First QR

Check out my first QR code after reading "Scanning the Potential for Using QR Codes in the Classroom," by Cory Robertson and Tim Green. You will need a QR reader to use the QR code. I downloaded QR Reader for my iphone from the App Store.




Robertson, C. and Green, T. (2012). Scanning theh potential for using QR codes in the classroom. TechTrends, pp. 11-12.

Alm's Module 2 Blog Post--Cognitivism as a Learning Theory

Too Many _isms?

Karl Kapp stated on his blog that “The issue many forget is that “learning” is not one thing…it is a multi-layered word that tends to get treated as if it were just one thing…and it’s not. It is multi-facetted and that is why developing new models for “learning” is so difficult…there are too many levels for one school of thought or one model to do it all” (http://www.kaplaneduneering.com/kappnotes/index.php/2007/01/out-and-about-discussion-on-educational/). Here is the essence of the issue on the abundance of “–isms.” I see learning as a giant disco ball, with innumerable facets. There is still too much unknown, and there will never be a time when we know everything there is to know about learning. There never will be a one size fits all “ism” because learners do not fit a one-size-fits-all learning model.

Stephen Downes claimed that “I haven't harped on this, because it should be obvious, but it remains puzzling that so much of the instructional design community remains rooted in behaviorism - this more than 30 years after the theory was abandoned everywhere else” (http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=37293). Behaviorism could not have been totally abandoned because clearly there are times when it works; we still have learning objectives because they help the student focus and serve as a foundation for the design of the instructional material. No one admits to being a behaviorist though. Perhaps, that is what Downes meant.

Each new ism is a stepping stone to a previously unidentified aspect or fact of learning. With the advent of the computer, how people learn changed. New tools and methods in the future may change how the mind takes in information and may change how the brain functions, so the quest will always continue. As Bill Kerr stated on his blog “It seems to me that each _ism is offering something useful without any of them being complete or stand alone in their own right” (http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/01/isms-as-filter-not-blinker.html). A stand-alone ism is an oxymoron.

Downes, S. (2006, December 21). Definitions: ABCD objectives [web blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=37333

Kerr, B. (2007, January 1). _isms as filter, not blinker [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/01/isms-as-filter-not-blinker.html

Kapp, K. (2007, January 2). Out and about: Discussion on educational schools of thought [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.kaplaneduneering.com/kappnotes/index.php/2007/01/out-and-about-discussion-on-educational/

BLOGS I POSTED TO:

Jessica's http://jygreensblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/module-2-cognitivism-as-learning-theory.html?showComment=1333129545817#c4004395357910189606

Tim Weaver's at http://weave1-weave1.blogspot.com/2012/03/tweavermod-2-cognitivism-as-learning.html

Table 2. A framework of Web 2.0 learning designs.

NOTE: The "T" is for transmissive, not dialogic. It is a typo.

Bower, M., Hedberg, J., and Kuswara, A. (2010). A framework for Web 2.0 learning design. Educational Media International, 47(3), pp. 177-198. doi: 10.1080/09523987.2010.518811

Alm's Module 1 Learning Theory and Educational Technology

Critique Siemens’s “metaphors of educators.” Which of these metaphors best describes the role you believe an instructor should take in a digital classroom or workplace? Is there a better metaphor to reflect your view of the role of instructors?

Siemens (2008) discussed four different types of educators in the workplace or classroom: Brown’s atelier, Fisher’s network administrator, Bonk’s concierge, and Siemens’s curator. Each one recognizes that the educator is an expert, but each plays a different role. The atelier points out what masters from the past reflected as well as new emerging ideas (Siemens, 2008, p. 15). Fisher’s network administrator helps students form connection and learning networks for a particular class (Siemens, 2008, p. 16). Bonk’s concierge uses lectures and creates exploration activities for students (Siemens, 2008, p. 16). Siemens’s own idea of educator as curator has the educator as guide and knowledge expert.

In addition, Ehlers (2009) believed that with the advancement of Web 2.0 technologies, learners would create their own learning environments and outcomes and the educator’s role would shift from transmitter to guide and advisor.

Clearly, the educator’s role is shifting from transmitter because learning has become learner-centered. However, the educator’s role will remain that of an expert in knowledge and learning. With the unlimited learning potential of the Internet and Web 2.0 technologies, the educator will become a little bit of all aspects of the “metaphors of educators” depending on what subject and pedagogy they are working in. Thus, for the educator, a much more creative and less rigid role is possible in digital and corporate classroom.

Blogs I posted to:

http://decdr.blogspot.com/2012/03/learning-theory-and-educational.html?showComment=1332005118661#c5785371406896830274

http://schroederedtech.blogspot.com/2012/03/educator-metaphors.html

Ehlers, U. (2009). Web 2.0—e-learning 2.0—quality 2.0? Quality for new learning cultures. Quality Assurance in Education, 17(3), pp. 296-314. doi: 10.1108/o9684880910970687

Siemens, G. (2008, January 27). Learning and knowing in networks: Changing roles for educators and designers. Paper presented to ITFORUM. Retrieved from http://it.coe.uga.edu/itforum/Paper105/Siemens.pdf