CONNECTIVISM AT A GLANCE

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Connectivism had been described as the “learning theory for the digital age” Siemens, (2004).
Informal learning has become a very significant part of the learning that learners will be exposed to in their life time, learning now occurs anywhere and anytime in a variety of ways, the amount of information out there makes it even more difficult o manage. Technology is changing the way we learn and even the way we think, many of the learning processes previously explained by learning theories such as behaviourism, congnitivism and constructivism can now be supported by technology, using Siemens, (2004) words, “know-how and know what is being supplemented with know-where” , referring to where to find information in the digital age. Connectivism had altered the traditional way of learning and knowing. Siemens, (2004) described connetivism as the “integration of principles of explored by chaos, network, and complexity and self-organization.” Learning is no longer entirely under the control of any individual, including the teachers. The roles of the teachers are now becoming more of regulators, models, and helpers, to help learners know where to draw the line and make a distinction between important and irrelevant details. In the digital world, learning and knowledge emerge in a diversity of opinions, there is always inclination towards knowing more than what we know now, and maintaining “connection” is a condition that facilitates our ability to know more. Connectivism describes the new medium of learning in the digital age as “push and Pull”, the television and the book age only push their content at us, but the Web age is a combo of two in one, it combines the e one way of broadcast with the two-way interactive capacity of the new digital media that can “leverage your little effort in a big way”.

Constructivism in Practice

Orey, (2001) described the constructionist/constructivist approach to learning as a unique individual interpretation of one’s experience or knowledge. A learner constructs an idea in his or mind about what he or she just experienced, and based on the information, the learner could assimilate, accommodate, establish equilibration and finally store the information in his or her schema. These mental processes depend on the learner’s developmental stages at the time of experience, Lever-Duffy, & McDonald, (2008) noted that if the new experience readily fits into learner’s prior schema, the experience is then assimilated, if not, the learner will adjust his or her cognitive map to accommodate the new experience, in this way, the learner tries to attain equilibration by balancing his or her current external reality with the current belief. Hence, Piaget declared that, knowledge is continually under construction, because knowledge is “dynamic, ever changing with our experiences” depending on the learner's age, nature and nurture.

COGNITIVISM IN TEACHING PRACTICE

Cognitivism in Practice

Cognitivism in sharp contrast to behaviourism supported the idea that learning is a mental process which starts at the point where information is received and undergoes manipulation, finally stored and eventually used. Level-Duffy, & McDonald, (2008). Cognitivism is rooted in the idea that behaviour can be “controlled and changed by way of reasoning and analysis”
while behaviourism is teacher centred, cognitivism is learner centered, learner becomes more active while the teacher takes the role of a stand-by guide, and he comes in only when necessary. Learners embark on the voyage of self-discovery using discussions, case studies, explorations, questioning, projects and presentations. Learners are always in charge of their own learning and move to the next level in a self directed fashion. The Montessori School based its teaching method on the cognitive theory assumption that “emotional factors and personal growth” must be considered and given priority of highest order if the learners must develop in their learning, and lessons are seen as “experimental interaction” to support learners’ true normal development.which translates to the fact that lesson should be based on what learners can handle at their particular stage of development.
The cognitivist theory based its pedagogy on the assumption that the “black box” in the learner’s mind should be “opened and understood.” The cognitivists believe that human mind is like a processor, capable of processing many and different types of information.

Importance of Cues, Questions and Advanced organizers
Cues, questions and advanced organizers is an instructional strategy developed to make contents attainment easier for learners. This method focused on augmenting students’ ability to “retrieve, organize and use” information. Pitler, (2007). Cues are hints that inform learners about what they will experience, while questions help to invoke learners’ prior knowledge and advanced organizers help learners to arrange, organize and make sense of curriculum contents. This strategy, if used appropriately helps students to focus on important information, arrange information in an organized way and enables learners to personalize their own learning.

BEHAVIOURIST LEARNING THEORIES

Application of Behaviourist Theory in the Classroom


Behaviourism also known as the Learning Perspective is a school of thought established by an American Psychologist called John. B. Watson, in 1913. This theory is deeply rooted in psychology and its cardinal belief is that, people’s behaviour can be measured, changed and trained. They believed that behaviour can be conditioned by series of processes known as “operant conditioning”,
hence any behaviour can be learned and unlearned, this believe has a very significant implication on education during the early days of the behaviourist movement. To this school of thought, learning is observable, measurable and it leads to change of behaviour. Other early Psychologists that promoted this idea were B. F. Skinner, Ivan Pavlov and Edward Thorndike. Their work on learning led to many revolutionary changes to education during the glorious period of Behaviourism. A new school of Behaviourism in the 21st century is springing up with particular interest in the areas of behaviour analysis through research and education.” Behaviourism”
is not dead as some people want to believe, and its contribution to education cannot be denied.


Reinforcing Effort

It is very important to reinforce students’ effort by allowing students to enjoy a measure of success in their school work, especially when the piece of work represents the student’s best effort. Pitler,[et al.]. (2007), encouraged teachers to explicitly teach students that, putting in one’s effort leads to success rather than attributing success to good luck or other extraneous factors. One of the best ways to do this is the appropriate use of reinforcement. This was demonstrated by Pavlov in rewarding his dog whenever an “appropriate selection” was made. This approach clearly supports the belief of the early behaviourists about the use of positive reinforcement to encourage frequency of desirable behavour, and negative reinforcement to discourage undesirable behaviour, however, caution is the key word when using negative reinforcement, this method are still being used by educators today, and it helps in modifying students’ behavior. This approach could easily be used with integration of technology.

The Power of Technology in Learning The 21st Century Skills

The definition of educational technology varies according to who defines the term, to an educator, it will include any media that can be used for instructional purposes to enhance and enrich learning, while a tech guru will see educational technology as all hard and software that can be used for instructional purposes, but from whatever perspective one looks at it, the use of technology has changed the way we teach and learn. (Lever-Duffy 7 McDonald, 2008) Technology has come to stay, love of or hate it, irrespective of our opinion; technology is not showing any sign of slowing down. We have a lot of catching up to do, especially all the “technology immigrants.” (Prenskey, 2010). The 21st century educators have no place to hide, we need to catch up with the “digital natives” we all have in our classrooms. (Thornburg, 2010) declared that the use of technology is no longer a matter of option, but a reasonable expectation, if we want to produce the caliber of students that will compete successfully in the 21st century economy.

Technology has made possible 24/7 anywhere any time learning possible, it has shrunk the line between school and community. (Dede, 2010). Teachers are no longer the only repertoire of knowledge; the learners can access information on the web anywhere anytime wherever they have connection to the web. If anything, the school is not yet in full speed as far as technology is concern; all the stake holders in education have a duty to the students to step up the use of technology in the school, so that the students can have a competitive advantage in the 21st century economy.

References
Thornburg, D. (2004). Technology and education: Expectations, not options. (Executive
Briefing No. 401). Retrieved from
http://www.tcpdpodcast.org/briefings/expectations.pdf
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010c). Program number 3: The third wave [DVD].
Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore, MD:
Author.
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful tools for classrooms (3rd
ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Reflection on EDUC-6710I-1 Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society.

In Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society, the experts shared and spoke passionately on the significance of technology in the 21st - century classroom, as well as the importance of exposing students to technology in order to prepare them for the life ahead after graduation. As (Prensky, 2010) noted, the future of education is digital, not linear. The millennia learners as coined out by (Dede, 2010) work together to solve problems, they think in video and digital forms rather than texts, and as such, 21st century students thrive in a media based learning environment.

DIGITAL ABILITIES AND DIGITAL LEARNING STYLES OF MY STUDENTS

DIGITAL ABILITIES AND DIGITAL LEARNING STYLES OF MY STUDENTS

There is no doubt that students these days have changed so much that (Prenskey, 2001) described them as “Digital Natives” and (Dede, 2010) called them “Millenia learners” because of their unparalleled exposure to all forms of technology and all forms of media, this exposure according to many experts has changed the way they access, consume and use information which is showing no sign of slowing down. Because of this exposure, the way students learn and use information has radically changed and is causing a sort of disconnect between students and their teachers that are mostly using styles that are designed for students before the age of technology.