Click the link below to view my presentation on the cognitivism learning theory:

https://prezi.com/view/D44svK2kxHR8FcmZ3xf4/

I, as a current student and future educator, identify with the cognitivism learning theory for multiple reasons. The cognitivism theory, according to Pressbooks, “dealt with brain functions and how information is processed, stored, retrieved, and applied.” Therefore, when thinking of students brains as “thinking machines,” the research  now focuses on finding teaching and study strategies that make the information they are absorbing meaningful to them. I resonate with this theory as a student because I personally learn this way. I need to find meaning within the information I collect in order to truly learn and understand it so I use many mnemonic devices and made up songs throughout my studying. As a future educator, I also identify with this theory because it is the most logical in that if students don’t find a way to make the information they are learning meaningful to them, it will come across as less important to them which results in them never learning that information.

A learning activity which incorporates methods within the cognitivism theory is when my elementary students must learn all 50 states. It would be torture to look at all 50 names of the states and try to memorize each and every one, but once the names are put into a song or a mnemonic device, it creates meaning and sparks interest, resulting in the students eventually knowing all 50 states very easily. I would find a catchy and educational video on Youtube that turns the names of each state into a song and play that for the class, then we would dissect the lyrics together that way they can physically see the names of the states, and we would continue to practice the song until they knew all 50 states. But, do not focus on the memorization aspect of the song, the main idea of this activity is that the students connect with music and songs that allows them to open up to new information which allows them to learn the information easier!

The article, “What We’re Getting Wrong About the Technology in Schools Debate” by Keith Heggart goes into some great detail about this issue and how it is not worth arguing, even. He bring up the point about how a principal wants to ban computers from the classroom because the technology companies are promoting the benefits of technology in the classroom rather than educational policies. And, there is in fact much truth in that, being that most computers and tablets used in schools were granted to them so that they get hooked on them and embed them into the curriculum so that they continue to use their technology sources for years and years to come. It is as simple as it all being a business, just like most things are, and the technology companies are the ones influencing educational policies to use their technology in their classrooms, even if there is no proof that it raises test scores.

As for what place technology has, as in the ways we use it, it has a place in our hands, literally. But when it comes to schools using technology, it should have its place in learning. Technology often gets used as the instructor for the students when teachers become lazy, or it even becomes busy work at times. As one would think, that is not the correct way to use technology in the classroom since there is no learning going on if it is used in that way. Along with teaching educator how to properly use technology within their classrooms, students should be taught how to effectively use technology as well. This doesn’t just mean teach them about cyberbullying and predators, because that is overall very important when using technology, but they must be taught how powerful the internet is and how to know what to believe and what not to believe when searching. By doing this, as well as teaching them how to use certain programs on technology then they will be set to use it in any situation, especially in a school setting.

I believe this should be looked into and researched further since there doesn’t seem to be any direct correlation between using technology in the classroom and higher test scores. This topic is overrated in a sense just because technology is currently at its peak, using it in education isn’t a make or break for students succeeding or going to college. Until education policy makers, students and teachers now the real benefits of using technology in education and also how to use it effectively and meaningfully, it should be used at a minimum in schools.

My overall opinion of the standards within the International Society for Integrating Technology into Education standards is that they are great ways to get students learning about and effectively using technology to their advantage. Each standard applies to more than just an educational goal, but can be used in the real world outside of school as well that they can take with them.

The “Knowledge Constructor” standard states that “Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.”

3 activities that students can be assigned to demonstrate their learning and understanding of this standard is:

1-  Assign a digital lesson where students must learn what a credible source is and why it is important to gather information from strictly credible sources when compiling information from research. This will give them the essential basic knowledge about credible sources.

2- Assign a webquest where students must visit certain websites and have them identify whether the website is credible or not and explain how and why the source is up to credible standards or not. This will give them examples of both credible and non credible sources to dissect and decipher between which they will need to do for the next assignment.

3- The final assignment would be to assign a research paper that students must use the knowledge they gained from the previous exercises based on credible sources to gather information into a paper that develops their own ideas as well as meaningful connections and conclusions based on their research. This will demonstrate if they understand the standard in its entirety or not.

I am in favor of educational initiatives, especially technology initiatives for education. Technology is a huge part of our everyday lives in the 21st century and it is only going to get more important as the years and generations go on. With that being said, students need advanced technology skills to thrive in their future career and work places because technology has become the basis of it all. Without advance knowledge about technology, students will fail at getting the job over someone who is savvy in the world of technology because it has become more than just a personal strength, but now a job requirement.

• https://code.org/learn:
  • This website offers different interactive games that require the player to code different things depending on the game. One great thing about the website is that it also offers an hour of code activity tutorials for all ages in many different languages for those who are interested in learning more about it. Yet, what I dislike about code.org is that the games are so similar to popular games they play on their free time that kids may get caught up in the kind of game they want to code rather than truly learning the coding aspect.
• https://coderdojo.com/:
  • Coder Dojo is a great website where people can be creative with technology on their own or with assistance from volunteers. The best aspect of this website is that there are “Dojos” where kids can join or create fun programming clubs. This doubles as a learning community and teachers them great communication and teamwork skills. Their main goal is to allow kids to learn these technology skills earlier and easier since it is becoming increasingly important in the modern world. This is one of my favorite sites for children, therefor I don’t dislike any of it.
• https://www.tynker.com/:
  • Tynker is a website that teaches kids how to code while having a parent and educator mode as well. It is great in the fact that it truly is helping kids learn how to code in easy and fun ways but the one downfall is that it is encouraging children to become a maker of apps, Minecraft, and building games. I dislike this aspect of the website because coding has much more to offer than video games that kids get too caught up on and affects them negatively most of the time, yet it is all this website offers.
• https://www.codecademy.com/:
  • Code Academy is a website that allows the user to choose what they want to learn, learns by doing coding activities, your coding is tested and there is actual feedback, and it even gives real projects and quizzes to test your knowledge. There is nothing I dislike about this website because it is tailored to all ages and all areas of coding, not just to make video games like the other websites. I love that it is truly educational and not just for fun.

I created a Thinglink about how caterpillars transform into a butterfly for the elementary level. This could be a lesson to teach my students, or if the lesson was about insects/ transformations, it could be assigned to a student for them to research and create on their own to demonstrate their understanding of the lesson itself.

I created this by finding a life cycle of a caterpillar image and then using the Thinglink image tagging tool to insert pictures and descriptions of what happens between each stage of transformation. I also included a video for the most complex and hard to understand stage which is when the pups goes through metamorphosis that way the students can grasp the concept better than if it was just a simple definition of what metamorphosis is.

To start off, in an educator’s utopia, teaching would be a perfect balance of both art and science. Yet, in today’s world, in which I will be referring to, it is not possible to do just that. I will say that unfortunately, teaching is a science, even though I personally wish it was an art.

This is for a few reasons: Art is an innate characteristic, whereas science requires hard work to become good at it; Art is free will while science follows formulas and methods; Art has no right or wrong answers, completely opposite of science; Art is a constant while science is ever changing.

There is this thing called standards that each state must have and meet as educators, New Jersey’s being Common Core. Education standards say what students must learn and then each school has a different curriculum to tell the teachers how to teach them and how to test them to make sure they are learning, which sounds to me a lot like the scientific method: question, research, hypothesis, analyze, results. Therefor, teachers must follow rules and regulations to meet goals and get the correct results, just like science and nothing like art. If the question became is “good” teaching an art or a science, the answer would then be art because the best teachers do more than just follow the science of education, but for now since that is not the question, teaching is a science.

I chose to focus on an elementary english lesson all about nouns

• Prezi https://prezi.com/view/kD7dTreVbBLa9PNaoqiA/

I created a Prezi presentation that includes what the lesson is about (nouns), a definition and introduction, how nouns are used and where they can be found, examples to reinforce the lesson, a song that will wrap up the lesson, followed by practice worksheets. Prezi is similar to a powerpoint, but instead of switching slide, it jumps to and from visuals such as this: a whiteboard as if I were writing on a real whiteboard in the classroom.

• Mindmeisterhttps://www.mindmeister.com/1240631555?t=HST5LUkK0X

I created a Mindmeister which is a concept map that goes from broad: noun, more specific: what a noun is, to most specific: examples of nouns. The concept map includes what the lesson is about (nouns), a definition and introduction, how nouns are used and where they can be found, examples to reinforce the lesson, followed by practice sentences to identify knowns, and a song that will wrap up the lesson.

• Word Clouds

I created a world collage of nouns and what they are that can be used around the classroom after the lesson is complete as a reinforcer for the students

• Professional Learning:
  • https://youtu.be/O5tGBCW2R40
  • Professional learning describes how technology allows educators to create a professional learning network (PLN) since the internet opens up much more opportunities than a single community can without technology. It emphasizes how educators must be trained and up to date with technology to achieve the best results when using technology to advance their professional learning. That way, when educators can effectively use technology, they have resources such as professional developments, mentors and other informal collaborations at their fingertips to better their career and ultimately their students learning.
• Connectivity:
  • https://youtu.be/YZNGz-qiVHE
  • Connectivity comes into play when we are talking about students being able to access everything they need through technology. Technology now allows students to create, design and explore beyond their classroom in today’s world which allows for much more educational opportunities. Getting students connected through technology from all around the world is a gift because it allows many different perspectives to come together and create bigger and better things for the future. The better students are connected to one another, the more intelligent and successful they become all thanks to technology.
• Equity:
  • https://youtu.be/ePAtsdmiJEc
  • The power of technology mentioned above is only useful when students and educators have access to it. By providing equity and accessibility to technology, it could be become even more powerful because those who can not afford it right now may be granted access to it some day in an effort to provide equity. With equity comes power and it is only fair to allow everyone access to the abundance of information and connectivity that is technology.