Heather Sanderson
Reflections on Educational Theory, Design, Practice, and Assessment
Eastern Connecticut State University
May 11, 2019
Through this class I have come to learn how I can tailor to the educational needs of each of my students through technology. It has been 4 years since my school has distributed iPads to all of the students and I finally feel like I am using them in a way that is advancing their knowledge. When we first got the iPads I was just focused on being paperless as much as possible but was not taking advantage of the technology in a way that would make my curriculum more accessible to all of my students. I am now providing supplementary materials to those students who need assistance with content, I am making use of the text to speech function for my students who are struggling with dyslexia, I am providing informational supplementation to my students who are absent, I am taking advantage of different apps to track the progress of my students, and I am using Google slides for collaboration projects.
There were five readings that stood out to me and affected my teaching from this course. The first was the book Educational Technology and Pedagogic Encounters which taught me how platforms such as Facebook could be used to discuss controversial science issues such as cloning and global warming. This book also introduced me to rhizomatic thinking in which the students learning sprouts off into many different areas. The second reading was Blended 2.0 Shifts Learning by Patricia Daddona which has encouraged me to begin to provide more choice through technology and become the facilitator of learning rather than just the teacher. The next reading that has encouraged me to further use gaming apps with my students is Education World’s Five Reasons to Use Games in the Classroom. I have been using games in the classroom since I began teaching but the availability of games has increased exponentially and these games are providing me with real data which helps me to improve my teaching. The fourth reading that left an impact with me was Rescuing Education: The Rise of Experiential Education. This article describes the history of experiential learning and why experiential learning is so important in education. The fifth reading was InstructionalDesign.org’s Experiential Learning (Carl Rogers) summary where I was first introduced to my preferential learning theory of Experiential Learning. After reading more about experiential learning I have been trying to create more memorable hands-on assignments for my students that they will learn from and remember in the future.
There were 10 main ideas I will come away with from this course. The first is how important it is to provide choice to students to engage them in learning. Through learning about Maria Montessori I have begun to evaluate how to give my students more choices in their assignments. This idea of choice also relates to another big takeaway I got from this course which is how to better personalize my teaching to the individual student. I have also come to love the experiential learning theory and strive to provide my students with experiences that increase their knowledge. I also learned a lot about John Dewy and his influence on so many other educators with the beginning of experiential learning which is my preferred educational theory. Blended learning is another term I have discovered through this course and it is the direction that all classes are headed towards with the introduction of 1:1 devices. This class has made me realize that I need to take more advantage of all of the free resources that are available online and I really need to take the summer to find the best online resources and organize them into my curriculum. I would also like to begin to make my flipped classroom more personalized. I would like to make my own videos instead of just providing Khan Academy video and other YouTube videos. While I have always used gaming this class taught me that Gaming and Motivation is actually an educational theory so I should no longer question if gaming can be learning. Anchored instruction was another new theory that I learned about and it reminded me of the Next Generation Science phenomena teaching method which takes an event such as a short video clip and the teacher builds a lesson around it. And finally this class taught me that technology can democratize the classroom making it a place where everyone is equal and able to participate.
Resources
Culatta, R. (2019). Learning Theories. Retrieved from http://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/
Daddona, P. Blended 2.0 Shifts Learning. Retrieved from https://nlg- consulting.net/2016/08/22/blended-2-0-shifts-learning-in-schools/
Education World. (2013). Five Reasons to Use Games in the Classroom. Retrieved from https://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/reasons-to-play-games-in-the-classroom.shtml
McKenzie, M. (2013). Rescuing EDUCATION: THE RISE OF EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING. Independent School, 72(3), 24. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost- com.ecsu.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,cpid&custid=eastco nn&db=f5h&AN=85748138&site=eds-live
Waghid, Y., Waghid, F., & Waghid, Z. (2016). Educational Technology and Pedagogic
Encounters: Democratic Education in Potentiality. Rotterdam, Netherlands: Sense Publishers.