Two concepts that caught my attention were the teacher-centered and student-centered learning approached. I myself tend to lean more towards the student-centered learning approach. It is important for me to be involved and active within a lesson in order for me to obtain any knowledge or concept of the information being taught. As a student, I learn more easily if I can collate situations within the lesson to actual events within my life. This system helps me to remember and asses a situation more accurately. However, in the teacher- centered approach, it says "The goal of the teacher is to "instruct" in the most efficient and effective ways possible so that the students will learn the information." (Transforming Learning with New Technologies.) In the student centered approach, the "goal of the teacher is to "create" situations in which students participate in minds-on problem solving and thoughtful reflection and academic experiences." (Transforming Learning with New Technologies.) What if teachers created these situations while also instructing efficiently and effectively? Which approach would this be considered? And in which theory would this be instilled?
The second concept that stood out to me was the online problem-solving section. Now that I work full time and it is primarily up to me to run a front office, I see how the early building blocks of problem solving are so important. Being able to take on a problem head on a think through what the solution will be is a skill some don't have, but is imperative to being successful in a surplus of careers. The concept of technology ruling our everyday lives is a very real reality and is not going to change anytime in the near future. Having our children today, learn how to us technology in their futures, is an advantage for them that is immense. There is a superabundance of "games" online that allow children to utilize the fun of interactive activities while challenging their logical thinking and reasoning abilities. In a journal written by Joseph McCade, "Technology education changes problem solving from simply a means to an end into the end itself. Rather than use problem solving to produce a product, the product becomes one of many ways to teach problem solving."(Problem Solving: Much More Than Just Design) I think this is a brilliant way of saying that problem solving is a revolving door to the future. There are always going to be barriers and building blocks to succeeding. If you overcome one of those barriers, use it as a reinforcement to overcome the other obstacles standing in your way. Tackk Poster
A concept that I was not familiar with was the different literacies that are required within some career choices. There are multiple literacies judged and analyzed within job applicant to see if they have what it takes to perform professionally. Digital literacy, media literacy, internet literacy, information literacy and visual literacy are all aspects that people should be trained on in order to be successful. They all are different in that they all have different skills associated with them. Media literacy is different than digital literacy because students learn how to think critically about their experiences in media while digital is a multidimensional concept. A good example of visual literacy would be creating a cork board on Lino!
I genuinely enjoyed reading this section. There were so many concepts that I had never taken into consideration before. I had know idea that there were so many different pieces towards technological literacy or that there were even different theories on learning such as teacher-centered or student-centered. I have always thought critical thinking was an important skill. But to learn all the unique ways to practice and sharpen those skills is a real game changer!
References:
Joseph McCade. Problem Solving: Much More Than Just Design. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JTE/v2n1/pdf/mccade.pdf
Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
"PLTW Launch: Engaging Students' Natural Curiosity Through Problem-Based Learning and Technology." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2015.
Awesome post! I love reading your perspectives and seeing how the concepts relate to not only past but present experiences...and also how they may impact your future classroom - that is exactly the kind of reflective writing that a blog post demands. And in your thought process to write, you are interacting with the content that personalizes it for you so you are more likely to remember and use it - fantastic! :)
ReplyDeleteYour Tackk link led me to your digital tool creation - nice! :) You can (and should) embed it in your blog rather than hyperlinking. I know you indicated you were having difficulty with that and some don't provide an embed code, but Tackk does - go to the share feature and click on the symbol that looks like this "<>" which will provide you with what appears to be a bunch of gibberish. You will copy that and paste it in your blog, but you need to be in the HTML tab for it to work - please see my video on that - there's a link in the blog post assignment. Unfortunately, your Lino hyperlink just took me to a Lino log-in which usually means that you did not make it public?! Lino also has an embed code - maybe you can try that one again for a future post since you only need one digital tool per blog post. Great job on experimenting with them. :)