Constructivist/Constructionist Learning and Technology

This week's resources were full of technology-based constructivist/constructionist strategies that can be incorporated into the classroom very easily. One resource that I found highly intriguing was actually from the website listing in chapter 11 of the book Using Technology with Classroom Instruction That Works (Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, & Pitler, 2007, p. 215). This website, entitled "By Kids For Kids: How To Invent" had a number of projects listed such as producing your own television show, creating your own signature style fashion line, and recycling and reinvtening items from the trash. When I first saw these projects listed I was thinking that it was like a guided tutorial that allowed them to create a "prototype" online. I was wrong! I was pleasantly surprised, however, to find that it gave steps for physically creating these projects! Kids of all ages can go to this site and follow the steps listed to create these one of a kind projects. They have to construct their own project using their own materials. This is basic level constructivism. There is no prototype to look at to compare as to whether they are doing it correctly. Just directions for them to follow. They are making something and constructing knowledge along the way.

Another resources I found interesting was another website from the listing in our reading for the week entitled "Practicing with the Catapault" (Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, & Pitler, 2007, p. 215). When I went to this site I noticed immediately that this would be for students at a much higher level of learning, say high school. What I liked is it gave directions for completing the activity but I was immediately drawn to just playing around with the starting height, launch speed, and the like. I was beginning to construct my own knowledge about this particular activity. I had to dig around in my brain to when I was in high school physics and remember what terminal velocity was, however, I was actually able to complete the activity by just trial and error. That is a lot of what constructivism and constructionism is - trial and error. Students are given a problem and a method for finding the solution but they have to do it on their own. It is their job to solve the problem and in the process begin to construct their own knowledge.

There are many other great resources in this book that bring constructivism and constructionism into the classroom that are easily accessible and create seamless instruction. Technology opens up a world to the classroom of opportunities that may have been unattainable in the past. Students are able to create more on their own without much help from the teacher and in the process participate in a learning experience that far outweighs that of any lecture.

Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., Malenoski, K., & Pitler, H. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Technology and Behaviorism - Is there a common ground?

When looking over the resources for this week in Using Technology With Classroom Instruction That Works I read about a lot of strategies that I have either used myself or assigned for my students to use. I did read about some I did not know existed, however. For example, I did not realize that Microsoft Word had a research tool. I can see how this would help students (and myself) greatly!!

As I read through some of these strategies I was thinking of how behaviorism fits into the grand scheme of it all. In particular, Ms. Powell's Effort Rubric deals with student effort and, in a sense, behavior (Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, & Pitler, 2007). Students rate themselves on items such as how they feel they take class notes, how well they pay attention, participation, homework, and studying. That is then turned into a grade for the week. I like this because students are being reinforced in one way or another and they have the chance to change that behavior if they so choose. This is something I may implement in my classroom because I am curious to see exactly how my students feel about their effort. I need to be more proactive about student effort. Each student knows I believe they can do it but they have never really been pushed hard enough to improve on their own. I want them to WANT to improve!

Another strategy that I feel deals with behaviorism is giving students a choice for a multimedia project. Students receive reinforcement after they complete their project and receive a grade on it. It then allows the student a chance to either choose the same type of multimedia for the next project or choose something that maybe they will do better at. If a student received negative feedback on a particular project, they are less apt to choose that same venue again. I do like giving the students a choice and have done that in the past more because most of my students do not have these applications at home to complete the project. There are also no computers at school for them to access on a regular basis.

Another strategy I found dealt with behaviorism is that of web resources. Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, & Pitler gave a list on pages196-199 in their book of web resources where students can go and play games that test and practice skills. These games give the students immediate feedback, either positive or negative, on their level of skills that they possess in certain areas. This immediate feedback allows the child to either feel intrinsically motivated when they receive positive feedback or allows them a chance to make a different choice if there is negative feedback. They will then change the way they go about completing the task or doing the skill. This is behaviorism at its finest! I have had the chance to use web resources with my intervention students, and while I do not think that doing this every week is a great idea, it is a nice change for the students (and for myself).

Lastly, I liked the communication strategy. This strategy gives a group of students the opportunity to work on a project at their own pace even if they cannot physically meet. They access programs such as Google Docs or Your Drafts to collaborate on a project. Each student provides feedback to the other members of the group and behaviors are changed as feedback is provided. If a student is upset at another student because they have not added their share of the information and mentions it to that student, then the student in question is more likely to add their share of the project. If a student is doing exceptionally well on their share of the project and the others praise that student for their efforts, then that student will more than likely continue to excel in that particular area.

All of these are examples of how some of the strategies we read about in this week's resources correlate with the principles of behaviorism.