Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

This week’s resources focused on social learning theories and how to implement technology effectively with this way of teaching.  “Social learning theories state that students actively engage in constructing artifacts and converse with others.  It’s the conversations that the students engage in that really help concretize and help them understand something” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).  The idea is that students can learn from one another, and the discussion component allows students to view the information differently, increasing the potential to internalize and retain the information for future use.  As Dr. Orey and our other resources said, ““One of the best ways of learning content is to teach it” (Laureate Education Inc., 2011). 

With our technology filled world we are become more and more social.  The definition of what social means will continue to change, as it used to mean people who spent time with others and were friendly and engaged in discussions.  These days a social person may be texting, emailing, replying to blogs to people he or she has never met.  Some friendships have been established without ever seeing the other person or even hearing their voice.  We are a connected society, we are glued to our devices and we thrive off posting updates about our lives or reading about others.  These changes convince me that we as teachers need to make our classrooms more social as well to meet the needs of our students.  “To be prepared for the fast-paced, virtual workplace that they will inherit, today’s students need to be able to learn and produce cooperatively”  (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, 2007). 

This week’s resources provided numerous ways to help students learn in a social environment.  Although this is the second time I’ve been asked to read this chapter, I learned or was reminded of great resources and plan to revisit this information in the future.  The main premise is that “technology can facilitate group collaboration, providing structure for group tasks, and allowing members of groups to communicate even they are not working face to face” (Pitler, et al, 2007).  The use of technology has greatly increased the number of people students can collaborate with during a learning activity as well as the number of ways students can interact with others.  Students are now able to collaborate with students in other classrooms, experts in a field, or with anyone in the world.  Through the use of email, instant messaging, texting or even video chats through Skype, students have increasingly more ways to collaborate than even 5-10 years ago. 

Our resources discussed using technology to conduct WebQuests, create web sites, use collaborative documents like Google Docs, shared bookmarking and more.  These are all great ways to allow students to communicate and collaborate to create an artifact but what really grasped my interest was the idea of web-enabled simulation games. 

As quoted in our text Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, “Gaming simulation is an interactive learning environment that makes it possible to cope with complex authentic situations that are close to reality”  (Pitler, et al, 2007). 

The text suggests a simulation based upon the Revolution (http://educationarcade.org/revolution) which is a multiplayer 3D game that gives students the opportunity to react to various events that foreshadow the coming of the American Revolution.  (Pitler, et al, 2007).  What a great way to get students engaged in a social studies; I only wish my teachers had used these.  “Since knowledge is contextualized to the students’ real life and the world is brought to them in a unique way, it is more engaging to them than simply reading tables in a textbook.  And interacting in a virtual world offers the potential for different personalities to be heard”  (Czarnecki, K., 2008).

This weekend I dedicated a considerable amount of time to finding simulations that could be used in my 5^th grade math classroom.  Here are some that I found:

Brain Nook http://www.brainnook.com/play.php

*requires a registration but is free

Virtual Math Club http://virtualmathclub.wordpress.com/

Virtual Worlds Designed for Elementary Students  http://vworld.fas.org/wiki/Elementary

*This provides a list to other virtual worlds for multiple content areas, not just math.

JumpStart Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkcHlWhGI7I

*Have you used the JumpStart Software with your kids?  This program is designed for Preschool-2^nd grade and is available for purchase.  The link should direct you to a video to explain about the JumpStart learning tools.

SuperMathsWorld

SuperMathsWorld

http://www.supermathsworld.com/

This site allows users to play as a guest or create a login.  There are a number of activities to chose from and some require students to “unlock” previous levels before advancing. 

MinyanLand

MinyanLand  http://minyanland.com/

This is a great place to learn about earning, saving, spending, and giving money while students play games and make friends. 

Bank of MinyanLand

Mathmovesu  http://www.mathmovesu.com/#/home

(Raytheon)

One of my favorite blogs, ilearntechnology describes this site like this:  What it is: MathMovesU is an interactive virtual world where middle school students can interact with algebra, geometry, decimals, fractions, and word problems through topics they are passionate about like sports, music, and fashion.  As students navigate through MathMovesU they will encounter math problems delivered through games, polls, and fun facts.  The site is a great supplement to curriculum and will help students practice and improve their math skills in a fun, engaging manner.

Check out their full review at:  http://ilearntechnology.com/?s=mathmovesu&x=0&y=0

Another great site by Raytheon is the Sum of all Thrills  http://www.mathmovesu.com/sum-of-all-thrills.aspx?grade=Six

 

These virtual environments allow students to apply the skills they learn in their math classes to real-life applications.  It allows them to see how various topics are related and why learning specific skills are beneficial.  The gaming atmosphere is sure to grab students' attention and motivate them to develop or perfect the skills they need in order to move to the next level.  

Communication software is also a great tool to facilitate discussions among students, which is a major component of social learning theories. “Technology allows students to collaborate on projects without the constraints of time or geography.  Blogs, wikis, instant messaging, social networking sites, and Skype provide the means for students to communicate and share ideas as they work cooperatively” (Pitler, et al, 2007).  These sites make it possible for students to share their ideas, check for understanding, and elaborate on the subjects at hand, even if they are not working in the same room.  These also have protective features to help us monitor those in which our students are communicating. 

Edmodo is a site that allows schools to create a free domain for their school, giving teachers more administration rights regarding who can access material and the abilities to block or shut down users if needed.  The format is very similar to Facebook I’m told (according to other teachers and students) and that alone has my students begging to log on and get busy with their math assignments. 

I have used Edmodo to post descriptions to projects which really helps those unorganized students who always seem to lose the directions or expectations.  I post the rubric for tasks, and I even post links to get them started.  Students are able to communicate with one another by posting comments or replying to other student's posts.  They are also able to upload their final projects such as a graph, a word document or powerpoint for others to see, comment on, and collaborate.

The idea of Skype may be fascinating but how do you know where to start?  The link http://education.skype.com/ is a place to connect with other educators.  Who knows, you just might find the perfect support system here. 

A classroom blog can also be a great place for communication.  Students can post questions about an assignment, offer feedback to peers or even post links to resources they found beneficial.  

Wikis are also a great tool that give teachers the option to monitor their students and see who has contributed to a project.  Within the wiki there is a discussion forum that allows group members to post questions for others in their groups, or to post updates if they are unable to communicate in person. My students loved creating their March Madness Wikis this past spring.  Not only were they calculating fractions, percents, and more, they were also able to present what they learned on their group wiki to an audience, which increased their participation and effort in the project.  This feature alone allows students to create something, to collaborate, to discuss, and refine.  It seems it is one of the ultimate social learning tools.  

Education is becoming more and more social.  Students are no longer expected to show what they know by taking a test independently.  They are now able to apply what they've learned to gain a full understanding of the material and how it relates to real-life.  The social learning theory provides students with multiple exposures to content through research, construction, and discussion.  By the use of technology students are able to discuss content, check to see if their understanding matches that of their peer, and collaborate in multiple ways to complete the learning experience.  

References

Czarnecki, K.  (2008, October).  Virtual worlds for educators.  District Administration, 44,(11), 48-52.  Retrieved using the Academic Search Complete database.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program eight: Social learning theories [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Pitler, H., Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski.  (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, Va: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.