Winding School Down and Preparing for the 2014-2015 School Year

The end of the year brings excitement as you begin to establish new goals for the up and coming school year; yet, it also brings closure to some goals and objectives that were accomplished during the previous year. As I look back at the technology target objective, I am happy with the progress that the district has made in the implementation of technology into the classroom. Many successes can be counted; however, as a district we still have room to grow. Students utilize technology on a daily basis outside of the classroom. It is our job to incorporate the tools in which our students use outside of the school walls into the classroom as a tool for learning. The first step is to create digital leaders who can model the use of technology when leading their campuses. This summer, our administrative leaders will complete a book study on Digital Leadership by Eric Sheninger. Click the link for a recent interview posted on Youtube. The book study will help all of our administrators develop into digital leaders who use the power of social media to communicate the positive aspects of our district to everyone. I am looking forward to another successful year and growing with each of you as we continue to become digital leaders in Castleberry ISD.

How can the use of technology help us learn?

When integrating technology to help others learn, teachers should consider the basic principles of learning. First, to ensure that learning occurs in context, technology can provide real world situations that engage learners in solving problems. For example, the author refers to an interactive video environment that teaches problem solving as an example. The interactive video presents mathematical problems that a character must face and solve to reach the next level. Each challenge builds upon the skill set of the previous level and is addressed in a sequential order. Last year, Think Through Math, an online interactive instruction, was purchased by the state for all Texas schools. This interactive website, like the one discussed in the article, provided math lessons that were aligned with the student’s ability and then progressed through lessons that built upon previously acquired skills. Students were required to transfer previously learned skills to new situations in each new lesson. By using challenging and engaging math lessons taught in context, students enjoyed using Think Through Math as a math tutorial.

Second, to ensure that learning is active, technology tools can be provided that help make thinking visible. Our district uses many free Web 2.0 mind mapping applications to accomplish this. Bubbl.us, Mindmeister, mindmup, Popplet, and Webspiration are all applications that allow a student to map out concepts into logical representations of information. For example, a student could use a mind map to organize their thoughts for a compare and contrast essay. They could create a mind map indicating the positives and negatives concerning a topic, and then take the information and develop their thesis, topic sentences, and content for their paragraphs from the mind map. When learners create mind maps, it helps make their thinking visible and actively engages them.

Third, to ensure that students work together to accomplish a learning task, technology applications that increase social interactions can be utilized. For example, the use of twitter and discussion forums can enable students to reach out to experts for information. Our district has worked with increasing such connections through the development of Personal Learning Networks (PLN). Each administrator attended the Digital-Age Leadership Academy, in which, they were taught how to use various Web 2.0 and social networking applications to make learning connections among other experienced educators. During each administrator leadership meeting, everyone shares new knowledge that they have gained from their PLN social connections. Web 2.0 applications enable people to participate and contribute to a social community of learners.

Last, technology can help make learning reflective. The use of electronic rubrics, discussion forums, and blog postings allow others to provide feedback about a person’s work or thoughts. People can contribute a comment to your post, question, or idea through a blog, discussion forum, tweet, or wiki. Feedback then allows you to reflect upon your own work or thoughts. This opportunity for reflection can help you reach a deeper understanding of information.

References

Driscoll, M. P. (2002). How People Learn (and What Technology Might Have To Do with It). ERIC   Digest.

 

How do we learn? Four basic principles of learning.

First, people learn by building information from previously acquired skills. Therefore, learners learn by transferring prior knowledge to unfamiliar information to draw conclusions or help understand new material. Comprehension and learning are difficult when information is not presented within context. However, learners are able to learn new material from drawing conclusions when appropriate context clues are provided. My first year as a teacher, I taught one section of sixth grade reading. To help students learn new words they encountered in their reading material, I would suggest looking for context clues in the paragraph. Once a student recognized the clues that surrounded the unfamiliar word, many times they could understand the meaning of the word without the ability to pronounce it. People can learn new information by drawing conclusions from familiar information.
Second, people learn by being actively engaged in a learning activity. Being an active participant in the knowledge construction process enables the learner to understand information by constructing meaning from their experiences. I remember reading poems in my high school literature classes. However, once, my ninth grade teacher asked me to memorize a poem by William Wordsworth. I had to recite it to myself, my dog, and my mom in order to remember it. I was actively engaged in learning the poem by reciting it out loud and rehearsing it before I had to present it to my peers. I can still recite the first paragraph of Daffodils, by William Wordsworth, today. By actively involving myself in the learning process, I was able to learn the poem and actually retain some of the phrases from the first paragraph.
Third, people learn from communicating and working with others. Others may have an expertise in a specific area and can offer knowledgeable information or ideas to an unfamiliar concept. In the area of technology, my department is faced with new and challenging tasks each week. I have learned that the best way to solve technical problems is to bring all of my experts to the table; so, we can talk through the technological challenges of managing over four thousand devices in our environment. Once everyone contributes their knowledge, a consensus to the approach of solving the problem is usually reached quite quickly. When people work together, they bring different strengths and expertise which can help solve complex issues.
Fourth, people learn by reflecting upon their own thinking. In addition, feedback from others can provide insight to a person’s thinking. For example, revising a paper and giving feedback about suggestions to add or make the points stronger in the paper can prompt a person to think about ideas in a more meaningful or deeper understanding.  Completing a peer review on a classmate’s research paper is a good example of how feedback can help a person reflect on their own thoughts. Once I received my peer review sheets, I considered the information and made corrections if needed. Reflection enables a person to deepen their understanding and learning.

References

Driscoll, M. P. (2002). How People Learn (and What Technology Might Have To Do with It). ERIC Digest.