What are your beliefs about how people learn best? What is the purpose of learning theory in educational technology?
My thoughts on how people learn best immediately focus on adolescents. As a 7th grade teacher, the majority of my experience is with this age group. The adolescent learner is probably unique in many of their learning needs. From my observations, they need to be involved in the learning process, see the relevance in material, and be motivated to succeed. This view reflects the constructivist theory which defines learning as an active process of constructing knowledge through personal experiences. This presents a continual challenge for a teacher to search for relevance and assure student involvement. The third element of motivation is more difficult to understand and control. It is very difficult to motivate an adolescent learner. I have tried behaviorist type reward systems and have had some success. The results are unpredictable and erratic especially with a convergence of many other influences in a teenager’s life.
Do these observations of adolescents apply to younger and older learners? Based on some of the readings it would seem this is the case. Human development supports the ideas of behaviorism as a learning theory for all age groups. Adults tend to perform work tasks thoroughly when they are actively interested in the content of the work. The growing mass of information available through the Internet stimulates active adult learning by allowing web searches and information gathering of topics of interest. The ease at gathering volumes of information supports an active learning process.
For further reading on this topic, I have attached links to three student blogs from this same course in preceding terms. I find it fascinating reading through a wide variety of information and pondering my own opinion.
What is the purpose of learning theory in educational technology?
Educational technology is an emerging field for delivering curriculum and instruction. The development of this field depends on anchoring advances in the field to established learning theories. In an article by George Siemens, he outlines the changing role of the educator in this environment (Siemens, 2008, p. 15). The process of aligning the role of the educator to foundation learning theory will contribute to successful adoption of educational technology in the classroom. For additional reading on this and related topics the following link proves very useful:
As a teacher evaluates a website, consideration should include evaluation for strategic learning principles. Understanding how a website incorporates learning theory into the design will assure successful student achievement. Many websites are task oriented and provide an intrinsic reward system. This design seems especially relevant to contemporary learning theory.
Siemens, G. (2008, January 27). Learning and knowing in networks: Changing roles for educators and designers. Paper presented to ITFORUM. Retrieved from http://it.coe.uga.edu/itforum/Paper105/Siemens.pdf
Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Behaviorist reward systems also tends to be successful for adult learners. I have an ongoing basic Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills training for teachers in K9-12. They had a multiple-choice test on Monday after completing the first module. Today, I decided to give gifts to participants based on their performances. It is interesting to see the reactions in the classroom, especially when the best students were asked to stand up. A teacher, who initially feels he knows it all, scored average and his countenance changed when he was not among the best (Behaviorism in play). On this premise, for all age groups, the idea of behaviorism as a learning theory is vital.
ReplyDeleteI have always been against giving gifts during instruction but I tried it this years. Children were happy to receive pencils, pens and plastic bracelets for answering correct answers. I like to give students options in class when I can. The students seem to do better when they take ownership for a project. These items are based on behaviors and they are an important part of the learning process but do you believe that there is a time when we should not teach based on behaviors?
ReplyDeleteSandra
Jeriann,
ReplyDeleteI think it is very important for learners to be involved, see the relevance and be motivated to learn. Learners really tend to turn learning off if they do not see the relevance of the material. Children tend to ask questions such as "why do we have to learn math or social studies if I'm going to be this or that?" It is important to keep students involved and motivated to learn that material that they don't think is relevant.
Marion Bush