According to Orey (Laureate, 2008), the social learning theory actively engages students in learning by giving them to chance to construct and collaborate with others. The social learning theory deals with the students interactions with others. Significant learning takes place when individuals are participating in social activities (Orey,2001). Each student has a zone of proximal development. This is the place in which the student is able to learn. Anything below this zone is already known by the student. Anything above this zone, the student is unable to understand without help (Laureate, 2008). This is where a teacher, a fellow student or even a computer can come in to help.
One important instructional strategy to use with the social learning theory is cooperative learning. Cooperative learning groups should be used in ways to help improve learning. In the global society that we live in today, students need to know how to collaborate with others (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). There are many ways students can use technology while working in groups. They can work together to develop a wiki or a website. They could also create a video using technology. Simulation games are also a good way for students to work together. They can design a building or they can create a business and manage its finances. Even playing fantasy football with a group of students is a great learning opportunity in math.
Of course when using cooperative groups, it is good to get advice from those who have experience. Here are some helpful websites that I have found:
http://www.mathgoodies.com/articles/coop_learning.html
http://mathforum.org/mathed/co-learn.html
I find that a voice thread is a great tool for teaching. Students can work together to create a voice thread in order to present a lesson. They can preview each other’s thread and leave comments. This would be a great way to incorporate homebound students into the classroom experience.
Here is the link to my voice thread that discusses the problem of students not coming to school prepared. http://voicethread.com/share/1191986/
References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program eight. Social Learning Theories [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Posts
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great websites. It is always helpful for teachers to have access to many resources. By working together, teachers can also build stronger connections for all students. Not only do we need to expose our students to the technology we experience but we are obligated to our colleagues to share these outstanding collaborative ideas with them as well.
Linda V
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with everything you have said in your blog. When you have mentioned that using technology is one important instructional strategy i could not agree more. In today’s society I also feel that the students need to learn how to work with technology and how to work with other people. There are really no jobs out there that I can think of right now the does not deal with technology one way or another. I like the way you are thinking and keep up the good work.
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI agree that the voicethread would be an excellent tool for social learning. I have thought that wikis would be powerful for this, but I think that a voicethread would be even more powerful since it is very easy to integrate video and pictures. With this students could creatively create report presentations or simply use the voicethread as a discussion area to share ideas or study and learn from eachother. I could see students getting very excited about using this tool in a variety of ways.