Module 4 Responded to

Keith Kline

http://kklein66.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/connectivism/#comment-30

Brandi

http://ballinteach44-atl.blogspot.com/2011/07/connectivism.html

Module 4

• How has your network changed the way you learn?

I sometimes wonder how I ever made it without the many different networks I have today. I use to read a book to learn everything I wanted to know.  I remember when I was 15 years old; I lived in Norfolk, VA. I did not do anything by stay at home.  I wanted to know what was going on in the world, or I wanted to know just about anything, so my husband had purchased a set of encyclopedias, and I would read them all the time.  Oh how life has changed.  I now have my network.  I love the internet.  I did not know much about the internet when I first signed up for it, which was in 1995, by I learned very fast.  I had finally found a way to learn about anything I wanted to learn about.  If I was watching a show on television about Lady Jane, I could run to the computer and type her name on the computer and pull up information about her.  One thing I have to say the internet has changed a lot since I first started using it.  There are so many different ways to find out the information you want to know.  Instead of just having the web to use for research, you can also research journals, newspapers, and magazines just by one little simple device.

Which digital tools best facilitate learning for you?

The digital tools that facilitate learning for me the most are; computers, internet, and iPad,  with these devices, I can use the web to research any type of information I want.  I do not use an iPhone, but one day I hope to get one, so I can use it for much more needed information. In addition, I also feel wikis, blogs, adobe, and Microsoft Office facilitate learning for myself as well as my students.

• How do you learn new knowledge when you have questions?

If I have questions in which I want the answer to, I go stay to the internet.  I know if I cannot find it on the internet, then I cannot find it anywhere. The search engine I use most of the time is Google.  I started using this search engine a few years ago, because it had everything I was looking for in a search engine. 

Module 3 Classmates I responsed to.

Toni Toney

http://toneyt.blogspot.com/2011/07/collaboration.html?showComment=1310829787711#c7885389504424494238

Sara Becker

http://edtechblogwaldenu.blogspot.com/2011/07/module-3-blog-sara-becker.html?showComment=1310831535509#c267088139564193162

Module 3 Collaboration

Module 3 Collaboration

Do you believe that humans have a basic instinct to “interact and work as a group,” as Rheingold proposed in his discussion of the evolution of Wikipedia as a collectively developed encyclopedia?

Yes, I believe humans do have the natural instinct to work together in groups, but if the instinct is not cultured and nurtured. Then I also feel they can lose that instinct.  I feel this is the same instinct mothers and fathers have for their children.  I also feel if a human hears a baby crying they have the instinct to go and see what is wrong.  If the child needs help everyone will work together to help the child.  In addition, how many times have you heard of a wreck and a stranger saving the life of the person in the car?  There are so many times we hear of people working together for the common good of America and other countries.    So yes, humans do have a basic instinct to interact and work as a group.

I remember many years ago when a child fell down a well, baby Jessica.  How many people worked together to save this child?  We were all glad the child survived.  This is just one example of the instinct of humans.  This past year we had tornados in Virginia, and people came from all over the country to help the people, so I say one more time, yes we as humans do have the instinct to work as a group.

How can technology facilitate collaboration among learners based on constructivist principles?   

The way technology can facilitate collaboration among learners based on constructivist principles is through wikis, blogs, Skype, discussion boards and google docs.  By using these types of programs students and peers can collaborate on assignment, as well as edit their peer’s assignment.  In addition, by using blogs, learners can get a better understanding of topics they might not understand as well as give their opinion on what they are learning or on something they know about. 

Find a current research study that has been conducted in the last 5 years that supports collaboration as an effective tool for learning. Include the link and reference for this study in your blog.

This article is taken from Eric using Walden Library.

Trentin, G. G. (2009). Using a Wiki to Evaluate Individual Contribution to a Collaborative Learning Project. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 25(1), 43-55. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=bf63e60a-1feb-4bbc-b9c3-a73e5364c53a%40sessionmgr10&vid=8&hid=19

Posted to Module 2 Learing Theories

Roxanne

http://learningtheoryedtechrwright.blogspot.com/2011/06/learning-theories-and-cognitivism.html?showComment=1309630043728#c5066881734494371456

Kim

http://educ7105kimberlydean.blogspot.com/2011/06/module-2-cognitivism-as-learning-theory.html?showComment=1309630614263#c2075893168901631646

Module 2 Learning Theories

I remember a statement that was made to me when I was in college, we are born knowing how to eat, sleep, cry and use the bathroom.  We are nothing but animals.  We need to be taught to be civilized; we are the only mammal upon this earth that can be educated.  With this said I believe all learning theories are important.  How was the first man educated?  Which learning theory was the best one for him?  Can we all learn?  This is where the learning theories come into play. 

I agree with Kerr, when he stated –isms (learning theories) “They evolve; they listen to criticism and move on” (Kerr, 2007).  The first human learned by doing, but how did he learn to read and write?  This is where the learning theories come into play.  We have different theories that explain the learning process, but as Kerr also noted they do not stand alone.   As we evolve so must our learning change, in order to explain this we need to have different theories.   I also agree the behaviorism had its place in time and to this day the education system still uses a tremendous amount of the behaviorism programs in our curriculums.   The education system is just now starting to make a big change, they have finally realized just like Kerr that all theories need to come into play. 

Karp also agrees with Kerr that we need to take all learning theories into play, because not everyone learns the same.  I also agree with Karp, “Cognitivism doesn’t explain 100% how humans process information and neither does Constructivism or Behaviorism” (Karp, 2007).  Karp talks about the “lower cognitive” which he feels requires the behaviorist approach; I could not agree more, with this statement.  We are told to teach our students their multiplication tables, how do you learn multiplication tables, except to memorize them.  Yes, students need to know the process behind multiplication, and once they see the tables 100 times they might recognize them, through memorizing them.  I also agree with Karp on the creativity in part of the Constructivism theory.

In conclusion, I agree with Kerr and Karp, all theories need to come into play, because we do not all learn alike.  I also agree will are not computers, and we cannot be programmed like a computer, we make the computers and we program them.  A computer is not human and it only knows the information we put into it. 

References:

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/

Labels, learning theories, Cognitivism