Week 4 -- Behaviorism at its finest (in a digital video storytelling format)

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

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Matt Harris
Director of Technology
Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School