Connectivism and Social Learning In Practice

This week I inquired deeper on social learning method and cooperative learning method. I detected these two methods to be very savvy, and like the other methods that I have been learning, they connect closely with my teaching experiences. As I explored these two methods, I started to find out on how they correspond with each other. Through my reading, I have discovered that the social learning method involves cooperative approaches of teaching.  

Dr. Orey describes social learning method as an approach of study in which learners are actively participated in designing products and conversing with others (Laureate Education, 2011a).  Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec (1986) explains cooperative learning as, “working collaboratively to reach team goals that cannot be reached by working alone or competitively. The leading goal is to actively engaged learners in the study process; a level of learner acknowledgment which is not achievable in a teacher speech structure” (Orey, 2001). Arranging learners with teamwork and responsibility strengthen their understanding and social experiences. Through collaborative learning learners evolve into more inspired, involved, thoughts and theories are expanded and justified through the instantaneous input of their friends. These are just the several advantages of this learning approach, there are many more and as technology emerges quickly, the need and significance of integrating this theory increases, too. It is important to learners that they are able to connect with their friends.

            It is visible that both learning approaches connect with each other because they both engage learners grasping understanding through some type of interaction. These two approaches integrate each other very well and are very applicable in the long term significant recollection of understanding and 21st century skills that learners will need to flourish and succeed in this global workforce.

Still, many teachers have dilemma applying social learning method and the cooperative learning method because they have contacted experiences where learners did not work fairly to carry out assignments, or that this type of study consumes time too much and complicated to assess. Some teachers are also afraid that they will drop power on the class in this learning atmosphere. As the world moves forward deeper and deeper into the 21st century, teaching approaches, strategies, and technology will proceed to change. So, it is highly influencing the strategies educators use. Educators can no longer depend on the teacher-centered strategies to engage their learners. Teaching now need to be more student-centered where the educator is the organizer of information and learners are the people who gain education actively. Dr. Orey (Laureate Education, 2011a) describes good arrangement as a key part of cooperative learning. He also mentions that it is crucial to arrange clear goals of each learner in the team. In addition to that, he proposes a jigsaw puzzle strategy to cooperative arrangement which includes giving responsibility to each member of the team for gaining the information and turn-keying it to their peers. An excellent strategy to evaluate that learners are doing their assignments is through the use of rubrics (Laureate Education, 2011a).

 “One of the excellent strategies to gain knowledge is to teach it. Teaching others assists the learner broaden a deeper knowledge of the content” (Laureate Education, 2011a). Technology can be a strong tool to educators and learners when teaching each other knowledge. Learners can cooperate one to another to design multimedia projects and then use these products to share their knowledge to their friends through a show of their creation. Study shows “Student-created multimedia is a natural environment for cooperative learning”(Pitler, Hubel, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2012). Together with multimedia projects, learners can construct wikis, blogs, and utilize Skype, to interact active communication anytime anywhere and work together not only with people in their very own school but on a global world, too. 

This week’s resources have also developed my experience of how much technology has transformed the way we learn. In fact, the Social Learning method and the proposed Connectivism theory appeared because of the effects of technology. With all the social medias accessible to our learners today, such as Facebook, twitter, email, instant messaging, blogging, wikis, and Skype, they develop by socializing. It is certain that we would have to integrate these skills into our teaching in order to energize our learners. Actually, “by supplying group and personal responsibility, learners work toward mastering both understanding and social skills” (Orey, 2001).

I am familiar to many of the technology tools I learned about this week. On the other hand, one that was new and very appealing was the use of Voice Thread. I was able to rehearse this tool and directly saw the advantages in employing this as a cooperative learning tool in the class. We had a unit of inquiry which focused on writing a fantasy story. I arranged my learners so that they worked in groups. This was a cooperative group project which could be done both in school and at home. I provided them with some fantasy reading. Their task was to combine two fantasy stories into one. Therefore, they could change the plot of the story however they like. For this project, they used the Internet to get pictures and multi-media technology like Microsoft Movie maker. Nonetheless, after knowing voice thread I immediately introduced it to my class and reckoned it as an additional tool to utilize in finishing the assignment. This tool is great for providing engaging, interactive learning engagements for learners (Laureate Education, 2011c).

I believe that technology tools can evolve and expand collaborative and cooperative learning beyond our expectations. “Technology has transformed to the point where it is so easy to employ that educators can design vigorous and significant learning engagements with limited time” (Laureate Education, 2011c). Through the application of technology and the variety learning methods, educators can make differentiated instruction more effectively and efficiently because learners become more inspired and engaged in the learning process.

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011a). Program eight: Social learning theories [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011b). Program nine: Connectivism as a learning theory [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program ten: Spotlight on technology: VoiceThread [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Orey, M. (Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Social Constructivism, Cooperative Learning, and Connectivism. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Main_Page

Palmer, G., Peters, R., & Streetman, R. (2003). Cooperative learning. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved 2 February 2014, from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2012). Using technology with classroom instruction that works (2^nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD