![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
Week 5 Experimenting With Technology Reflections in Readings Post #7
February 5th, 2008 (05:21 pm)
As I read through Chapter 3 of our text, what resonated with me was the focus of learning to reason causally. The use of technology as a stimulating mental activity that coincides with a constructivists approach to education helps as we prepare our children to be competitive in a global technological society. After reading the chapter I reflected on learning inquiries requiring a scientific method. (Think way back to high school science or biology experiments; the enquiries involving prediction, hypothesizing and cause and effect relationships.)
I related the fostering of cognitive development through technology in relation to the text’s example of the program for interactive physics with a preschool child in a sand box. In both instances learning to reason casually is fostered, exploration, task analysis, self correction, scaffolding, and mastery. Also with this specific example, the language of sand (coarse, dump, dig,) and the language of physics (vectors, axes, center of mass) are not so delineated, but the process of discovery translates to the power of “learning by doing”.
Microworlds also provided unlimited opportunity for errorless learning free from the constraints of time. After the investigation of SimCalc, the thing that resonated with me was the power of self correcting as a means to self discovery. Experimenting with simulations provide children with goal orientated, self directed engagement and one that I will definitely explore as we begin our unit on Medieval times. If a suitable, accessible website or program is found I will review the learning principles to help direct long and short term goals when selecting learning activities.
It was on the heels of reading chapter 6 “Community Building with Technologies” that I investigated a web site (posted Feb 5- accessed though Jason’s friends page-Hurray for collaborated learning). The site compliments the other video’s suggested for investigation within this course and provides an excellent example of a collaborated classroom blog. While viewing the pages, confidentiality and anonymous input was at the forefront of my mind, in the interest of protecting children’s interests and potential risks that this technology can harbor. This poses the question; Will children be able to differentiate between privileged information and what information can safely be posted. Being new to the Blog and Wiki I had to remind myself of the fine line of vulnerability.
Within the context of this chapter the idea of the world being a global village is evident in the global communities. For me, the project summaries listed in the chapter are instrumental in providing the visual experience and by visiting the websites in the chapter in addition to the explanations in the chapter I get a sense of how vast the world really is for students and teachers alike. STRATEGY: As with previous chapters I have listed the web addresses on a word document and can access them at my leisure.
Addendum
Our course text is unique in that it provides us with links to educational web sights that we may access as long as they are available. The possibility that they will become redundant is there but they give us the opportunity to explore and extend the learning with our students. I believe our younger students are getting a trickle down of higher learning (or what in the past would be considered higher learning) or perhaps this a taken for granted assumption of meaningful learning.
Word Count 458
References
Jonassen, J., Howland, J., Marra, R,. & Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful Learning With
Technology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education
Technology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education
I like the idea of referring back to the scientific method. Creating hypotheses and experimenting, then seeing if the final product matches up to what you thought was going to happen. Great post!