Week 13--Situated Cognition

Thank you Barry for doing this week's blog since I was out ill!!

ITEC 800 04/25/06
Internship @ Genetic instructional design w/ high technical writing skills during the
summer
Friday - May 5, 2006 5-8 PM | ITEC Open House
Invite friends, family
Apple, Genetic
Final project, DST
Recall of last week discussion
Piaget –(Constructivism) knowledge is constructed
Accommodation – learning new skills; change in lifestyle; Mother comes to visit you give
her your bed
vs
assimilation = old schema anchored to new schema
equilabration > equalize: adjusted to the environment
Behavioralism | learning principle | focus on behavior
Stimulus > response > reinforcement
Feedback, extra credit, recognition, money, acknowledgement
Cognittive learning principle | focus on process
Input>process>output
Constructivism | Piaget Active; Interaction, Problem solving, w/environment
How do you become an expert
Situated cognition | happens in a community | external
Cognitive Theory | what’s in the mind | internal
Hands on rather than read @ it
Be a scientist; apprenticeship;
Ex: students in 800 are learning new professional jargon; after a year you are more
familiar w/ new environment
Group brainstorm
What did you learn today?
Where did you learn it at?
Pg. #168 | Driscoll’s article
Peripheral –learning @ the community
Inbound - just becoming a part of the community–
Insider- part of the community
,boundary-

Week 12: Cognitive and Knowledge Development

Started with a overview of what we have covered so far on this itec800 journey as an introduction to Piaget.

---Speakers from last Monday---Jay Cross, , Bonk, and Reiser, all constructivists—problems are not always instructional problem. First, perceive the problem. Move on to best solution, even if it is not a training issue.

Behaviorism
Cognitive Theory—umbrella for many (gesalt—perceived
Constructivist

The learning theory reflects the lens of how we see what we see…

Are we paying attention to behavior or our development of thinking process—logical development—Piaget looks at all 3. Some throw out Behaviorism to look at Cognitivism, same with cognitive versus constructivist…however, we need to incorporate what is needed for what situation.
Piaget observed his own child…..came up with 4 stages of cognitive development:

Sensorimotor (birth to 1 year)..pre-symbol, preverbal, explore the world by putting it in your mouth.
Preoperational (2 to 8 years) partial logic, tall thin glass perceived as having more than short wide glass.
Concrete operational (8-14) conservation, reversibility, seriation, classification
Formal Operations (over 14)—can perceive multiple possibilities, deduce, exclude…abstract thinking,

Piaget’s ideas suffered criticism due to generalizations---critics would see anomaly, throw out idea…erroneously.
Classical thinking, not all fit in to categories….
Critique: did not look at individual differences
Montessori, modeled from Piaget…
Process )assimilation/accommodation) schema—sucking infant—part of experiencing world, learning about environment…
Schema (Airport) Been to one…easy to navigate in any other city.

Assimilate or accommodate? Schema is pattern assimilate—accommodate it more radical adjustment to environment.

Epistemology—how do we know
Broke into groups to evaluate 4 main cognitive development levels
Sensorimotor—(4 stages)
Preoperational--
Concrete Operations—conservation, reversibility, seriation, classification
Formal Operations—abstract thinking,

Final Projects:
Take our emerging technology topic, apply the theories we have learned in this semester, identify. How is it implemented….Present a 10-minute PowerPoint version of what might be a 40-minute presentation.

Movie---neonates…grasping, sucking…follow moving object…taste and hearing present a birth---3 weeks distinguish mother by sounds of voice and looks…then on to early cognition…piaget….consider ‘the theory’ of cognitive development..innate inborn abilities to learn about world,,exp world, build on it …think differently than adults…interaction with environment, active discovery….inner drive to organize and learn by past experiences…unit of itellegent behavioir is schems---mental respresentations (thinking….

Assimilation..taking in things from environment
Account for different situation…accommodation…change behavior to accommodate new element in world
Equilibraton provides stimulant to learn more about the world…
The invariation
Object permanence …general symbolic function….18 to 24 mos..
Preoperation…egocentric
Animism
Mamamedia.com (?) look at thia –what are they learning…what stage are they at??

Seymour papert?
Nextweek: Situated Cognitions

Blogfully yours,
Desmond Rutherford

Week 10 ISAN Guest speakers discuss instructional technology

We all got to meet and eat and listen to current trends in instructional technology, thanks to our guest speakers Jay Cross, Dr. Curtis J. Bonk, and Dr. Robert Reiser. While Jay Cross is revered in his field, he seemed to meander and lack dynamic speaking ability. For those of us in the munchies auditorium, only about one third of his words were audible, so we focused on the cheese and crackers. I know I am not alone in feeling that those of us in the web-cast room did not get the same quality of experience and those who were crammed in with the “No. 30 Stockton Bus” feeling of intimacy in the live room.

Hands down, Curtis Bonk was the most captivating presenter (with or without the Borg mask!) Many of the topics that he touched upon were quite exciting, i.e., the physics professor who did morning online assessments to guide the content of his afternoon lectures and stated JITT (Just in time teaching). I would have liked a more thorough covering of these topics, bit I was excited about the talk, just the same.

Robert Reiser’s talk on problem-solving the issues of employee motivation and productivity was inspiring and interesting. The Century 21 example where senior sellers would share their expertise with novice sellers was a creative solution that inspired collaborative learning was refreshing to hear especially because it involved people would normally compete against each other.

Overall, we all left feeling that we learned something and that we have made a good decision to study Instructional Technology. I hope that ISAN can provide such forums on a more regular basis.

Desmond Rutherford

Week 9--Gagne's Model of Instruction

Itec800 blog
March 28, 2006

Next class will be at 5pm on Monday:
Monday, April 10, 2006
5:00 – 7:00 PM
BH 168

Bring questions (Post on Forum) about e-learning, blended learning, m-learning
No homework---take notes—enter into forum
E-learning, Blended-learning, M-learning, Informal learning, ilearn, whatever you want to call, we want to discuss about changes in learning modes. Dr. Robert Reiser from Florida State, Dr. Curtis Bonk Indiana University and Jay Cross (E-learning)will be speaking.

After our mini, 10-min teach, group guesses what outcomes are, as teachers, we reveal---(we didn’t really do this…)
Our instruction should be done with outcomes (objectives) in mind.

Karen:
“Gagne goes Green”
Flower, fruit, veggies—create vase.
Pear stuffed with flowers, apples, peppers. We all created vases from fruit and stuffed flowers—beautiful.


Glendalyn
Obesity & Relates to disease, death (attention gettter)
“5 Healthful eating changes”
Self-assessment—then 5 volunteers read solutions to reach objectives/descriptions.
Passed out the explanantions to all after exercise.
Grain demo: passed around bags
“Look for Whole grains” not ‘multi-grains’ for best health benefit.
Asked us to fill out form---2 goals, what we learn, etc.
Pass around bag of vanilla granola—yay! We like demos we can eat.


Carmen
Internal computer components
Understanding them—why it matters—
Physical examples—mother boards, cpu’s, ram,
Specs: cpu (1.87 Giga hertz)
RAM explained w/ desk metaphor—Very good! More RAM (measured in MB), more piles of paper to work on,,….
Short quiz—


Barry
Attention getter: Bass singing “Take me to the River”—Al Green would be proud!
Crappie fishing rods—bamboo garden sticks to make rods. Explanation of keeping the bait in motion and hands on making our own rods—I’m ready to fish!

Brian
Gagne likes music (attention getter)
How to avoid paying 20 bucks for a CD when you only like 1or 2 cuts…use iTunes to buy music by the song or a whole release for $9.99—we love iTunes.

Desmond
Cootie Catchers—break from the mundane, make critical decisions with your new cootie catcher. Demo & step by step process for folding the CCs—plus live interaction of using the cootie catcher—it turns out that Dr. Foreman is going to be a millionaire.

Terrence
“Shoe/ through, done, gone, this , that, passed. Facetious”
Phonemes…phoneme chart for every sound in English.
Explored how every sound in English is linked to phoneme chart.

Anthony
Explored what makes good photograph.
Composition of thirds, with just a hint of personal aesthetics.

Peter
Started speaking German---how to count to 10
Taught us to count: (2nd vowel dicates sound)
Eins, zwei, drei, vier, funf, sechs, sieben, acht, neun, zehn
We’re off to Berlin for a pilsner.

Darren
English learners’ lesson—We are all 7th and 8th graders…
“determined”—how to say it, what it means, multiple uses—effective!





Leo

Paper airplanes
Think about flight, make airplanes

Next week—upload lesson plan……see everybody on Monday April 10th, 5pm in 168 Burke Hall. Ciao!

Desmond Rutherford

Weeks 7 & 8 Digital Story Telling, NetGen and Gagne

Today we meet again after our day long Digital Storytelling Workshop on Saturday.
After some technical difficulties, we watched the DST videos…

Glendalyn:
“Cherished”
About her pregnancy and birth of her children-—growth of infant to young child..learning purpose thru children…(done in pinnacle…quality of medium under par, but the story was very good.)

Carmen—"Xu Xu"
This was about having puppy in her life and what she learned:
playfulness, love,—love of animals. All voice-over--No music til end—very effective, I thought--well done.

Leo —
"Tapir"
Leo takes a trip to Costa Rica and encounters macaws spider monkeys wild pigs...Santana as sound track with soun wonderful wild animal noises as well. Climax is finally coming face to face with the wild Tapir--a 7ft hog/aardvark creature--handsome indeed!

Peter-
"Graduation trip"
After an upsetting graduation, he takes a trip with father and sister to Switzerland. I was about dealing with the anger and appreciating family and how he reconciled his feeling among relatives in a small town. Knowing how the story was in first draft and comparing to final version, this piece really developed.

Anthony
"Back to school"
This was done in video format and Anthony compares school here at SFSU with his home country, the Philippines. He did his DST on the DST workshop experience, so we all got to see our handsome muggs on the big screen...I was glad that Anthony did this; he created a record of a memorable day--way to go!

Desmond
"I Have Arrived"
My piece was about taking a trip to Scotland to visit my folks, searching in different places and learning the simplicity of being attached to my parents...and understanding my connection to them.

Areej
"Having a Choice"
This was about Areej comparing her life to her peers—they got married, had kids, appeared happy, but she followed her dreams as her father sagely advised her to do. Now she is reaching for high goals because she has a choice...very good.

Terrence-
"There are a thousand joys to let out life…”
A look at dealing with his Father's death. He reminisces about his father’s life and deals with the pain of watching a loved one die. This was a very moving piece. Terrence looks at the silent communication of his mother and father facing death...a moving tribute.

***While more technical issues were resolved we viewed Dr. Foreman's slide show of Tokyo, Seoul and Kyoto. We also got to see her home in Korea and her father’s grave mound, who had just passed recently...

Brian
"Eating, a world away"
Brian takes a return trip to Malaysia as an adult and explores the epicurean delight of eating...many delicious-looking dishes, but all I wanted was the frog porridge!

Barry
"Gigging in Kawai"
Barry goes to Hawaii to play music for the summer w/ his uncle. He find companionship and forms a trio playing all over Kawai and jams with lots of musicians, including Billy Preston...after a summer of cool gigs, he lands back in California and happily returns to his 5th grade class.

Darren-
"Driving 55"
This piece explores the Zen of driving 55 and staying relaxed while the world rages around him (nice road rage shots, Darren!) He is saving gas, saving money and saving his sanity!

Karen was out sick--we look forward to her video next week.

_______

We discussed Constructivist approach to learning in light of our DST workshop experience. In the process, we create our own meaning—construct, hands on—create own meaning because personal…from there, we learn the technology…
Cooperative learning. Community of learners.
We did a round robin commenting on what was best part of the DST day:
(Following is a montage of everyones's comments...)
Learning everyone’s stories---end result was a surprize
Fascinated w/ group, all individuals—help each other...Nature of community building...Satisfying to complete project...Vision realized...Learning to condense...Something we deal with—release by telling the story...I'm going to make a christmas presents of iMovies...Like working w/ people—getting help from others...Chance to look back, reflect...Like the combination of group interaction and solitary work...Realizing how nice commute is...an ideal to aspire to.
____________

Net-Gen learning style vs Gagne’s theories….
Audience analysis….education does not always take into account like business will do market research. Despite grumblings from older generations, the NetG are interested in learning—just need to learn how to engage with them.
>>>We need to change, not the next generation.
Barry mentioned his nephew and daughter..teenager, how they multi-focus, on phone, television, computer, etc and he just learned to download an attachment.
Dr. Foreman used an immigrant analogy: older gen vs the younger gen--we need to learn the habits of this new land of NetG people--when in Rome!
Net gen used to finding out info on own—they need guidance more than rigid teaching..

We had a discussion regarding the use of Lynda.com. I haven't used it yet...now after the varied discussion I have bookmarked it and will explore...
Some only use when stuck, some learn by it faithfully. The discussion reflects how differently we all learn and each have our own needs for learning.

Someone mentioned the value of telling another what you know to reinforce—or teach someone...

Net gen not getting validation or feedback, which they are accustomed to, now that they are in corporate world...it has created a problem.
___________

3 dominant theories:
Behaviorism—1920-60
Cognitivism-1960-90
Constructivism, 1990-present

Gagne—focus on instruction, not learning
Looks at learning theories as (...?)
Famous for his Taxonomy: Ok, who can recall them w/o looking? (Hint: VICAM)
* verbal information
* intellectual skills
* cognitive strategies
* attitudes
* motor skills

Gagne: Godfather of instr technology, 1st to set up instr tech as field—(FLA state)
Tribal effect of DR and students----diff school of thoughts...closed circles.
His ideas are more behavioral and cognitive, not constructivist, Teacher-centric
Mastery-learning—hierarchy for mastery...Also, teacher decides steps of learning----

Use of Cognitive ideas:
How do you help?—What strategy to help encode and retrieve learning object?
Teacher can relate something familiar—mnemonics.. Tips to learn, etc.
Teacher—organizes info—use visual, connect new w/ prior knowledge + compare/contrast

Construct-
Teacher as coach, not center of learning experience

Experiential learning
Behave, cogn and contr…

Gagne: was behaviorist, became cognitive
Bloom vs. Gagne:
Bloom 1955
Recall and recognition
Comprehension
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation

Gagne—VICAM 1965
Must know 9 event of instruction!!!!
1 gaining attention
2 inform learners of objective
3 stimulating recall of prior learning
4 presenting the stimulus
5 providing learning guidance
6 eliciting performance
7 providing feedback
8 assessing performance
9 enhancing retention and transfer

Remember by grouping in chunks
1-3 intro—preparing of learning
4-7 learning event—acquisition and performance
8-9 post learning…--transfer of learning

For next week: Lesson Plan of simple instruction (USE GAGNE)
Teach the class something
Use as many Outcomes as possible
Use all 9 events !!!

Merrill 1987:
find, use, know (performance level)
Fact, concept, procedure, principle (outcomes)
Merrill was student of Gagne, he incorporated both Bloom and Gagne into his theories. Now Merrill ides used most.
Know…first level
Use…more advanced
Find---discovery—highest level

Next Week: turn in midterm quiz, on Gagne.

As always, please comment on this Blog.
Thanks! Desmond Rutherford

Greetings from Japan

I checked the itec 800 ilearn site last night and notice that some of you already watched Oblinger's presentation and made your comments. I appreciate that. Here is some pictures I promised. The faculty workshop workshop went really well, I am just so amazed how professors are so professional and responsible. I will write about it after today's seminar. For now, here is my travel log:

http://comeandseerwanda.blogspot.com/

Week 5--Cognitive Theory: Information Processing

Briefly, about Week 4: Behaviorism. Last week was an online forum class in which we reacted to/summarized either chapter 2 or chapter 6 of the textbook and posed one or more questions for our peers to respond to. Everyone made strong initial contributions and to the posed questions. The forum illustrates the multiple shades of interpretation that comes out of behaviorism: we all have our own view of the benefits and short-comings of Behaviorism. Important to remember is that Behaviorism has its strengths and usefulness in the right environment, and it can be supplemented by other theories as we learn more. I think we all agree how useful it is to our understanding of human behavior and learning.

OK, week 5.
Today we were graced with the presence of Athena Nazario, our friendly SFSU librarian, who delivered an informative presentation on conducting research. The PPT presentation is in iLearn under week 5. If you still have questions or problems you can email Athena at:

anazario@sfsu.edu

I won't cover the presentation much, since you can view the PPT, but there was a couple of interesting elements related to Google : the good, the bad and the ugly. Athenia used The Yes Men site to illustrate how web information can e deceptive. If you go to: http://www.gatt.org

and compare to: http://wto.org , the 'real WTO' site, you can see that they are nearly indistinguishable. The Yes Men apparently posed as WTO businessmen to lure outside parties, with success apparently. Interesting. The other example used was typing "Martin Luther King" into Google for results....one hit is www.martinlutherking.org which comes up as the third result. This is a frighteningly racist site that claims "true historic facts," which painfully underlines the reality that ANYTHING can be found on the internet without regard to accountability. There is scholar.google.com which is still in Beta, and the intent is for more scholarly articles, etc--but I'm not sure that it is imperious to bogus research hits...

http://democracynow.org was also a recommended site

Library search:

link+ shared catlog--regional

iliad –national search form (found under document delivery in library web Page)

---all freee services

Databases:

For education:

ERIC

Academic search elite (recommended*)

Education full text

Other:

PsycInfo (mind and tech)

Applied Science & Technology abstracts

Communications and Mass Media Complete (influence of media on humans)

Use of ‘AND’ between words on google search is implied by google

To limit search use OR, NOT –use caps

If unsure, use part word—like 'construct' will hit 'construct', 'construction', 'constructivist', etc. uses all variations of that word

Break into concepts for search (concept AND concept OR subject).

Use subject words or descriptors to limit search

Click scholarly, refereed or peer review…to limit to popular articles

Use subject terms to get more search hits if hits are limited

If you retrieve a siting, but no article go to : elec journal list, or catalog

We all logged on to begin our searches….Athena came around to answer questions, etc.

_______

Dr. Foreman brought up the Net generation—folks born after 1982. Computers are connected to them—multi-taks—always connected.
More motivated? Dr. Foreman suggested that the Net Gen are more hungry for stimuli, knowledge, more motivated.

Training needs to change to accommodate Net Gen.

Edutopia—why did I write this? For next week, read Chapter 4 and listen to lecture link under Assignment for week 6 ---respond in forum.

Constructivism—digital story telling march18. This will be exciting! BRING:

Story: 200 words, music, photos/images. We will work together to polish our writing—read, use iMovie for our digital story telling. Story is about whatever we wish, maybe something that changed us, transformation..important event. We watched Dr. Foreman's DST project; a poem about coming to a decision about travelling to Rwanda to comfort the children and people who survived the genocide--very moving piece.

We also watched a Behavior video—a student from last semester(?) final project. I don't think I was alone in feeling a bit awed by the level of production involved in this video, however, I found some of the film imagery distracting to the theme. I kept trying to associate what I was hearing with what I was seeing, and, at times, it was a bit much. Nonetheless, the theory of Behaviorism was distilled in a way that most of us seemed to grasp and find meaningful. By the way, Anthony volunteered to make a copy for anyone interested--I think we just need to pass along a DVDR? Money, too? See Anthony for details!

Carmen brought up a question about positive feedback/reinforcement. Where is feedback, reinforcer w/ 15 yr old fat kid, her nephew, who creates a false profile and pretends to be 22, virile, handsome, etc and 'snares' girls on the web. Some thought it was strange, but others seemed to applaud the creativity...successful results--what is reinforced? Every individual needs different reinforcers...Are reinforcers less valid? Equal?

_______

Cognitive Theory-

Encode, retrieve,

Sensory—attention

Short term memory—limited space

Lost w/o rehearsal or encoding strategy

Wee exercise: we all get to peer into box containing 20 items, we get 45 seconds to mentally log the items, then back to seats to write down as many as we can remember. I got:

Comb, Fork, Screw driver, Hair clip, Battery, Sugar, Non-sugar, Eraser, Cream-face bottle, Aspirin, Roll of clear tape, Post-it pad, Pen, Prism, Tangerine

Did Not get: Lipstick, Clip-binder, Candle, Cassette tape, Mustard

Dr. foreman:

Use a structure:
Group by origin, color, office supply, shape

Harder if no schema (ie office supply, food items, etc)

Terence(aka Mr. Memory)—recalled all 20!

Multi-media is good to reinforce different channels in brain—so use in creating instructional design!

Dual-code in play here

More manipulating (touching, some people verbalized items), more encoding..

We all are actively processing

Compare / contrast to help learners remember

Novel object we remember-but not too novel

Forget well-known objects…

Combine cognitive and constructive (const also encorporates behavior)

DIGITAL storytelling:

Constructivist project

If story accompanied the objects—we would remember:

3 types of long term memory

Declarative

Procedural

Episodic (story—easy to remember)

Dr. Foreman will be going to Japan, and speaking at a faculty development conference. Also she is going to go to Korea to speak at Korean Society of Educatonal Technology conference.

Remember:

For next week, read Chapter 4 and listen to lecture link under Assignment for week 6 ---respond in forum.

See you all on the 18th--bring 100-200 word story, 15-20 digital photos, music file, creativity and a dish to pass.

Desmond Rutherford

Week 3--Introduction to Learning Theories

photo courtesy of www.toddadams.net

The clever ones have already noted that Week Two’s Blog is absent. I hope to remedy this once Brian has posted the podcast from February 7, and I can listen and blog from there. Thanks for your patience, all.

We discussed the benefits of the iLearn forum. Dr. Foreman pointed out that with the general feeling of impenetrability of the first chapter of our textbook, for instance, we could see that we are not alone if we are exchanging ideas in the forum. This was, of course, foreshadow to next week’s forum assignment to replace a normal class meeting. We are going to read chapters 2 and 6 in Learning and Instruction: Theory into Practice, 5th Edition by Margaret E. Gredler and write 250 to 500 words in reflection/response to one of the chapters and pose a question as well. The deadline posting the response and question is 7pm Tuesday, February 21. But it doesn’t end there: please respond to other students’ postings. Dr. Foreman said that the person receiving the greatest number of responses will glean the most points!

Dr. Foreman also experimented with SnapZ Pro, a Mac-only platform webcast tool (if that is the correct term) that captured her projected web and PowerPoint presentation as well as an audio track. It is not high end , though inexpensive, and it is memory hungry. Her approximate 10minute presentation ate about 10MB. Compare to Brian’s podcast files which are 14 or 15 MB for about 90 minutes. Brian is going to look at the possibility of using an iMac eye-mac (?) for recording the video portion of our wonderfully photogenic class.

We went through Dr. Foreman’s PPT presentation of the course overview, which is available for view at the ITEC800 page on iLearn. She described our subject matter focus up to this point in terms of camera shots, with everything preceding Week 3 as “long-shots.” With this presentation, we slightly tightened the focus to a more medium shot. We will move forward and take on a more tightly-focused view of the learning theories, starting with Behaviorism and the slideshow posted on iLearn. Dr. Foreman recommends that we start there (Behaviorism slideshow) before we tackle the reading so that the ideas will be easier to understand when we are reading. I know that I am not alone in hoping that the ideas in subsequent chapters flow more easily than the mental cement of chapter one!

Discussions continued on the evolution of learning theories and how each of the three (Behavior, Cognitive, Constructivist) have their place for different learning environments and that each new theory was built upon its predecessor and tended to answer questions that could not be answered by the previous, prevailing theory. For instance: Behaviorism can’t address the working of the mind, so the Cognitive theory evolved. The Cognitive theory addresses the organization of the mind (with the not always popular analogy of the mind is like a computer), but can’t really address how we can become emotionally motivated to learn, hence the evolution of the Constructivist theory. As our ITEC800 learning camera focuses, we will see more schools of thought that fall under the umbrella of the 3 big theories.

We noted that most grammar schools incorporate the Behavioral model for instruction. Brian related that learning algebra in high school is difficult and frustrating because there is no real-life explanation for what is being solved. However, years, later, solving a problem on the job, it dawned on him how to do the math. This illustrates that the idea of measurable learning, currently adopted by public school for funding, etc. is not a true gage of whether learning has occurred.

OK, Dales’ Cone of Experience illustrates the retention rate associated with the method of learning, with reading bottoming at 10% retention and what we experience or teach to others comes in at a 90% retention rate. The graphic segued nicely to the group exercise which followed. We broke into four groups of three and brain-stormed to design a day of instruction to a group of adult Korean tourists who have a working knowledge of English and it is their first visit to the US. We were assigned to teach them something about San Francisco using one or all learning theories.

Please let me know if I got the names right for each group. (It’s a good thing with have mug shots on our profiles!) Also, I am having trouble reading my own writing, so I apologize if I botch anything—from now on I am using my laptop to record notes.

Group 1 (Carmen, Anthony, Areej)
Adults can travel, information is power (?). We give them a map with pictures and create an agenda. Incorporate Constructivist theory: demonstrations with a guide, go to Golden Gate Bridge. Problem solve: Agenda with map of where to go, what to do. Provide several destinations with restaurants for them to locate without a guide.

Group 2 (Leonard, Terence, Desmond)
We are incorporating all three learning theories to teach the Korean tourists about the different neighborhoods of SF. They are given an information pack with cheat sheets for each neighborhood and a map. They board a multi-media bus where they are tested on info from their packets and get prizes that relate to different neighborhoods (behaviorism). While they get a tour of the city, images, video and music are used to inform and reinforce unique qualities of each area of city, to help them learn (cognitive). Near the end of the day, individuals go to a particular neighborhood to learn more about that area, then meet back to teach the others in their group about their discoveries (constructivist).

Group 3 (Darren, Peter, Klendalyn)
Constructivist only approach. Have a scavenger hunt in top 10 sites of SF. Take pictures of what they see, make journal entries, and connect to their own experiences.

Group 4 (Karen, Brian, Barry)
Combine conventional learning with technology. Each tourist has an iPod with instructional video loaded. Have them use BART, relate to the Seoul Metro in Korea---frames of learning: how to use BART in 7 steps from the video in iPod. Analogy of Korean system with the BART system. Compare to own travel experiences. As group, use the iPod and solve problems together. Combines Behaviorism and Constructivism.

We did a post-mortem: each of us responding to what we felt happened in the past 3 hours…it was a good night of applying the theory to a practical application and then observing what our peers did to solve the education problem. We all did well!

Desmond Rutherford

Week 1--What is Instructional Technology?

1.31.06
OK, this is my first ITEC class as well as my first Blog, so bear with me. Professor Foreman introduced herself, the class, and the ilearn site: built with Moodle, an open source software tool. It's great to see not only the syllabus and assignments per week, but also weekly references for more in-depth investigation into each topic covered.

We discussed the difficulty in finding an adequate text for studying instructional development. Dr. Foreman mentioned that a study revealed that of all professional journals, the writing in educational journals most impenetrable and least reader-friendly! The important element, Dr. Foreman noted, is that this seminar is a collaboration and that we will all learn from each other. From our brief introductions, we are from diverse backgrounds--I am sure that we will all contribute to a wonderful learning experience.

We played a little game. First, we entered a profile in ilearn, then we each stood up and introduced ourselves and stated why were there, taking this ITEC800 journey. Afterward, we were asked to name our fellow students. Some were quite good at this (Terence I recall, did well) I think I remembered 3 names. I could only remember story details, like places people worked, cities or countries of origin, but not the names. Dr. Foreman explained that story-telling is the earliest and most-effective form of teaching/learning, but it takes a strategy to memorize details, like the names of your 14 classmates, for instance.

Well, so ends Blog number one. Please give me feedback, note false statements or missing info. Thanks, Desmond Rutherford.

WEEK 16: Intelligences, eLearning, unlearning, eLearning,

The final class...sniffle.

Evaluation time. We got to fill out our evaluation forms for the class...hopefully we can help the 800ers of the future as they move online...

And now...we are finishing up our final projects

Important note: Beeps equal time

David – English Language Learning
Dave talked about ESL (English as a Second Language) learners. He spoke about teachers and their common faults. He talked about how the learners fall behind, often because they are neglected and overlooked. He talked about the skills theory associated with ESL learners and how to apply it to instruction. These included retention and acquisition theory...methods for helping the students acquire and retain what they learned beyond the short timeframe from instruction to examination. Whereas certain modalities of communications are emphasized in current theories, he suggests teaching to all modalities, such as writing, reading, speaking.

Azure – How to get an A
Learning skills. This was based on topics from classes that Azure took at Cal Poly. Go Mustangs! Azure defined learning and skill to define learning skills as the process of acquiring knowledge through practice. She spoke about learning goals and how to use them to help attain knowledge. With this goal you can discover the GAP: what has to be covered between the now and the goal. She talked about ways to avoid Procrastination...I will write about that later. Another key element of learning skills is learning to manage time to complete tasks efficiently. Don’t study late at night...1 hr during the day is worth 1.5 hrs at night. Meaningful organization and memory strategies are key to remembering what you have learned. Notetaking skills are key...take notes on everything.

Matt Albert - The Tools of eLearning
Elearning is the enhancement of learning through technology. Elearning covers many media from the internet to tv to who knows. Highlighted tools are: Multimedia, web dev, groupware, video conferencing, content management. Multimedia – Flash is most prominent to create instruction experiences with sound, animation, text, etc. Web Dev Tools – Dreamweaver, great for putting content on the web. Groupware – wikis, blogs, discussion forums. Video Conferencing tools – Breeze, Centra create a virtual classroom, webinars, web conference. Learning/Content Management systems – Moodle, blackboard, WebCT, organize and manage content on the web.

Vaidis – Informal Learning
Informal learning occurs at all times and is subconscious and conscious at the time. It is not one of classes and grades. Informal learning is 75-80% of our learning. The learner pushes the learning whereas formal is pushed by someone else (a teacher). 2 advantages: Immediacy and Relevancy – you learn important info and skills in real time. There are no recognized forms of informal learning. However, check out Connectivism ( http://www.connectivism.ca/)

Jon – Assembling an Online Community of Practice to Create Tech Innovations for Early Intervention Systems
Early intervention systems are designed to help children with special needs and their parents. Child Find is an example of these early intervention systems. He then talked about getSet Project that helps EIS by integrating technology into the system. This creates Online Communities of Practice to pool information and maintain goal and scope. He then showed a view into the getSet Moodle site and showed us to utilize this in practice.

Matt Harris – Using Blogs
I talked about creating a blog and setting it up to accept posts via email and using an RSS feed to highlight elements of the blog. I handed out a publication that highlights ways to use blogs in education ( http://wornickjds.org/tech/resources/blogsineducation.html)

Sacramento – E-Learning taking an Inquiry-Based Strategy
Inquiry based learning is the process of learning through meaningful thoughtful activities. Pros: everyone is involved, it is flexible, evokes critical thinking, learn from others in the community, avoid teacher-centered discussions. Cons: lack of on-hand expert, technology issues, lack of face to face interaction. He showed us an example of an inquiry based eLearning web site in which students have to complete a project.

Candelario – Gaming as a Form of Teaching
Video games are part of pop culture and are now seen as a learning tool. He talked about the long history of video games that span back all the way to 1952...Video games are an integral part of our Digital Culture. With video games, skills can be taught through the use of video games. Video games have already effected the way we interact, it is time to take advantage of that. Video games promote critical thinking, they promote learning, and incorporate the principle of expertise. However, video games can be violent and video game programmer are not teachers.

Patrick - UnLearning
Example, looking the correct direction when crossing the street in England. Unlearning what you have learned up to a point and change your perceptions. Unlearning is remembering, not using, and re-learning. Remembering in unlearning throws in a wrench and requires metacognition (thinking about thinking). There is a roadblock in the metacognitive state that requires reevaluation and relearning. Unlearning is painful because it breaks out comfort circles and motivation. Unlearning using doubt to leverage change.

Brian – Creative Home Schooling
He believes that children learn most when home-schooled. Quoting Abraham Maslow he shows the education should be holistic rather than specialized. Home school breaks down in to Digressive Learning. Digressive Learning – allowing students to use their multiple intelligences to solve academic or social problems, such as Monopoly. Self-Directed Learning and Unschooling – children learn at their own speed, for example, follow-up on interests. Integration of Work and Play.

Quetzal – Summarization of Three Learning Theories
He gave an overview of the three major learning styles we covered in the course: Behaviorism. Behaviorism: Skinner, the environment, and behavior. Respondent and operant behavior, Contingencies of Reinforcement, SRS Model, and Behavior Management. Information Processing Model... Person is a processor of information. Create methods for the learner to input and retain information...retrieve when needed. Constructivism – learners are vessels of learning. Learners develop through meaningful activity.

Xavier – Constructivist Elements in Digital Storytelling
After defining constructivism and reiterating the steps in Digital Storytelling, he showed us these concepts applied to the Digital Storytelling activity we partook in earlier in the semester. Script: Short and succinct...the promotes mindful reflection, personal growth and ownership in learning. Planning: Compose series of images that will tell the story...Critical thinking and use of knowledge, multiple perspectives and modes of knowledge. Discuss and revise the script: Small group discussions...social negotiations and collaborative learning. Using these ideals of constructivism you could use Digital Storytelling for personal healing through the personal story, the power of voice, and compassionate voice.

Diana – Online Instructional Strategies
Online instructions encompass class taught over the Internet. Key elements – students need to be involved and integrated, curriculum needs to be clear, the class must be facilitated, Technology must fit. Strategies: Clearly state expectation, assign weekly written reflections, organize discussion and assignments to align to weekly lessons, be sensitive to student’s needs, have student-centered exercises, require a hand-in assignment, and provide timely feedback. She listed facilitator skills that encourage active participation in class while still allowing the students to work without you.

Michael – Website for Gagne’s Theory of Instruction
He outlined Gagne’s 9 steps in this website not only by describing them, but through the user experience on the site. He had quizzes and interactive activities on top of the store of knowledge he had produced. Including a simulated lesson plan. He also gave us a good overview of Gagne’s Theory of Instruction.

Dorothy – Developing effective eLearning Instruction
A good portion of what she was going to cover was covered in other presentations, so she shortened her presentation which rather impressive and thorough from her powerpoint. She spoke of benefits and delivery methods for eLearning. The role of the designer is the trainer, facilitator, and instructor...perhaps even developer. Demands for eLearning instructors in increasing quite a bit now.

Adam – Multiple Intelligences
He talked about the history of Multiple intelligence Theories. At first there were 7, now there are 9...In order to be an intelligence: rooted in the brain, rooted in history, symbols, and operations, developmental path, exceptional people, evidence, and supported by finding. Another one, not on the list is Emotional Intelligence. Emotional Intelligence – Self awareness, mood management, self-motivation, Empathy, Managing Relationships. Emotional health is essential to learning. We then talked about the types of learning theory and how they related to multiple intelligences.

Nathan – Podcasting: Uses in Education
He explained podcasting as a visual or audio content available on the Internet. It is an on-demand service. In a school, podcasts could be used to broadcast lectures or supplements to lectures. There are several online resources available online right now via podcasts. Creating podcasts are quite simple using GarageBand on the Mac to record audio and the web to publish.

Special notice: Go check out Nicole’s website: http://www.aslterpshirts.com

Highlight of the week: This class is now over and I reflect what I have learned. I could speak of theories or activities or even paper airplanes and knitting, but the true benefit of this class comes from the relationships I developed and the “informal learning” I partook in through meeting new people. And I think we are all pretty lucky to have such a dynamic, intelligent, and engaging group of passionate people. When I look back that is what I remember most...thanks for all of that.

Thoughts?


...and this your blogger, signing off.


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
http://www.wornickjds.org/tech