The Final Blog

      It is strange, but ever since I was young I’ve been attracted to technology.  I say strange because technology was not a big part of my education.  While I was in college (back in the ‘60’s) the traditional professor/student relationship was strictly face to face.  We learned through lecture and class interactive discussion.  I ran from class to class daily, keeping up strict schedules.  Distance education was unheard of, because computers were just entering on the field of business and education (I think we thought Skinner’s black box was a futuristic ideal).  I then had to put off the reason I had gone to college (a teaching degree) to raise a family.  My world was delayed and I lost out on much of the technology growth.

      As I grew and was more or less forced into the workplace, I realized that computers helped a great deal in facilitating mundane jobs, leaving more room for productivity. Now after years of immersion into technology, especially educational technology, I realize my first idea about computers and devices to help make life easier – really did.  Now, after studying and learning how to use technological innovations it occurs to me that there is no turning back.  We are being encouraged to grow and are encouraging our students to grow with the onsets of a new theories that match the economic and social growth of a much larger world, evidenced by social media.  Critical and non-negotiable to teaching and learning is not losing the human quality of learning, a danger presented by the ease of using tech devices to interact with others (again attributed to social media).  It is a great thing to be innovative and futuristic.  However, my philosophy of learning is once you stop using the human trait of learning and questioning, you become complacent and lazy - this is dangerous.

Using Keller's ARCS model

 Briefly describe a situation in which you have encouraged people to use a new technology and have been met with resistance or disappointing results. What attitudes did these people exhibit? What behaviors did they demonstrate? Using Keller’s ARCS model, describe how you could change the motivation of these people, or learners, to encourage success. 

There have been many disappointing results with technology in my particular situation.  I encounter such attitudes as anger, apathy, confusion, fear, and arrogance.  It is an everyday struggle that requires a quick mind to counter-act these postures.

Using Keller's ARCS model here is (mostly) what I used to motivate these individuals.

Attention:  This is the most basic model.  Keeping my students on track and focused is one of the greatest challenges.  My method is to point out their mission: to gain a GED so that they can become more successful in the "real world".  This means and follows:

Relevance:  The lessons cannot be non-applicable to their particular lives.  "How am I going to use this algebraic equation in the real world?"  Is similar to other questions I've had to deal with and make more palatable the subject and particular lesson for that student.  Which then leads to:

Confidence:  Growing confidence is easy if the student is experiencing success.  In the CAI-Lab success are intrinsically individual.  I celebrate with each student who gains and achieves the "right" to take a GED exam, which of course is the primary goal.  And finally we arrive at:

Satisfaction:  This is the goal, the accomplishment and the final achievement for both my students and myself.  When I see my students walk across the stage (yes, we have graduations) - I tear up, because I know what struggles and efforts were put into gaining this beginning certification. 

Module 3 - Reflections

Do you believe that humans have a basic instinct to “interact and work as a group,” as Rheingold proposed in his discussion of the evolution of Wikipedia as a collectively developed encyclopedia?

Yes - I do believe that humans have a basic instinct to "interact and work as a group".  I witness this daily as my offender students seek to interact with me, with the outside world, and with each other.  However, there are those who are reticent about collaboration, preferring to cling to their individualized patterns.  This mode of thinking tends to isolate these individuals, and they do not fare well in a burgeoning society of social thinkers. 

The most effective part of incarceration is being isolated from the outside world.  Communication is a given freedom expected by all humans. When humans are isolated from their communities they do everything within their power to reinstate themselves into society again - either through legal or illegal means. 

How can technology facilitate collaboration among learners based on constructivist principles?  

Constructivist principles include building on experiences which can be shared with others.  Social media that is available to "anyone" on the internet, tapped into learners need to "know".  Even though I am bored to tears when occassionally I visit Facebook, I can see the needs of the participants to know that there is a world outside of themselves - and that they are included in that world. 



Vallance, M., Towndrow, P.A., Wiz, C. (2010). Conditions for successful online document collaboration. TechTrends, Vol. 54 (1).

Bill Kerr's -Isms

And then there was "critic-ism".

"Bill Kerr’s comments that each –ism being offered on its own does have something to offer us however incomplete they maybe. I also agree that if we take bits and pieces from each theory we can use them collectively to our benefit. The suggestion to use the bits taken from each theory as a scaffolding process was also an excellent idea. It is true that no one theory can stand alone and be strong in itself, but if we apply different aspects of each theory to fill a particular learning need then we may be able to design a course that can be consider exceptional in terms of the learning processes."

Some of theories that I have studied make me want to "jump on the bandwagon".  However, I lean more toward Erikson and Piaget, in their growth in stages theories.  Maybe I'm older and wiser than I was in my earlier years of decisions and growth spurts. 

Kaplan's quote and answer: “ 'What is the best, how do we know what makes sense or what doesn’t?'  I suggest that lower level learning (lower cognitive load) requires a behaviorist approach (memorize, recognizing, labeling) as does the expectation of outcomes that must be measured. I then suggest that procedural and rule-based learning requires an emphasis on Cognitivism and finally, problem-solving, collaboration and creativity require a view of Constructivism. "  Does give one pause for thought [:)]
As a literacy teacher of adults I would go with the upper levels of cognitivism, mixed with a heavy dose of connectivism (yeah Siemens!).  Adults have achieved most of the levels suggested by Kaplan - and what I see is a need for the student to connect with and use these skills faced with the ever burgeoning technology.

http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/01/isms-as-filter-not-blinker.html

http://www.kaplaneduneering.com/kappnotes/index.php/2007/01/out-and-about-discussion-on-educational/

People I have followed

Christine Moore
LaTonya Simmons

The first Blog

What are your beliefs about how people learn best? What is the purpose of learning theory in educational technology?
I believe that people learn best through motivation, interest and curiosity.   The purpose of learning theory in educational technology is finding the basis for technology and how it applies to enhancing learning in a student's experience. Also, educational technology's learning theory should be as flexible as the technology dictates. 
What are the critical elements of a learning theory?
According to Siemens:  Conceptualization, Experimentation, Implementation and Communication.  All of these elements are able to be applied to the current attempts to construct a viable educational theory. 

Did Driscoll and Siemens miss any key questions or criteria? Apparently both Driscoll and Siemens, who agree in most areas concerning cognitive/constructivist theory, glossed over "collaboration" - which is key for most theoretical construction. I have noticed, that most research has been done collaboratively.  There are few single authored research studies in this particular area. 


Critique Siemens’s “metaphors of educators.” Which of these metaphors best describes the role you believe an instructor should take in a digital classroom or workplace? Is there a better metaphor to reflect your view of the role of instructors?

Siemens' use of metaphors of educators is unique:

Educator as Master Artist (my take on this):  The student is a blank canvas and seeks only an artist to bring out the hidden beauty of knowledge.  Or, as I heard one artist remark, (I'm sorry I don't remember exactly who said this) "All I do is start with clay, and cut away everything that doesn't look like what I envision"  or something like it. :(

Educator as Network Administrator:  Considering the way that distance education is going, and the decline of the brick and mortar universities and public schools (economic recession et al), the Educator must learn to manage a network of collaborating students; He/she must be a facilitator and guide allowing students to find their level of knowing.

Educator as Concierge:  The Educator provides the necessary tools and materials to assist the student in the journey of learning...acting as guide and attendant when the student loses sight of his/her goal.

Educator as Curator:  What does the curator of a museum or library do?  The curator "cares" for the knowledge entrusted to him/her for the benefit of the public.  The curator is an educator.  An educator's responsibility is to "care" for the information that has been entrusted to him, and to pass that knowledge along to those who seek it. 

I especially liked Siemens concluding paragraph: (p. 26)

When knowledge is seen as existing in networks, and learning as forming and navigating these networks, many existing aspects of academia are subject to change. First, teachers interact with learners and content in a different manner. The internet has caused a power shift in classrooms, as learners now have greater access information, experts, and peer learners. Secondly, instructional designers, due to the developing complexity of tools and availability of open education resources, play an educational role of directing educators to tools and resources. These two foundational changes, while presented here as a conceptual discussion and in need of additional experimentation and evaluation, may serve as levers for broader changes within the academy.