As I read about the different ways to teach with technology I am genuinely excited about the future. I am not a classroom teacher so I cannot speak from experience about the delivery. However I am a student and I do have two young children in second grade and kindergarten. The technologies and techniques that we are studying are going to directly impact all of our learning present and future.
These different technologies allow “teachers to differentiate instruction more efficiently by providing a wider variety of avenues for learning that reach students of divergent readiness levels, interests, and learning styles.” (Pitler, p. 3) Even as young as my children are I have noticed that they are developing their own unique learning styles and even with the technology at home, they are adapting them so their time is productive. Listening to them discuss how they are utilizing technology at school and how it is influencing their learning is quite phenomenal. I’m not that old, however my graduating class was the last class to take a typing course on a typewriter. So the fact that my children are already quite proficient with the use of computers, software, the internet and smart boards just blows my mind. To be fair though it is not technology itself that guarantees a student’s success, it is the appropriate and guided use of technology. (Bransford)
How does this all tie together, well the theory of Constructivism explains why. The theory of Constructivism is a very interesting area to me, especially since “it does not does not dictate how that theory should be translated into classroom practice.” (Southwest) With new philosophies of education focusing on the classroom environment embracing the teacher as a facilitator rather than a lecturer, constructivism allows the students to learn from experience. In education as in life, there is no better teacher than experience.
References
Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school (Expanded edition). Washington, D. C.: National Academy Press. Retrieved February 24, 2011 http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=9853&page=206
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., and Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, (1999). Learning as a personal event: A brief introduction to constructivism. Retrieved February 25, 2011from http://www.sedl.org/pubs/tec26/intro2c.html
