Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Constructionist Learning Theory and Instructional Strategies
The constructionist learning theory is based on the creation of artifacts to engage students in their learning and deeper understanding of concepts. This learning theory is popular with my third graders because it gives them the opportunity to show their talent, be in charge of their learning, and make decisions that will affect the outcome of their projects. One of the advantages of living in the 21st century is that we can incorporate many instructional strategies with the constructionist approach. For example, to introduce a new concept a teacher can use software to create a graphic organizer to show the subject and the different areas included in that subject. By using such an organizer, showing only the main details, the teacher can then have a brainstorming session to activate prior knowledge and help the students visualize the new information. Another strategy that could be used when testing a hypothesis is to create an Excel spreadsheet to record information that could be compared or put into a graph. The use of this strategy allows students to be actively involved in their learning as they will be required to complete the steps to record and compare the information or create the graph. This strategy could be complemented with internet research to find the data needed for the project. Aren’t you glad we live in a digital world where many instructional strategies can be applied to engage our digital learners in deeper learning and understanding? I am.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Yolanda,
ReplyDeleteI am very glad to live in a digital world... it would be even better if my students were able to be fully involved in it ... One day!
I am very impressed with the level of learning your third graders are capable of doing. Having them create and understand their own Excel spreadsheet is an amazing accomplishment. How is their quality of work? Would you be able to tell that a third grader completed the assignment or would I be blown away by their final projects?
Yolanda. As I mentioned in this weeks' discussion, I am finally beginning to appreciate all the options offered by the world of technology! I also realize some of my favortie projects and assignments from the past can be adapted to technology. Interestingly, I have quite a few students who are not as up to date on technology as I am! I teach in a rural high school and many of my male students will not go to college and have outdoor interests such as hunting. A few do not have cell phones. I hope to find ways to incorporate awareness of tehnological options with their interests. Cathy
ReplyDeleteYolanda,
ReplyDeleteThis digital world is wonderful, as long as one has access to all the necessary tools needed. Do your students have access to digital cameras to make their presentations even more lively and interesting? I have had my second grade students help me put a power point presentation together in the past. I only have two computers in my classroom so I assigned groups to design and create the pages for the power point presentation. Then, each group would come to the computer at their designated time to pubilsh their pages on the power point. It can be frustrating when you have limited access to technology. However, I have learned to use what I have to implement 21st century skills in my classroom.
J. Salomon,
ReplyDeleteI hope my posting was not confusing. When I mentioned Excel I was focusing on the assignment requirement explaining how the tools we learned about this week could be used with the constructivism learning theory. I'm currently not using Excel with my students but thanks to this course and other courses I have taken as part of our masters program I have gained some interesting ideas. Next year I hope to be able to implement more technology tools, including Excel to can aid my students in their learning.
Thank you.
Yolanda
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCathhgy,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you are appreciating technology and will incorporate it into your future teaching. The options we have with technology today are unlimited. I'm sure you can find something that you can use to engage the type of student you teach. Even though those students don't use cell phone or other technology gadgets that doesn't mean that they don't like technology. Perhaps they have not been introduced to the fascinating world of it.
Thank you for your posting.
Yolanda
Alicia,
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm fortunate to have two cameras that belong to my class. This was possible due to a technology grant I successfully wrote. In addition to the cameras I acquired a color copier with scanning features, flash drives, computer microphones, digital recorders and color ink. I wrote such grant to teach my third grade students technology TEKS. My students had a grant time creating their digital projects in Publisher, PowerPoint, and Photostory3. Since I teach a bilingual class, my class is small with 13 students. I have four computers in my room therefore my computer/student ratio is 4 to 1. I commend you for teaching your second graders how to use PowerPoint. PowerPoint is an engaging learning tool students like to use to create digital projects. Hopefully their future teacher will continue building upon the valuable technology skills you taught them.
Thank you.
Yolanda