Lastly, Learning in a Digital World....

Technology in the learning environment provides several options for learning. Avenues for learning are available that were not possible in years prior to the internet and nor were the technological tools used to access it. Encountering an online learning environment encourages independent learning, more so than in a face-to-face learning environment, since learning can take place away from an institution of instruction. In past years, if a subject interested me, such as stringing beads for a necklace, I either took the time to go to the library to find books on the subject, or I invested money to take a workshop. Often I had neither the time nor the money, but still had the desire to learn. With technology, I now can go on line, and in minutes, find a video for instruction.


Technology has facilitated catering to students with multiple intelligences (Gardner, 1983/1993). These students have difficulty learning in a traditional manner and academically ignored. It is critical and non-negotiable that the education environment acknowledges and addresses the needs of students who learn in different ways. They need to find alternative methods to encourage and motivate them using their learning styles. I realize that budgetary constraints in many school systems do not allow for students to receive the specialized attention required for those with multiple intelligences. However, many school systems have established separate schools that focus on tapping into variant learning styles of students. Perhaps alternative methods, using technology in classrooms, can focus on those students.



Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
Gardner, H. (1983/1993). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic Books.



Responded to:
1. Christopher Cannon, http://chrisotphercannon.blogspot.com

2. Brigit McAroy, http://techmcaroy.blogspot.com

Sneak Peak at a New Technology

The principal realized the potential for Smartboards and initially ordered three of them. Only one teacher showed excitement about using the Smartboard placed in her room. The other two lucky recipients did not use them at all. They believed it was too difficult and too time consuming to learn how to operate the Smartboard. These teachers were resistant to change and rationalized their resistance. They considered their blackboards to be adequate enough. Any videos could be shown using laptops and screens that were already in their classrooms. Their participation in bringing the technology of the 21st century into their classrooms was seemingly not going to happen.

Using Keller’s ARCS model, I could demonstrate the benefits of Smartboards used in the classroom, thereby gaining and sustaining their attention. Next I could enhance the relevance of the Smartboard to their instruction. Then, I could assist them in planning lessons around the Smartboard, thereby building their confidence. Finally, I could support them as they used the Smartboard in their classrooms, generating satisfaction on their part. I would praise them in whatever way their efforts as they used the Smartboard (Driscoll, 2005).



Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.

My Network Connected

My limited network has expanded my avenues of learning as a result of technology. Learning is no longer bound by the confines of a physical library, books, newspapers, radio, or television. Technology created unimagined sources for information flow and consumption within a few short years.

I prefer to read information from several sources obtained over the internet. When searching a topic of interest or seeking an answer to some question, I pick and choose what to read. I am cognizant of the source of the information and, depending on what topic I am researching, decide on the merits of that information. I also like to listen to political commentaries and debates.

From personally observing the dissemination of information over the past 50+ years, I often wonder what methods future generations will experience in acquiring information and learning to absorb that information. It seems that access to information is expanding exponentially and instantaneously, which may be a challenge to future learners who may have to select what to learn. Then again, with the assistance of technology, learners may simply absorb all knowledge as they sleep.

Kop, R., & Hill, A. (2008). Connectivism: Learning theory of the future or vestige of the past? International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 9(3), 1–13. Retrieved from www.irrodl.org


Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. Retrieved from http://elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm




Responded to:

     1. Charee Hampton (chareehampton.blogspot.com)
     2. Petti Arthur (pettiarthur.blogspot.com)

Just Collaboration

Rheingold (2005) noted that humans have a basic instinct to “interact and work as a group.” I agree with Rheingold’s premise. He gave examples of Wikipedia, Mozilla, Linux, Amazon, as businesses that work as collaborative entities. While collaborating with the public, these tech companies are also creating new forms of wealth, since people rarely commit and sustain acts of altruism in their collaborative efforts. Society is composed of collaborative groups that work together, often cooperatively, to complete tasks that are beyond the individual’s capabilities. The group’s survival may mean the individual’s survival.

Technology can facilitate collaboration by building on the prior knowledge and experience of others who forged the path to the present. Technology has made it so much easier to communicate and work with others without the constraints of time and distance.

A quantitative study (Aaron & Roche, 2011) on “cloud computing,” using 80 survey respondents, supported collaboration as a valuable tool. The study focused on four functions of cloud computing: file storage, file synchronization, document creation, and collaboration. The collaborative capabilities of GoogleDocs, where several people can view and edit documents simultaneously, provide benefits to all participants that allow sharing of ideas and resources.




Aaron, L. S., & Roche, C. M. (2011). Teaching, learning, and collaborating in the Cloud: Applications of Cloud computing for educators in post-secondary institutions. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 40(2), 95-111. Retrieved from http://www.salt.org/salt.asp?ss=l&pn=jets

Rheingold, H. (2005). The new power of collaboration. [Podcast]. TedTalks. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/howard_rheingold_on_collaboration.html




Responded to:  Amanda Langston (langstoneducationaltechnology.blogspot.com); Regina Malz (http://educationaltechnologyrm.blogspot.com/)

Cognitive Learning Theory

Response to Kerr (2007) Blog

                Isms imply grandiose beliefs embraced and accepted by thousands of people or organizations or governments. They are not necessarily good or beneficial to believers which is not the point; they reflect ideas to which those believers adhere by choice or design.

                Behaviourism endures because, as humans, we react to stimuli, to external input, over and over again. We learn, in many cases, as a response to some external prodding that gets us moving and makes us want to learn something new. Many jobs, done by humans, can be replaced by machines. Developing artificial intelligence in machines (or machines developing it in themselves) that respond emotionally to given situations is not a stretch of the imagination. So is behaviourism only a human learning theory or will we share it with machines?

                At the same time, we do learn internally, as observed by cognitivists, through interacting socially with others. Is that interaction not considered external stimuli?

Response to Kapp (2007) Blog

                I agree that learning is “multilayered.” Putting the theory under one acceptable defining title would be challenging. If you combine behaviourism, cognitivism, and constructivism, what –ism would result? I am certain that some enlightened theorist is attempting to create a new –ism and define it as the next brilliant idea.

Kerr, B. (2007, January 1). _isms as filter, not blinker [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/01/isms-as-filter-not-blinker.html

Kapp, K. (2007, January 2). Out and about: Discussion on educational schools of thought [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.kaplaneduneering.com/kappnotes/index.php/2007/01/out-and-about-discussion-on-educational/

A Theory of How We Learn

I first heard about the theory of multiple intelligences (Walters, Gardner & Harvard Univ., 1984) when our school system enthusiastically embraced it as the latest, greatest, most brilliant learning theory to come along. Gardner (1983, 1993) identified seven intelligences: visual-spatial, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, and linguistic.  As we interacted with our students, we were encouraged to follow the tenets of this amazing learning theory. At the time, I could not quite grasp the excitement over this theory. I had always believed that people possessed different learning styles, and I thought, naively, that others believed what seemed so obvious to me.

I believe that people learn best when they absorb information by using a familiar method. Some people are visual learners who need to “see” the lesson; some are literal learners where they prefer a verbal or written presentation; others are logical where information must be presented by using a “building-block” approach.

 

Our experiences in teaching and the experiences expressed by others, usually in empirical studies, influence our beliefs about how people learn. The purpose of an accumulation of empirical studies, referred to as learning theories, is to develop a foundation for defining the recurrence of behaviors in the learning process over a time. Those learning theories may remain constant as other theories build on their findings. What we believe about the learning process may change as later theories emerge.

Gardner, H. (1983, 1993). Multiple intelligences: The theory in practice. New York: Basic Books.

Gardner, H. (1995). Reflections on multiple intelligences: Myths and messages. Phi Delta Kappan, 77(3), 200-03,206-09. Retrieved from http://www.kappanmagazine.org/

Walters, J., Gardner, H., & Harvard Univ., C. o. (1984). The crystallizing experience: Discovering an intellectual gift. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED254544.pdf

Addressing the Digital Divide

It is difficult to speculate what I would do as a leader in educational technology to "make emerging technologies valuable to others while maintaining gender, cultural, and socioeconomic sensitivity." William Gibson's quote, "The future has arrived; it just wasn't equally distributed," brings to mind the fact that there are those in the world for whom technology is probably still a mystery while others complain about how overwhelming it could be in their daily lives.

With so much strife, so much turmoil in the world (which has always been the case), technology has placed us instantaneously in the middle of it all, making it seem so much closer, so much more urgent. Soloway says that one out of two people in the world has access to a cell phone, which means that thousands can be rallied, keeping them all informed during a melee, with the touch of a button. They have a little bit of the future at their fingertips, but just not enough to level the playing field of technology.

Perhaps working in my own educational community to provide technology awareness to students would be a start. Most students are unaware that there is something called emerging technology, since they are still grappling with understanding emerged technology that is right in their midst. They have access to laptops and computers in the school but those tools of technology are not used very much because a budgetary squeeze negates hiring instructors. It would probably be beneficial if students could take laptops home to enhance their sills but is is against the city department of education policy. It is extremely frustrating to see that in this country there is an unequal distribution of the "future" within our own communities.


Soloway, E. (n.d.). The digital divide: Leveling the playing field [Podcast]. Laureate Education, Inc., Walden University.

Thornburg, D. (2009). Diversity and globalism. [Vodcast]. Laureate Education, Inc., Walden University.