Week 1 Reflection (ICTs for Learning Design)

Hello all, welcome to the first of many forthcoming blog entries for our course ICTs For Learning Design.

First of all, a small tidbit of information about my background.  I have a Bachelor’s degree in languages (German and French), as well as a keen interest in linguistics in general. For the past 12 or so years I have been teaching English as a second language in various capacities and countries, from the United States, Japan and now in Australia.  I’ve taught and worked with children as young as 2 years old up to the golden ages of life.  I enjoy teaching immensely and having had this experience, I have already been privy to seeing how not only each age group of students differs in regards to how they learn, but how each individual within each age group benefits from different learning/teaching styles.

Disclaimer: Despite my love of linguistics, I am not usually one for reflecting my thoughts in the written word, and therefore, my sincere apologies if you find my writing boring, repetitive, or downright uninspiring and painful to read :)

So far this week we’ve been exposed to some interesting ideas, and for many of us, some new terminologies and theories.

No two people are alike.  This is obvious from appearance and from observed behaviour.  Therefore it also stands clear that no two people learn in the same way.  A small quote from Ignacia Estrada (which I boldly stole for use in my own blog) sums up beautifully in one small sentence what daunting task lies before a teacher:

                                                                Source : Google images

With that in mind, let’s look at some of the Learning Theories outlined in this week’s material.

Behaviourism - a worldview that assumes the learning is essentially passive, where learners respond to environmental stimuli…starting off as a clean slate, and become shaped through positive or negative reinforcement. (http://www.learning-theories.com/behaviorism.html)

This style is often used when teaching languages, for example learning new categorized vocabulary sets (i.e. parts of the body, objects found in kitchens, etc.), especially in the basic and elementary levels.  It’s very effective, giving the students simple associated input which can also be practised and assessed in quiz or drill form.

Cognitivism – a response to behaviourism; people are not ‘programmed animals’ that merely respond to environmental stimuli.  People are rational beings that require active participation in order to learn. Cognitivism uses the metaphor of the mind as a computer: information comes in, is being processed, and leads to certain outcomes. (http://www.learning-theories.com/cognitivism.html)

Material learned gets processed and gets put into short and/or hopefully long term memory if the brain deems it necessary, applicable to life situations, or relevant and important.  Therefore practical applications of ideas and concepts aid the retention of knowledge.

Constructivism – a theory stating that the acquisition of knowledge is enhanced and built (or ‘constructed’) through interacting with others, drawing on culture, personal past experience and exposure.  It’s therefore a profoundly social process of building knowledge, through discussions with teachers and peers.

Connectivism – this theory is very applicable to this day and age, where knowledge and information can be accessed from a vast array of resources. Gone are the days when students flock to the antiquated campus or public library to do research. Information is a simple mouse-click away.  Students are encouraged to take advantage of the internet and all of its content by searching for information in the type of media that they find enlightening, accessible, and interesting, whether it is in the form of articles, blogs, audio or video.

This idea for learning is of course dear to this course, as you can see from the title. Utilising online content, media, and information from the plethora of available online sources to enhance the learning experience is a kind of self-guided learning for the 21^st century.  We’re doing it now!

I am looking forward to learning more about what possibilities lie out there to help me as an educator and, therefore, to help my future students learn in a fun, stimulating and interesting way.  Getting to know each of your students, what they like and dislike, what fascinates them as well as what shuts off their brains, is paramount in being an effective teacher.  The next step is then to USE that knowledge to come up with some ways to facilitate their learning, preferably with them not comparing the process to pulling teeth!

I really enjoyed the Youtube clip of Sir Ken Robinson (Do schools kill creativity?) 

He raises some very interesting and thought-provoking points about the dangers of stifling and muzzling the creativity of students.  Everyone learns differently, and in order to let everyone shine as bright as they can, keep your lessons as a teacher stimulating, varied, and malleable in order to bring out the inherent creativity in your students.

Until next time!