Learning theories and teaching

Student teachers are introduced to different learning theories while they are at university.  They are also exposed to a variety of teaching methods while completing their teaching experience at different schools.  As mentioned before in an earlier post, I think teachers do not only use one learning theory while they are teaching.  At times you want learners to practise a certain skill and to remember things in certain ways (cognitivism).  At times you want them to think for themselves and complete an activity that involves incremental learning (constructivism).  If your school is fortunate to have the resources for it, there will be times when you will want learners to collaborate with their peers via some form of social networking platform (connectivism).  A good teacher will always keep these theories in mind while planning and preparing lessons everyday.  A good teacher will encourage learners to develop some form of critical analysis of information they gather from their peers, from books or from the Internet.  Ultimately children need to be able to think for themselves and not be spoon-fed in order for them to compete in the big wide world some day.

Presentations of Learning Theories

The idea of having different people present different theories is a good one.  That way you can concentrate on one theory and do a thorough job of researching it.  If everyone in the group has done the same, you should be able to get all the necessary information about the other theories from their presentations.  There were a few people who did not prepare properly and in so doing confused themselves and the rest of the class as well.  At the end of the day I think everyone was on the same page and hopefully we are all clear about the key aspects of each theory.

Are children like Pavlov's dog?

The quick answer is probably yes.  I don't think we can say that humans do things automatically in the strictest sense.  Skinner (1968) conditioned pigeons and mice to do certain routines in order to get food.  Yes, we do need to condition behaviour in the classroom and each subject has different rules that need to be followed, for example, rules in an art class are different to rules in a geography or maths class.  This conditioning is done so that teaching can occur in an atmosphere that is not chaotic.  So, we do condition behaviour, but it is not just a stimulus-responce method.  Children do actually think about what they need to do in order to conform to the teacher's way of doing things.  They know that one teacher is strict about standing up when another teacher walks in and that another teacher is more relaxed about it.  School, as well as the outside world, has a certain set of rules and children must learn how the system works so that they can fit into society.

Learning theories and the online teaching course

It is amazing how quickly you forget all the theory connected to learning once you become a teacher.  Everything that is done in the classroom is eventually as if you are on autopilot.  The methods that are used to get children to learn and to pass are eventually second-nature.  I do not think teachers ever stop to think about which learning theory they are implementing at any given moment.  All the more reason for us to think about how we set up any learning to be done on-line.

If you believe that children already have knowledge structures, you need to design your lessons in such a way that those structures are organised properly and that children improve their skills and abilities by drill and practise.  There must be systematic instruction.

If, on the other hand, you believe that children learn through social interaction with peers and the rest of society, you need to design your on-line material in such a way that you facilitate that learning.  Learners need activity-based programs.

If you take the connectivists' approach to learning, you need to be the manager of any collaborative learning environments that you allow the children to access.  The knowledge that is available to learners is instantaneous.  You need to teach learners how to recognise information that is superfluous, in other words, how to be discerning when searching for information.  Social networking is important for children to learn, and the teacher needs to manage this kind of interaction very carefully.

I think most teachers combine parts of each theory when they teach.  As I said earlier, we teach without thinking too much about which theory is being implemented.

Videos dealing with behaviourism and cognitivism

The last time I saw the footage of Skinner's pigeons I was in my second year way back in 1986!  It is amazing how you forget that you know things.  Isn't that the point of the cognivists?  All you know is put into long-term memory until you need it.  Places you visited when you were a child are suddenly brought back to life when you see a photograph that your Mom hauled out of an old shoe box.

The videos were quite helpful in explaining the concept of behaviourism.  Having the pigeon's behaviour altered by rewarding it with food is clear proof that an organism's behaviour is a result of reinforcement.  The pigeon is being rewarded for doing what is needed, i.e. turning left or right as the case may be.

The cognitivist video was not that helpful.  All it was was a video of some people reading a presentation to an audience.  They were describing particular software that incoporated e-learning and artificial intelligence.  They claimed that the software would increase learning and retention in students and that it would decrease learning time.  The presenters supported the cognitive learning theory stating that people learn by listening, watching, touching, reading or experiencing and then by processing and remembering.

Has the course been beneficial?

So, what have I managed to learn during the first half of the course?  I have found that there is an enormous amount of information regarding online learning and assessment.  Sites such as Hot Potatoes and Moodle have broadened my horizons as far as sharing tests and other forms of assessment go.  I have used the Forms section of Google Docs to create tests for my class.

The automated assessment segment was very interesting.  I was first exposed to this form of assessment when I wrote some Microsoft MCSE exams.  Amazing but scary at the same time!

I also enjoyed the readings about authentic learning.  This is particularly important when you create learning material online.  Your students need to know that you have not contrived the lesson or assessment just for the sake of being online.

Let's hope all the information I have soaked up will assist me with my research project later this year.

Plagiarism!

It is the first time that I submitted one of my assignments to an anti-plagiarism program.  I must say that even though I make every effort to ensure proper referencing, it was still gut-wrenching waiting for the program to come back with a report.

It said 6%.  Is that good or bad?  I spoke to one of the library fundis at the university and apparently that's not too bad, especially if the things that the program picked up on was the URLs in my references.

I must say that using Microsoft's referencing tools is very useful.  You need to type in all your references before you start your assignment.  That's the time-consuming part.  Once you're ready, all you have to do is insert a citation whenever you quote an author or cite something someone else said.  At the end of your work all you do is instruct Word to insert your Bibliography.  What a pleasure!

It is so easy to copy someone else's work, but it is just as easy to reference properly.

Working and studying

We are half-way through the online teaching and learning module.  It feels like we have been doing this for more than six weeks.  It has been tricky making sure that you submit your assignments on time.  This has to be done electronically and there is a cut-off time on the system that allows you to submit.  Having everything online is great in that you don't have to worry about not getting any handouts in class; it is all available online.  You just have to make sure that you read!

That's where the difficult part comes in.  You have to read, but you also have to prepare lessons for the next day, you have to mark any work that comes in, you have to teach and you have to do all the other admin that goes with teaching.  As if that was not enough, heading the Maths department at a big school has all its own admin work as well.  Luckily I was allowed to design the timetable so that I could head off to lectures as soon as the bell went at the end of the school day.

I have been very lucky at home.  My better half prepares meals on the two days that I am at lectures and then I chip in on the other days.  We have headphones for watching television, so that is not a distraction when I am trying to type an assignment.  It does help if everyone at home and work understands what you are going through and they give you plenty of encouragement.

Synchronous Chat Sessions

We had an online session on 7 March where we had to speak about what creating a social presence means when working online.  The chat session only had three participants apart from the instructor.  This was a little disappointing as it meant that not everyone had had a chance to read the sections they were supposed to read.  I enjoyed speaking to the two other students who were in the chat room with me.  I think if everyone is online and they've had a chance to read, everyone will be able to comment on what they have read.  They will also be able to clarify things in the text that someone else may have had a problem with.  The idea of a chat room (especially for studying purposes) is a good one, it helps people get together even though they are not in the same room, on the same campus or even same city.

The problem with chat rooms is that you have to make sure everyone follows the same train of thought at any specific moment.  Too many people in the room, and people start to get confused about what is being spoken about.  Face-to-face conversations tend to be less disjointed.  You wait for a person to stop talking before expressing your view.

In the beginning ...

My name is Jacques. I am a teacher in Pretoria at The Glen High School.  I run the Maths Department and am Acting Deputy Principal at the moment.  I started with my B Ed Honours last year and will be doing the Online Teaching and Learning specialism this year.  My school is an ex-Model C school situated next to Menlyn Park shopping centre.  We attract children from all walks of life.

I received my teaching qualification from Wits in 1988 and have now decided that stuyding further would give the brain something else to do.  Online teaching is another facet of education, seeing that children are wired differently nowadays.  Schools that have technology at their disposal, where the Governing Body is prepared to spend the capital, should make the leap into cyberspace and embrace what the students are exposed to everyday.

I play tennis in my spare time.