative grouping which involves assigning responsibility to each member
of the for learning the information and turn-keying it to their peers. A great
way to assess that students are doing their due diligence to their group is
through the use of rubrics (Laureate education, Inc., 2011a). Through this
process, practice with using the cooperative learning, and professional
development workshops teachers will gain greater insight to the great benefits
of implementing these theories into their lesson and will be able to implement
them successfully.
“One of the best ways to learn content is to
teach it. Teaching others helps the learner develop a deeper understanding of
the content” (Laureate education, Inc., 2011a). Technology can be a great asset
to educators and students when teaching each other content. Students can work
collaboratively to create multimedia projects and then use these artifacts to
teach their peers about their findings trough a demonstration of their
creation. Research shows that “Student-created multimedia is a natural
environment for cooperative learning” (Pitler,
Hubel, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p.141). Along with multimedia projects,
students can create wikis, blogs, and use Skype, to engage in active anytime
anywhere communication and collaboration not only with people in their very own
classroom but on a global realm, as well
These
are just a select few of the fascinating web 2.0 tools that not only supplement
the cooperative learning theory but the social learning theory, as well.
Meanwhile, they are also preparing students for a fast paced, global, virtual
workforce in the future (Pitler, et. al., 2007).
This
week’s resources have also raised my awareness of how much technology has
changed the way we learn. In fact the Social Learning Theory and the proposed
Connectivism theory surfaced from the effects of technology. With all the
social medias available to our students today, such as Facebook, twitter,
email, instant messaging, blogging, wikis, and Skype our students thrive on
socializing. It is inevitable that we would have to incorporate these skills
into our lessons in order to engage our students. In fact, “by providing
teamwork and individual accountability, students work toward acquiring both
knowledge and social skills” (Orey, 2001, p.3). As previously mentioned, these
skills are crucial for success in today’s global workforce. The connectivist learning theory is based primarily
on the modern transitions that education has made due to the influence of
technology. Connectiivism is the belief that knowledge resides in patterns of
how different concepts are networked. “Learning is the act of forming networks”
(Laureate education, Inc., 2011b). Being that there is an abundant amount of
methods to obtain information at rapid rates we need to form networks to
transfer information and store it. Some examples of these networks are mobile
phones, computers, Internet, and various data collection tools. Similar to the
social theory, the ability to communicate with others is vital (Laureate education,
Inc., 2011)
Many of the technology tools I
learned about this week were very familiar to me. However, one that was new and
very intriguing to me was the use of Voice Thread. This week I was able to
practice using this tool and immediately saw the benefits in using this as a
cooperative learning tool in my classroom. Currently my students are working on
writing a story in the past tense to enhance their skills in using the past
tense vocabulary. This is a cooperative group project done partially in school
and at home. Students are provided with a few sentences to begin the story and
then they have to end the story however they like. The story that they are
working on is Cinderella. For this project they will need to use the Internet
to type, get pictures, look up unknown words using translator tools, and multi-media technology. However, after having the opportunity to experience voice
thread I immediately shared it with my students and added it as an optional
tool to use in completing this task. The students were equally as excited as I
was because this tool allows them to work cooperatively without having to be in
the same room. This tool is perfect for creating engaging, interactive learning
experiences for students (Laureate education, Inc. 2011c)
I am a firm believer that technology
tools can expand and extend collaborative and cooperative learning beyond our
expectations. “Technology has evolved to the point where it is so simple to use
that educators can create powerful meaningful learning experiences with very
little time” (Laureate education, Inc.,2011c). Through the use of technology
and the different learning strategies, especially cooperative learning and
social learning theory educators are able to differentiate instruction more
effectively and efficiently with greater levels of success because students
become more motivated and engaged in the learning process.
As
a foreign language teacher, I am highly aware of the benefits social learning
has on education. I am also well aware of the importance of incorporating the
cooperative, collaborative, and social learning theories into my lessons.
Through experience and research I have seen that students learn best through
communication and collaboration with peers, especially in second language acquisition
(Orey, 2001). I plan t seek creative methods to effectively incorporate various
web 2.0 tools like blogging, wikis, e-pals and Skype to better engage my
students by providing them with an immersive global experience. Do you
implement the social and cooperative learning theories in your classes? If so
what technologies if any do you use to enhance your activities and better
engage your students? If you do not use any technologies or these theories at
all, what are you waiting for?!
Here
are some links that may be useful when seeking ideas for social and cooperative
learning.
Cooperative
Learning Ideas - http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/intech/cooperativelearning.htm
Blog offering
several ideas fro cooperative learning - http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2010/04/02/the-best-sites-for-cooperative-learning-ideas/
Informative
video clips on social learning - http://www.tagoras.com/2011/04/12/embracing-social-learning/
Thank you for stopping by! :)
Daniela Petruzzella
References:
Laureate
Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011a). Social learning theories [DVD]. Bridging
learning theory, instruction and technology Baltimore, MD: Author.
Laureate
Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011b). Connectivism as a learning theory
[DVD]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology Baltimore,
MD: Author.
Laureate
Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011c). Connectivism as a learning theory
[DVD]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology Baltimore,
MD: Author.
Orey, M. (Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning,
teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Main_Page
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., &
Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with
classroom instruction that works.Alexandria, VA: ASCD.