EDCI 5825 Final Blog

My view over instructional technology has definitely changed over the course of this semester. I knew that technology can be incorporated into the classroom, but I always thought it would be too difficult or time consuming to do so. However, after taking this class, I realize how easy and seamlessly technology can be incorporated into the classroom. From course wikis to blogs to making videos to SMART Board lessons it seems the possibilities for technology in the classroom are endless. All of those aspects that we have learned about would be appropriate for my future classroom. I can definitely see myself utilizing tools such as a course wiki, google docs, glogster, blog and more. I was comfortable using technology before this class, but now I feel even more knowledgeable about technology and how to use technology in my classroom.

EDCI 5825 Assignment Week 6

Google Reader is an excellent way to organize websites that utilize an RSS feed. In this way, you only have to go to one website (google reader) to see updates from your favorite websites and blogs. Google reader is an excellent resource for educators especially if the use of a blog is required for a class. Teachers can keep track of the students blogs in one place instead of having to visit the blogs one by one.


I enjoyed reading the blog posts created by classmates. Google reader allowed me to easily browse through all of my classmate's blog posts from the past couple of weeks. Since I knew already what I wrote for the assignments, it was very interesting to read through their posts to see their thoughts and opinions on the various blog assignments we completed. One idea that stood out to me while reading my classmates blog posts was a comment from Sheri for our learning theories class (EDCI 5065). For this class, every week we reflect on certain aspects on what makes students learn and we post them to our blogs. I identified very strongly with this post from Sheri: "If a teacher sincerely cares about her students then successful learning can occur. Emotion links closely with cognitive development and if there is a caring concerned environment then students will be more likely to be intrinsically motivated." Through these past couple weeks I have realized the importance of intrinsic motivation as will provide a more meaningful learning experience for students. 

EDCI 5065 Week 5

Today's class has helped further my understanding of the learning theories and how they impact my beliefs on teaching. I have realized how the T2P statements are different pieces that form together my beliefs about  education and how we learn. Fleshing out some of the different T2P statements that I have formed over the past couple of weeks have helped me understand what I value most about education. I can see that there are two prevalent ideas that arise from my T2P statements: interaction and student-centered classroom. These two ideas are fundamentally connected but interaction focuses on the student element in teaching and learning whereas student-centered classroom focuses on the teacher's involvement in this process. Both these elements are necessary in my opinion for having a successful learning environment in the foreign language classroom.


I also have appreciated the time set aside within the past two weeks to practice expanding upon the T2P statements. As a result of this, I can already see my final paper forming right in front of me. It is exciting to see my T2P statements expanded with not only theoretical support, but my own beliefs about teaching. These T2P statements have helped me focus on what I believe my role is as an educator and I am looking forward to see how the pieces of my beliefs come together in my final paper.


The letter assignment that we completed for today was also extremely helpful. In my undergrad, I completed an undergraduate thesis about the differences between second language learning and foreign language learning. As a result of this study, I discovered motivation was an extremely prevalent factor in learning for both groups of students. While reading the case study about Ronnie, it reminded me of the study I conducted. This assignment reminded me again the importance of motivation in learning as well as the value of intrinsic motivation over extrinsic motivation.


As long as I am able to find videos to support my statements, these are my tentative T2P statements (without theoretical/moral support yet):


If students can learn to appreciate and utilize other people's differences as a resource then successful learning can occur because students will strengthen their own learning and understanding of a topic through the experiences of their classmates. Vygotsky suggests that learning primarily develops through social interaction. Student's social environments help shape the framework on which concepts are built. Through the help and guidance of more knowledgeable others, students will be able to reach toward their next level of proximal development. I believe that it is important for social interaction to occur in the classroom, particularly in the World Language classroom as a huge part of the World Language curriculum is learning about culture and acceptance. Student's prior experiences concerning other cultures can help other students better understand culture and acceptance through discussion and social interaction.


If students are active in a student-centeed classroom then students will become more engaged and interested in their work because they are taking their work into their own hands acting as autonomous learners, which leads to self-determination. Through a student-centered classroom, students have control in the content that is being presented. As a result, students feel they have a responsibility for this content, which leads the students to become intrinsically motivated toward the topic and perhaps may lead them to feel this way about learning in general. The idea of a student-centered classroom can be tied to Jean Lave's theories of learning. Lave believes that learning is social and comes largely from our experiences of participating in daily life. This is facilitated through communities of practice, which are formed by people who engage in a process of collective learning in a shared domain of human endeavor i.e. Vicki Davis' classroom. I believe that when students feel they have control over their learning, and this can be accomplished through student-centered learning, students will begin to feel self-determined toward their learning. 

A Good Teacher...

A good teacher is someone who is not only knowledgeable about their content area, but is someone who is able to break down the content in a variety of instructional methods. A good teacher not only shares content information, but also serves as role model for students through the manner in which they comport themselves in class. Good teachers also allow the students to take control of their learning through student-centered activity. I believe good teachers should be independent, yet open-minded and caring individuals. It is also very important for good teachers to respect all individuals no matter their differences. These are important characteristics for a teacher to possess and hopefully through modeling, some of these characteristics will also be transferred to the students.

If all novice and experienced learners are valued in the classroom, then learning will occur because novice and experienced learners all have important experiences to share. According to Jean Lave the classroom can be viewed as a community.  There are novice learners and experienced learners (students and teachers) who are all considered valuable in the communities of practice (classroom) as each person brings in their own experiences to the group to share. In this way, members of the community are able to learn from others experiences. Learning from each other is a critical part of the classroom and this theory embodies that. I believe that it is important that students not only learn from the teacher, but they also learn from their classmates. Peer-peer interaction can provide very meaningful experiences for student learning as a peer's explanation of a topic may make more sense to a student then a teacher's explanation. This can be explained through the theory of zone of proximal development. Students are much closer to each other in their zones of proximal development than the teacher, so their explanations may make more sense to each other. Peer interaction provides a form of scaffolding for learning that is a crucial component in the learning process. As a result, peer-peer interaction encourages students to not only expand their views on content knowledge, but may also help shape student's views on the world around them.

EDCI 5825 Assignment Week 5

As a future Spanish teacher, I definitely plan on using e-pals. This website is an excellent way for students to learn about Spanish culture through the perspectives of peers their own age in various Spanish speaking countries. According to the website, "ePals is the leading provider of safe collaborative technology for schools to connect and learn in a protected, project-based learning network" (ePals GlobalCommunity). This type of collaborative technology is perfect for a Spanish classroom. By communicating with their e-pal, students will not only learn about culture, but they will also be practicing their writing and reading by utilizing the target language. It may be possible as well for the students to skype their e-pal, which would then the students will also be utilizing their listening and speaking skills in the target language. This e-pal program allows language learning to transcend beyond the limitations of classroom learning to actual real world applications. In this way, students will really have a sense of the importance of language learning as well as to have a more realistic connection with different cultures.

I also plan on using Livemocha if the school that I am working for will allow a subscription. Like the e-pal program, Livemocha will allow students to be able to speak with native speakers as well as share different aspects of culture. In addition to the communication component, Livemocha also utilizes tools such as games, flashcards, video and role play. These tools will be helpful for the students to practice Spanish in a fun, interactive way. One article describes some of the benefits of Livemocha: "The casual connections with real people throughout the world, however brief, are not just fun and surprising but reveal more about how the language is really used. The boy from Tunisia, while knocking my conjugation, passed along slang and attitude, something rarely found in textbooks" (Wayner, 2010). In this way, students are able to expand upon their language learning in a way that cannot be learned in the classroom. It is only through this real life interaction that certain elements of language learning can develop. These collaborative projects are a great way to get students interested in language learning.

References
ePals GlobalCommunity. (2010). Retrieved June 24, 2011 from http://www.epals.com/

Wayner, P. "Learning a Language From an Expert, on the Web." New York Times 28 Jul. 2010: B8. 
           New York Times. Web. 24 Jun. 2011.

EDCI 5065 Week 4 T2P

Today’s class has further expanded my knowledge on a variety of learning theories. This knowledge seems to be ever expanding from week one as more and more theorists keep getting added to the mix. Today’s class video about Vicki Davis’ student-centered classroom really resonated with me. I have always known the importance of a student-centered classroom, but I don’t think I truly realized the benefits of having a student-oriented classroom until watching the video. The students took complete control of their learning and Davis acted more as a guide. Students seemed to be engaged in class activity as well as they seemed knowledgeable about the tasks they were completing.  At one point in the video, the students were even explaining to Davis a concept that she didn’t know about!

I also found it helpful to see all the presentations of the Big Six. Looking at the spreadsheet of all the theorists and the information required about them was very daunting at first especially for the theorists that I knew nothing about. I found the presentations were a concise way to share the information about the theorists that focused on the aspects that we were interested in. This is more beneficial to my classmates and I as this saves us the time and energy researching every single one of these theorists and picking out the aspects that were are interested in.

I also feel like I have a better understanding of the T2P statements and their purpose. The example given to us today in class really helped fill in the missing pieces. I am starting to see how my final paper will form and I feel my final paper will encompass the aspects of learning theory that I found will be most beneficial for my future classes.

If all novice and experienced learners are valued in the classroom, then learning will occur because novice and experienced learners all have important experiences to share. According to Jean Lave the classroom can be viewed as a community.  There are novice learners and experienced learners (students and teachers) who are all considered valuable in the communities of practice (classroom) as each person brings in their own experiences to the group to share. In this way, members of the community are able to learn from others experiences. Learning from each other is a critical part of the classroom and this theory embodies that. I believe that it is important that students not only learn from the teacher, but they also learn from their classmates as this lends to a more meaningful experience for student learning.

Jill's Theorist Speadsheet

(Not completely filled in yet I have everything saved in Word) 

EDCI 5065 Week 4 T2P

If students can learn to appreciate and utilize other people's differences as a resource then successful learning can occur because students will strengthen their own learning and understanding of a topic through the experiences of their classmates. Vygotsky suggests that learning primarily develops through social interaction. Student's social environments help shape the framework on which concepts are built. Through the help and guidance of more knowledgeable others, students will be able to reach toward their next level of proximal development. I believe that it is important for social interaction to occur in the classroom, particularly in the World Language classroom as a huge part of the World Language curriculum is learning about culture and acceptance. Student's prior experiences concerning other cultures can help other students better understand culture and acceptance through discussion and social interaction.


If students are active in a student-centeed classroom then students will become more engaged and interested in their work because they are taking their work into their own hands acting as autonomous learners, which leads to self-determination. Through a student-centered classroom, students have control in the content that is being presented. As a result, students feel they have a responsibility for this content, which leads the students to become intrinsically motivated toward the topic and perhaps may lead them to feel this way about learning in general. The idea of a student-centered classroom can be tied to Jean Lave's theories of learning. Lave believes that learning is social and comes largely from our experiences of participating in daily life. This is facilitated through communities of practice, which are formed by people who engage in a process of collective learning in a shared domain of human endeavor i.e. Vicki Davis' classroom. I believe that when students feel they have control over their learning, and this can be accomplished through student-centered learning, students will begin to feel self-determined toward their learning.