Constructivism in Practice

When reading through the text this week, "Generating and Testing Hypotheses", I felt that by using technology engages students in the six tasks discussed in our reading. Systems analysis, problem solving, historical investigation, invention, experimental inquiry, and decision making are all skills that are necessary for our students and as adults in our society. As educators it is our job to help prepare our students for the work world, social world, and to prepare them for what is yet to come.

By using tools like Excel, Power Point, and Podcasts, students are able to construct an end result that has meaning and exhibits some of the students style or personality. It also enables educators to teach across the curriculum, by incorporating math skills, English/grammar skills, history, etc. When educators teach across the curriculum, it creates deeper learning, reinforcement, and relevance for the student. For example: when teaching about budgeting, students can use Excel to keep up with data entry like income and expenses. By using technology students are able to see how their money comes in and where it goes out, but also using math skills and problem solving to complete this process. Any time that you can incorporate real world activities students seem to really engage into the lesson, answering that wonderful question "When am I ever going to use ...?".

Cognitivism in Practice

Dr. Orey (2010) describes the Cognitive Learning Theory as an “information processing method” that requires an input of information, short-term memory, rehearsal, and then long term memory. Paivios dual coding hypothesis stressed the use of information images to input information into the brain. By using informational images students are able to connect the image with text giving them a greater chance for storing information into their long-term memory.


In Chapter 4, Cues, Questions, and Advanced Organizers, we see that giving students these tools help them to think on a deeper level, providing connections to thoughts, images, and all senses of the body. Cues are hints about the material that will be presented, questions help students to bring to mind information previously stored, and advanced organizers help students focus their thoughts upon the material being presented.


By incorporating things such as Cmaps and graphic organizers we help students to organize their information into a useful tool, helping them to visualize information for long-term storage in the brain. When using cues, questions, advanced organizers, etc., we give students the tools necessary to enable them to summarize information. Information summary can be quite difficult if there is not a complete understanding of the material being presented. By integrating technological tools educators can help students see the big picture and the connections to be made between text, images, and sometimes smell (Orey, 2010).

Laureate, Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Cognitive Learning Theory [DVD]. Baltimore, MD: Orey, M.

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

Behaviorism in Practice

I am a firm believer in rubrics! I especially enjoyed reading chapter 8, "Reinforcing Effort", in our course book Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, by Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski. The "Effort Rubric" shown in this chapter is a great example of how we can pair technology with behaviorism in the classroom. Rubrics are a great way to guide students as they learn and participate in activities. It shows students exactly what is expected of them and exactly the grade they will be getting based on their performance. In every project that I ever assigned, I had a rubric that the students could follow to help them during the process of completing their work. This kept projects from being overwhelming and help break the project down into categories, making the task at hand seem manageable.

What about homework and practice? "Homework and practice give students a chance to review and apply what they have learned" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski, 2007). In chapter 10 some good points were made about homework: parental involvement should be kept to a minimum, it should be something the students already know how to do, and if it is going to be assigned it should be checked for completion or commented upon. Something that I have found in my few years of teaching is that students know which class to do their homework in and which classes not to do their homework in. The decide this based upon whether or not a teacher will check or grade their homework assignment. Homework is often perceived as a waste of time to students, because too often teachers assign homework then never look at the students work. Homework and practice are essential to student learning, students must practice something 24 times before mastery is accomplished (Orey, 2010).

By using technology, educators are able to assign homework and practice in a more appealing way to students. Technology lends itself to addressing skills in many different forms, such as, online encyclopedia's, online article's, video, word processing, etc. Teachers must embrace this technology to better educate our student's.

Laureate, Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Behaviorist Learning Theory [DVD]. Baltimore, MD: Orey, M.

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