Teaching: What is necessary?

As an instructor that has worked in both the online learning environment and the traditional classroom, I have experienced many different scenarios, age levels, and teaching methodologies. Constant professional development sessions for my school district, and now for my colleges, help to update me on the latest trends in instruction. However, trends come and go and sometimes we only learn the wrong ways to teach our students by trial and error. So what is necessary for me to provide my students with effective instruction? Does it differ by age and grade level? What philosophy do I hold to in order to provide the best possible learning environment?

My philosophy of teaching is something that I have thought about quite a bit. I cannot seem to fill out a job application without having to include my philosophy of teaching. While I want to look professional and make it all sound wonderful to my potential employer, for this blog post, I want to dig deep and really reflect on what I believe my students need and what is absolutely necessary for me as an educator. Not that I don't adhere to my philosophy of teaching that I include with potential job applications, but let's get "real" and break it down to the nuts and bolts.

I believe that in order to meet the needs of my students, at any age, I must provide differentiated instruction. Whether it is in teams, or individual, it needs to exist for all my students. We all learn differently and there is no mold that fits everyone. Accommodations for my students' learning needs are imperative. Second, I must engage my students. Whether that is standing on my head and giving my lecture via webcam, or dressing up like Raggedy Ann for my elementary students, they must be engaged. I must go the extra mile to make it happen. I cannot sit back and be a mediocre educator. I must find a connection and use it to engage my students. This will take time and effort outside of what is normally required in the classroom. This means thinking "outside" the box. This means using a variety of learning theories like: social constructivism, cognitive learning theory, and connectivism (a mixture of the other two, not yet recognized as a learning theory). I need to provide a learning environment that my students can absorb, that allows them to use critical thinking skills, and that builds on their prior knowledge.

Finally, I need to be present. Whether it is in the traditional classroom, or the online learning environment. My students need to know I am there and that I will support them and guide them along the journey. Distance education should not be "distant" in the classroom. Making it personal and getting to know my students will help me to build the trust and connections that will help them to feel comfortable and safe in the classroom. Only then can I teach them...or rather as a wise man once said: "I never teach my pupils, I simply provide the environment in which they learn." ~Albert Einstein

Cynthia

Connectivism! Visions of Networks Swimming in my Head!

The above Mind Map shows my crazy world of connectivity!
Now, I have not listed Facebook because I just deactivated my account (with the option of reactivating it at any time). This has caused a feeling of "disconnectedness" in me, but it has also allowed me to have a few extra minutes to devote to something else. The convenience of networking and the online environment has a great impact on my life on a daily basis. I work from home. I teach for several online colleges and generate an income greater or equal to that of working in the traditional classroom. Flexibility from networking has created more opportunities and allowed me to excel in my educational studies as well as my career and social life.

My network has changed the way that I learn by providing me with this flexibility. I worked my way through school and was unable to major in Education in my undergraduate studies because at that time, online courses for this major were not offered and I could not discontinue working and supporting myself to student teach. I found a program at an online college that would allow me to complete my bachelor's degree in English and continue to work. I worked toward this goal and then I was able to secure a teaching position through the alternate route method. I still had to complete my teacher licensure qualifications via the traditional on-ground college course and I did this at night. I continued to work toward my master's degree via traditional college night courses. I succeeded in this and proceeded to find an online program to complete my Ph.D. At first, there was nothing online that I wanted to specialize in, but Walden launched their Educational Technology specialization and I knew it was what I had been looking for. I have been working on my doctoral degree program as I transitioned from public school teaching to online college teaching. I guess you could say my network is very important because I found my first online college position from meeting a classmate in one of my first Walden Ed Tech courses. Things have progressed from that point until I was able to resign my traditional classroom and work from home.

The online learning environment has become a part of my daily world. There were many things that I did not understand and I found that I lost knowledge as the technology world progressed without me during my time in the traditional classroom. Even now, I believe I am still not able to stay on the cutting edge of technology because it changes so rapidly. I am just beginning to understand the terminology of "Jing" and "Presi" and many new ways to interact via technology. There is so much out there and I want to prepare myself to contribute to learning by bringing my classroom into the 21st Century. Networking and being connected to others through technology as a student and as an instructor helps me to learn the latest developments and resources for making instruction as effective as possible.

I have self-taught by accessing as much information as possible about applications I am not familiar with and I continuously attend webinars and explore tutorials to help me to master new technology. I am a visual and kinesthetic learner, so "playing" with the technology helps me to familiarize myself with it. Videos and anything visual help me to learn more quickly rather than reading text only. The more interactive the tutorial, the better for me.

Blogging is my new way of free writing and I type more quickly than I can write. While I still love classic literature and I have a library of hard copies, without technology, I would be lost!

Go networking!

Cynthia

Here is a description of my Mind Map:

Social:

Email
Skype
Blogs

Educational:

Email
Blogs
Skype
Walden Classroom
Wikispaces

Work:

Anthem College Online Networks
CCI Online Networks
Grand Canyon University Online Networks
Email

Blogs, Email, and Skype overlap from social to educational and some into work. I hope that in the future, it will be a crazy mass of overlapping as I connect all aspects of my world.

Is This Learning or Just Pressing Buttons? A Look at Learning Theories

Online learning is progressing rapidly here in the 21st Century, but how do we know if our students are learning or just responding to stimuli? Is keyboarding our greatest skill in online learning? How can we approach learning in the online environment to achieve the best possible results?

First of all, let's make ourselves familiar with the different learning theories:
(Summary for each learning theory taken from: http://www.learning-theories.com/paradigms)

Humanism:

Believes that we should have a personal experience with collaboration and support.
The learning is student-centered and the teacher is seen as a facilitator.

I call this: "It's all about me" theory.

Cognitivism:

Believes that we cannot see what is being learned because it is inside the brain and we will eventually see certain outcomes due to what is input. This theory focuses on memory.

I call this: "Using my noodle" theory.

Constructivism:

Believes that learning is constructed all around us. We relate our learning experiences to prior knowledge and all learning is subjective to our perspective.

I call this "Lego" theory.

Behaviorism:

Believes that learning is a response to a stimuli. You see it and you model or respond to it.

I call this the "Go, Fetch!" theory.


Now, that we have an idea of the different types of theories, let's look at some learning experiences that fit into these categories:


Humanism:




Behaviorism:




Constructivism:




Cognitivism:






So, what is the best approach to learning?



For me, it is the cognitive learning theory. Why is it important for us to implement learning theories in the online learning environment? Because we want to achieve the most effective outcome for our students. Before we can begin to design learning, approach learning, or teach content, we must understand how our students learn, so that we can provide them with experiences that will enhance learning and trigger cognitive processes. This will in turn increase recall and help students transition new knowledge to long-term memory; thereby, creating a new learning experience. Without understanding how we learn, we cannot teach!

Behaviorism just requires a reaction to a stimuli. A student might become conditioned to react in a certain way, but that does not mean actual cognitive processes are involved. Constructivism only relates to the surroundings and prior knowledge. It provides a foundation to build on, but only on what is already in memory. The knowledge must be linked to something existent. Humanism focuses on the student and his/her thoughts, feelings, and needs. While this may sound good, we cannot always succeed by concentrating only on ourselves and our needs and desires. It is important to promote self-esteem, but you may not be able to stop and find your inner "chi" each time you need to be reminded.

Cognitivism allows for transition in the environment, ability to adapt, and to rationalize and process new information if conditions change and the world does not focus solely on needs and desires.

More to come....

Cynthia