Here we are again...and I think I actually got everything done. I rechecked Muddle about 5 times, clicked on every link and I think I got it figured out...
Meaningful learning and schema learning theory have various requirements. Meaningful learning requires 1. Learner’s condition 2. Learning Environment as a foundation for good learning. Schema learning theory includes the what and the how. What is the item, procedure, etc. and How do I identify it and its key features. For example, what is a dog? How do I recognize a dog if I have never seen it before. But for this to work, you have to build upon prior knowledge.
We talked about learning experiences related to meaningful learning for the week. It was interesting and engaging to hear what people had to say. Some people had personal learning experiences, others had personal teaching experiences. Each learning experience was rooted in EXPERIENCE. The best way to learn is through meaningful experience.
Bartlett experimented with effects of prior knowledge...this lead us to an experiment. Dr. Foreman took 7 volunteers...I was not one of them...I decided to observe (if you believe that I have a bridge to show you). Dr. Foreman told a story to the first person to come back in and had that person tell the story to the next person, and so on. It was amazing to hear what people remember from the story. People lost info from the story in the most interesting ways:
From
#1-#2: Names and specific details were lost (dynasty, symbol meanings, character names), change from mirror to glass
#2-#3: More details, (loss of # of roosters, rafters) maintained the meaning of the dream concept
#3-#4: loss of more details especially of the dream, additions of “folktale”
#4-#5: Added the “farmer”, changed the order of the meaning of the dream
#5-#6: Not much loss
#6-#7: Not much loss
#7- Dr. Foreman: Only detail from the dream was the broken glass, he visit a Buddhist Monk, all become clear when you become king, and the Buddhist Monk becomes and advisor.
The only constants throughout the storytelling was the concept of the dream, the fact it was a Korean Tale, and the person who had the dream became king...the rest was misinterpreted or lost.
--- This really makes you think about human history. Quite a bit of human history was maintained through storytelling and folklore...if stories were told over centuries how much was lost? How reliable is our non-written history? But then one realizes that the meaning survives...that is the beauty of human memory, we keep what is important and hold on tight.
Another learning quiz...I am glad she isn’t grading these because I don’t retain details from a book very well at all!
- OK yeah...this one was harder. Period. Discovering the answers in the book took a bit of time.
Gestalt theory — visual interpretation theory, “the whole is more than the sum of its parts” ,
The following create cohesion and meaning
- proximity
- similarity
- continuity
- closure
Memory theory:
- Organize – put things into categories
- Loci Method – visualizing locations of items
- Initial letter – take the first letter and make a word out it
- Rhyming – Use rhyming with phrases
- Imagery – form a mental picture of the word in action
- Pegword – for when order matters, object association rhyming with the number in the order
And of course, we couldn’t have an ITEC 800 class without talking about Muddle...we are responsible for all assignments on the old site linked on to Moodle, but only post the ones that ask for posts.
Mental note: Look at the lesson plan and get ready to present it to the class after our 2 week break.
Highlight of the week: Memory is SO interpretive. It is amazing what we remember, how we remember, and why we remember. Is it that we choose what to remember on a subconscious level? Why do I remember traumatic events more than peaceful ones? Why can’t I keep items from the text in my head for more than a day...it sure isn’t staying in short-term memory? I think we are in charge of our own memory, it just takes discipline and effort to get it to really work for you.
Thoughts?
===================================
Matt Harris
Director of Technology
Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School
Muddle, er, Moodle has struck me again... I kept visiting the ilearn site all week so I could make sure I knew what was due this week, but there was an Assignment due this week that either was mentioned in class (which is the most likely answer) or I just did not understand where to look for it. Well, we had a graphical representation of the Information Processing Model due...yeah, I missed that...or MAYBE, I failed to retrieve learned information because of a failure to encode, retrieve, or through interference.
To start the class, we had a discussion about the Research topic and the Glossary in Moodle. By the end of the term, each student is supposed to have researched a topic related to learning. Mine, obviously, is Blogging. Through the research, we are supposed to add a one page into the glossary about our research topics. In our summary of the concept, we are supposed to formulate how specific learning theories are applied. This, of course, all leads to our final project and our personalized learning theory.
I am still grappling with my own theory. Right now, I think my learning theory is one of personalized learning. I think there are so many factors into learning, there is no Silver Bullet (as they say in software development). Each person learns differently...it is figuring out their learning modality that provides the real challenge.
Mental note: Comment on 2 other people’s forum entries.
Dr. Foreman also highlighted the BLOG and how I am going to attach the blog posts to Muddle (darn I did it again...Moodle) each week...in fact I am typing this blog entry while she is talking about it... I wonder if people will find this useful...
Pop Quiz...not graded...this was a review of Behaviorism (through Information Processing, BTW). The quiz asked specifics about what we learned last week, not the spirit of what was learned. We had to even recall the inventors of certain theories...was this to illustrate a point of the IPM? Then we had to verify our answers...I won’t repeat the words I used when I realized how many I had gotten wrong...
- For me, I did not learn anything from the quiz itself...but after our group discussion I saw strong value in the test. Is that not constructivism?
Another Pop quiz, of sorts...this time we were separated into two groups...I have no idea what the other group did, but we were shown 20 items for 60 secs then sat down and wrote down what we remembered. I think I made up some of my responses...we’ll see.
OK, I thought we were the control group...we were not. We received instruction and hints, the other group was on their own. I got 18...I missed the Post-Its and the Screwdriver (tho I will say I thought there were post-its and wrote it down, but put a question mark down)
- The control group did really well. They should have averaged 7, but they averaged 15. We actually had someone get 20 and someone get 19.
The short term memory should only be able to hold 7 +/- 2 items, but we learn how strategies and techniques to encode that information so it doesn’t just die there. I think mine are all sub-conscious...I just remember, but others have mnemonic devices and story telling to keep that information around. How can we use this with students?
Knowledge is broken down into facts, concepts, procedures, and principles. With knowledge we can 1. remember (recollect info), 2. use (apply information), and 3. find (discover deeper meaning).
From the video, I remember the following the most: SCHEMA – Frameworks of pre-conception, physical alteration associated with memory, PEG WORD MNEMONIC associating using related concepts, Chunking – rehearse to make the info stay longer, Memory is networked, memory is encoded – stored – retrieved.
Highlight of the week: I think that Information processing is a misnomer...there is little processing here, which is to say there is little evaluation or thought. I think it would be more aptly named Information Retention and Regurgitation Model.
Note: Quiz on Chapter 3 is probably coming next week. Look at page 76 for further information.
Thoughts?
Visit the ITEC 800 website at:
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~foreman/itec800/index.htm
Visit moodle at:
https://ilearn.sfsu.edu
===================================
Matt Harris
Director of Technology
Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School
Oh, Behaviorism, where have you been all my life? Well, it has been around a lot longer than I have been alive, so all around me I guess.
We talk about Behaviorism in great detail in class tonight.
Before I talk about that, I am going to highlight something from the reading. I was always under the impression that Negative Reinforcement involved punishing the learning for incorrect behavior. But that type of reinforcement is aptly called Punishment. Negative Reinforcement actually refers to ignoring negative or incorrect behavior in favor of the positive.
Our OVERALL goal for the class: Come up with a personal learning theory?
- I kind of wonder where my bias and experience will play into that...I am already formulating a personal theory from what we have been discussing...will that change? I hope so...
The highlights of behaviorism (from a video we watch)
- Pavlov – conditioned response
- Stimulus – Response Theory — control stimulus creates controlled response
- John Watson -- “All behavior is learned”
- Skinner — observation and manipulation of conditions
- Operant Conditions — ABC — Antecedent (thirsty) Behavior (turn faucet) Consequence (reward w/ water)
- Positive Reinforcement – Add positive reinforcement
- Negative Reinforcement – Remove negative stimuli
- Theory of Behavior Modification — 1. Define objectives 2. Establish Operant Level 3. Identify Reinforcement 4. Execute Reinforcement 5. Evaluate Progress
- “Learning has only occurred when behavior has changed”
We also our instructor for digital storytelling from KQED. She showed us some emotionally moving examples from children where they used video, still, and iMovie to tell us something about themselves. We will be creating something similar in our 8 hour seminar (which is usually 2-3 days).
- One thing she mentioned was the death of the 5 paragraph essay... On a personal note, I think she is incorrect and I disagree with her. I think the art of writing is dying and that will hurt our children. Without the ability to cohesively formulate and support an argument on paper, children will not be able to communicate effectively in this world and will be left behind...but like I said, person opinion.
We signed up for one of two dates: October 28th or Nov 5th. As a result WE WILL NOT HAVE CLASS ON OCT 12 or OCT 19.
NOTE: For the Saturday class, come with the following: 10 images, music, and a half page (double spaced) written story for the movie.
For more info on KQED’s digital story telling initiative, visit: http://dsi.kqed.org/index.php
Highlight of the week: I am wondering if the digital story telling is really only a learning experience for the creator rather than the viewer. I think the learning experience is HEAVILY weighted in the learners corner.
Thoughts?
Visit the ITEC 800 website at:
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~foreman/itec800/index.htm
Visit moodle at:
https://ilearn.sfsu.edu
===================================
Matt Harris
Director of Technology
Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School
Another interesting class and another confusion about Moodle.
Let’s start with Moodle...so in addition to posting assignments on Moodle and adding posts to the forum, we are supposed to reply to 2 other postings. I think now, dare I say, I understand what needs to be done with Moodle...next question...do we need hard copies of our assignments?
To begin class...well after our most recent Translation of the Moodle Language...we talked about learning, learning in general. Dr. Foreman talked to us about what learning is and how learning is most effective. We live in a information society where knowledge is abundant, almost to point of fault. That being said the most effective learning style is Affective Learning, which is learning that touches you emotionally. Without an emotive connection, learning becomes simply knowledge or behavior processing and is not retained.
We reviewed the Table 2.6 on page 36 of the textbook. This table gave an overview of the three major learning theories: Behaviorism, Information Processing, and Cognitive.
After a good review and discussion of each theory, Dr. Foreman gave us the task of putting together a 3 hour teaching session where we teach 5 professors from Japan about San Francisco. The only carrot she gave us was that these professors speak English.
My group decided to investigate our audience and gear instruction towards what we perceived were their needs. We decided to create a dynamic, multimedia, group discussion style instruction where we changed the instruction based on their needs. We thought that being professors they would see right through a behaviorist or cognitive approach. They just wanted to know about the city.
Other groups had some really interesting ideas...the best, in my opinion were the Scavenger Hunts. But I kept thinking to myself that the logistics and time crunch would get in the way.
My highlight of the week was our analysis of our audience. I think it is VERY important to gear your teaching to the audience and their needs, strengths, and preferences.
Thoughts?
NOTE: We will be skipping 2 Wednesday classes because we are going to be partaking in Digital Learning on a Saturday, TBA. During the 8 hour session we will learn how to provide content digitally using a video format.
Visit the ITEC 800 website at:
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~foreman/itec800/index.htm
Visit moodle at:
https://ilearn.sfsu.edu
===================================
Matt Harris
Director of Technology
Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School
Before we talk about class, I should tell you that I think they should rename Moodle Muddle after my experiences last week. I had no idea what was due this week other than the Timeline that Dr. Foreman explicitly mentioned in class. I will claim ignorance because I didn’t take the time to really investigate moodle or search for information. That being said, I think there is just too much going on with moodle and it is going to take me a little while to get used to it.
Evidently, I was not the only one who was confused by moodle. Dr. Foreman spent the better part of the first hour of class explaining, again, the ins and outs of using moodle. Here are the highlights:
Each week we will find an assignment, resources, and a forum to post to in that week’s section of moodle. For assignments, we should review the right hand side of the page. Most times we will turn in assignments on moodle (and receive a grade there). We are required to post to the weekly forum, found under that week’s entry.
After some discussion about Blogs, I started talking to Dr. Foreman about how we use blogs as newsletters, assignment depots, and homework deliver devices. For more info, visit http://www.wornickjds.org/blogs.html. This discussion led to idea of creating this blog as a chronicle of ITEC 800 from a student’s point of view.
After the break, we broke up into groups of four to discuss the timeline project we were assigned the week before. Each group of four was responsible for a couple of decades in Instructional Design history and was ask to present the important points from those decades to the class. Some groups chose to present creatively, then there was my group...we just talked.
I found most interesting, and perhaps my key point of the week, how Instructional Design has morphed in the past twenty years. With major technological advances in the past twenty years, the tools at our disposal for delivery of information to students. I don’t necessarily believe we have figured out to use these tools effectively, but with them we can reach a broader audience of students in a more efficient and differentiated manner.
Visit the ITEC 800 website at:
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~foreman/itec800/index.htm
Visit moodle at:
https://ilearn.sfsu.edu
===================================
Matt Harris
Director of Technology
Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School
This was our first ITEC 800 class of the semester.
Our class is called ITEC 800: History and Theory of Instructional Technology.
We were introduced to Dr. Foreman, our instructor, the ITEC department at SF State, ITEC 800, and of course...moodle.
Dr. Foreman outlined the structure of the class, highlighting the seminar nature of the class. We will have instruction in class, as well as outside reading, but the true learning experience in class will come from group discussion and interaction. As a cohesive unit or small cohesive units, we will further investigate topics covered in the course. I think it will be quite a valuable experience, given Dr. Foreman’s expertise in the subject and experience in teaching the subject, as well as the diverse nature our class. I think the discussions will be lively and interesting.
We also discussed Moodle. This online application will serve similar to Blackboard, in that it will be a depot for assignments, grades, and learning forums. There is also a journal in which we can write thoughts and comments about anything related to the class.
We broke up into groups and completed one of those word cyphers you find the newspaper. The key was that half the class was allowed to work collaboratively, while the other half had to stay silent. It was interesting to see how the collaborative learners accomplished so much more.
My most KEY point was: Collaborative learning will benefit us all. If we work together, come prepared and speak openly we will gain greater knowledge and learning that if we worked alone.
What was your Key Point of the class?
Visit the ITEC 800 website at:
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~foreman/itec800/index.htm
Visit moodle at:
https://ilearn.sfsu.edu
===================================
Matt Harris
Director of Technology
Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School
Welcome to ITEC 800 at San Francisco State University taught by Dr. Foreman.
We are going to use this blog as a discussion forum and depot for topics related to ITEC 800. First off, this blog will serve as a week-by-week account of subject matter we covered in class in order to create additional resources for future itec students and students from other universities. But beyond that, the blog will facilitate as a discussion forum for topics related to class. This will provide a student-centric insight into ITEC 800 class. Hopefully, all the students will gain a greater understanding of topics after reading other students’ interpretations and opinions of the subject matter.
As ITEC students using this blog, I ask you for this: please read what is posted and leave comments. What is posted on this site are merely my views, interpretations, and recollections. You may agree with what is said, interpret the course matter in different ways, and will most likely release that critical portions of class have been neglected or omitted.
Your comments will be valuable to yourself, in that your articulation of what you learned will create a greater understanding of what was taught. Your comments will be valuable to other students, in that others were gain a greater understanding of material from your insight. Your comments will be valuable for Dr. Foreman, in that she will be able to enhance her curriculum based on what students are learning. Your comments will be valuable to future students, in that they will be given added resources and insight into the material that otherwise would not be available. Your comments will be valuable to outside observers, in that it will provide a true representation of the student experience in this class.
For more information about our class visit:
http://ilearn.sfsu.edu
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~foreman/itec800/index.htm
Have a great weekend...see you next Wednesday.
