When students work in groups they are making sense of new knowledge by interacting with others (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 139). Technology is a great tool to provide cooperative learning.
Student created multimedia is a great way for students to work in a social learning enviroment, and create a project.
Web resources allow students to collaborate with others outside the walls of the classroom. By using web quests, keypals, creating websites, and social networking sites students are allowed to create and take control of their own learning.
Collaborative organizing and shared bookmarking allows teachers and students to collaborate, organize, and share resources while engaging in a mutual learning environment.
Using communicaton software such as Skype allows students to collaborate irregardless of where they are in the world.
The emerging technology is changing the way the world operates; this includes education and learning. As teachers we have to be aware, and utilize the social learning theories in order to keep students interested and able to compete in a global market.
If you cannot view my voicethread above, here is the link
voicethread.com/share/887076/
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
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Being able to communicate as you said, "With others outside the wall," is what it is going to take for our students to survive in the technological world we live in today. Incorporating social learning and collaboration is a great cooperative process, it "Requires knowledge to be discovered by students and transformed into concepts to which the students can relate" (Obey,2001, p. 2). With this type of learning and the tools we have today we can help our students in this transformation.
ReplyDeleteOrey, M. (Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved 1/2/09, from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt
Kelly-
ReplyDeleteAfter watching your Voice Thread I am curious how you overcome the challenges you face? In order to facilitate the use of technology and social learning theory you must face many bottlenecks. Do you jigsaw information and have your students working at different times or do you have a lab that you utilize when you are working with a tool such as webquests or wikis?
Margaret Theonnes
Margaret,
ReplyDeleteI am fortunate to be on the same hall as our computer lab, making it easy to go over to do a project. Usually we will start the initial project in the lab, and finish up as we can in the room. It is a mess of wires and cords, however I have run many behind furniture, up the walls, so students (nor I) are tripping and falling. I noticed the massive dust amounts in the pictures and that is mainly becasue I had to pull furniture out to get to most of the wire.
Kelly R.
You said,"As teachers we have to be aware, and utilize the social learning theories in order to keep students interested and able to compete in a global market."
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. Before I started learning all of these new tools, my students were two steps ahead of me. Now, I feel like I have a few tricks for them. How on earth could we think that we could teach students that have way more skills than us? Once my kids figure out that I am full of it, they will disengage. I hope to stay current to prevent this from happening.