Introduction
My perspective on learning has transformed over the past few years as I’ve learned more in my LDT courses and personal teaching experience. When I started the program, I still held on to many of the traditional beliefs about learning that I learned from my own experiences as a student in K-12. As a student, I learned that the teacher was the expert who provided the information for students to learn and shaped student behavior through positive reinforcement. Direct instruction was the prominent instructional method and there was more of an emphasis on independent learning than social learning. However, as I have developed my understanding of how people learn, my philosophy has evolved. My teaching philosophy is now informed by a combination of multiple learning theories, including cognitivism, constructivism, and situated learning theory.
As a cognitivist, I understand the importance of activating students’ prior knowledge to help students relate new information to existing mental structures. Like a social constructivist, I recognize that students actively construct their knowledge by interacting with others and their environment. In terms of situated learning, I believe in the need for applying concepts as they occur, in real life situations. Ideally, students would learn by interacting with others in settings that are relevant to them. So, I try to design learning activities that include connections to prior knowledge, collaboration, and authentic contexts. Technology is a tool that I can use to meet these goals despite classroom limitations. Cloud computing has provided opportunities for students to collaborate outside the classroom. Tools like Desmos and GeoGebra allow students to discover new math concepts and connect new information to prior knowledge. Simulations and augmented reality technology can help students understand real world applications by providing an authentic environment for students to practice their skills. The unlimited applications of technology can be overwhelming, but I’ve gained a better understanding of how to evaluate which technology would be the most effective for a given classroom context. Courses in the LDT program have helped me create a framework to evaluate the affordances of technology to determine if it is appropriate for the desired learning goals. I am much more mindful of choosing technology that best supports desired learning objectives, not just using technology for the sake of using it.
About the Portfolio
This reflection discusses three of the projects in the LDT program that have helped shape my philosophy of learning and educational technology. The first project is a paper completed for the course LDT 581: Theoretical Foundations of Learning. This course gave me the opportunity to learn about various learning theories and develop my own understanding of how people learn. My final paper synthesizes components of several theories to create my own definition of learning and how that definition applies to my teaching context.
The second project is a proposal written for the course LDT 440: Educational Technology Integration. The proposal discusses how technology can be used to solve a common problem in high school mathematics. This project forced me to think through the realistic aspects of implementing technology and support my reasoning with research. In addition, I was able to write the proposal for a high school math context, which made the project more authentic for me.
The final project contains two example blueprints from the course LDT 527: Designing Constructivist Learning Environments. The blueprints are essentially lesson plans that apply different theoretical models – problem based learning and mobile learning. Just like the proposal from LDT 440, I was able to apply these models in a high school math context. These blueprints encouraged me to think about organizing math lessons with constructivist principles in mind. I was then able to directly apply these ideas to my own math classes, and I have since used problem-based learning and mobile learning frameworks with my students. Each project is discussed in more detail below with descriptions of the theories that supported my design decisions and impacted my future teaching practice.
Portfolio Project #1
In this final paper from LDT 581, I discuss my philosophy of learning in my teaching context as a high school math teacher. As I stated earlier, my view on learning is a combination of multiple learning theories. Cognitivists believe individuals acquire knowledge and relate information to prior knowledge as they encounter new situations (Yilmaz, 2011). Building on this theory, I believe in the importance of making connections to prior knowledge; however, I place more of an emphasis on constructing knowledge rather than acquiring it. This is more in line with social constructivism, which emphasizes the use of relevant learning environments where students work with others, learn from multiple perspectives, and reflect on their understanding (Driscoll, 2005). I also believe that individuals should learn in authentic contexts whenever possible to make learning more meaningful. While this can be difficult to accomplish in current classrooms, technology can help provide opportunities to embed learning in real life situations. These key aspects of my philosophy of learning can be seen is the visual below.
These theories have impacted how I teach, organize activities, and design my classroom environment. While direct instruction is still sometimes necessary, I employ a variety of other instructional strategies to establish a more student-centered learning environment. Discovery learning, problem-based learning, and collaborative learning are methods that help engage students in discussion, reflection, and critical thinking. These activities strengthen connections between new and prior knowledge, encourage interaction, and promote the development of 21st century skills. Technology has also become a key tool in supporting student learning in my classroom. I can use dynamic software like Desmos to guide students through the discovery of concepts about graphs and functions. Online simulations can help students understand abstract problems or apply math concepts in real world situations. There are also tools such as Google apps, Padlet, or Flipgrid that can be used to support student interaction beyond the classroom. There are many educational benefits of technology, but it should be used to support a purpose. Effective technology is implemented to help students reach their learning objectives. The next two portfolio projects discuss how to successfully implement technology in more detail.
Portfolio Project #2
The second project in my portfolio was completed in LDT 440. This course provided key insights into what educational technology is and how it could be implemented into different learning contexts. Defining educational technology can be a difficult task because of the constant evolution of technology. Any definition would have to allow for change as knowledge progresses and the goals or intentions of people change. Generally, there has been a shift from “learning from” to “learning with” technology. There are more student centered uses with an emphasis on finding, analyzing, creating, and sharing information. In this course, we explored some of those uses including Web 2.0 tools, MOOCs, social networks, online games, virtual worlds, and cloud computing.
We were able to specifically learn how to implement some of these technologies into our own learning or teaching contexts through a series of blueprint designs. These blueprints were written as proposals supported by research, the RIPPLES model, and a discussion of the technology affordances. The RIPPLES model is a technology integration plan developed by Dr. Daniel Surry (2002). RIPPLES is an acronym of the key elements of the model that need to be addressed when integrating technology: resources, infrastructure, people, policies, learning, evaluation, and support. I used this model for each of my blueprint designs to frame how my chosen technology could be implemented. I also discussed the affordances that would make my chosen technology so beneficial in solving the problem. It was important to focus on the specific context, how the technology supported the learning objectives, and how it supported collaboration. I used Bower’s framework (2007) which focused on the following affordances: media, spatial, temporal, navigation, emphasis, synthesis, access-control, technical, usability, aesthetics, and reliability.
The blueprint that I chose for this portfolio proposed the implementation of the dynamic software GeoGebra (shown in the image below) to help students visualize structures and provide concrete examples of abstract concepts. This project demonstrates my understanding of the foundational principles of integrating technology in my teaching context. I learned how to think through a problem, develop a plan to solve that problem, and support my plan with instructional models and research. These skills continue to aid me in my current teaching practice and professional development. I use the affordances proposed by Bower (2007) to evaluate the technology I implement in my classroom based on the learning goals I expect students to achieve. I can also use the RIPPLES model when proposing new technology on a larger scale. For example, right now my math department is looking for a replacement of the program ALEKS. The software is becoming too expensive to use long term, so we are evaluating new options to replace the program. The RIPPLES model could help us focus on the important components of successful integration of the new technology.
Portfolio Project #3
This course, LDT 527, focused on the principles of constructivism and student-centered learning. Throughout the course, I designed a series of blueprints that focused on various aspects of constructivist learning. These blueprints were similar to lesson plans with a focus on the strategies, goals, and assessments of the learning environment. I chose two examples for this portfolio project, where each one focuses on a different theoretical model.
The first example is a blueprint that implements a problem-based learning framework. Problem-based learning (PBL) is an approach that encourages collaboration to solve authentic problems. The problems are usually ill-structured, meaning students can apply their own frameworks or methods to solve the problems. They are also complex problems, so students need to incorporate prior knowledge, search for information, compare ideas, and construct a solution to the problem. In this blueprint, I focus on two key aspects of PBL – the PBL tutorial process and scaffolding. The tutorial process is a cycle that includes the problem scenario, identifying the facts, generating hypotheses, identifying knowledge gaps, self-directed learning, evaluation, and reflection. Scaffolding makes the complex problems more manageable and helps students extend their understanding to new tasks. It can take several forms such as demonstrating, coaching, or encouraging articulation. This is a strategy I use often in mathematics to highlight important steps and to help students reflect on their own understanding. Problem-based learning in general is an effective strategy in helping students learn math concepts while also developing key 21st century skills.
The second blueprint focuses on mobile learning, which is the use of technology to learn in a variety of contexts beyond a classroom. It was important for me to explore the integration of mobile technology into schools because mobile devices are becoming more common in students’ everyday lives. For my blueprint, I decided to use augmented reality (AR) technology to enhance the learning environment. AR is a learning tool that is becoming more popular in both formal and informal learning environments. It is a way for educators to embed digital information such as text, images, audio, or video in a real world physical environment (Dunleavy & Dede, 2014). There are several advantages to using this type of technology including collaborative strategies, providing multiple perspectives, and implementing authentic contexts. These benefits relate closely to the constructivist and situated learning theories, which are important aspects of my philosophy of learning.
Both of these designs inspired me to start thinking about multi-discipline projects. I would love to collaborate with teachers and professionals in other subject areas to create more authentic learning experiences for students that apply the principles of PBL and mobile learning. These experiences can combine math concepts with science, physics, computer science, or tech ed concepts. Students could collaborate to solve realistic problems and learn how to evaluate and revise their solution strategies. Mobile technology also allows them to use a variety of resources and tools throughout the process.
Conclusion
Throughout my experience, I’ve realized that learning isn’t simply an objective, it is a process. It’s a process of learning information from and with others and applying that information to new situations. Learning involves the how just as much as the what. As teachers, I believe it is important to encourage lifelong learning, especially in a world that is rapidly changing. Teachers should provide opportunities for students to collaborate and apply concepts in authentic contexts. It is important to guide students and scaffold activities to help students reach learning objectives. As for students, they should have an active role in their learning where they communicate, reflect, and develop critical thinking skills. It is important for them to learn how to work with others, provide feedback, and build on each other’s ideas. Technology also plays a key role in today’s education. It can be used for a variety of formative assessments, and also provides more opportunities to apply concepts to real life situations. The key idea of implementing technology is making sure it supports the learning objectives.
References
Bower, M. (2007). Affordance analysis – matching learning tasks with learning technologies. Educational Media International, 45(1).
Driscoll, Marcy. Radical Behaviorism. Psychology of Learning for Instruction. Boston. Pearson. 2005. 9780205375196.
Dunleavy, M. & Dede, C. (2014). Augmented Reality Teaching and Learning. Handbook of Research on Educational Communications Technology.
Surry, D. (2002). A Model for Integrating Instructional Technology into Higher Education.
Yilmaz, K., (2011). The Cognitive Perspective on Learning: Its Theoretical Underpinnings and Implications for Classroom Practices. The Clearing House, 84(1), pp. 204-212.