"Doing" Part of Internet Safety

I talked to my mom about internet safety. When I asked her about what she knew about internet safety, she talked about how important is to not give out personal information and to have computers in a room that is used often. I shared with my mom the importance of talking about internet safety openly so that in the future it does not feel like a taboo subject. I also talked about how important it is to focus on the positive uses of technology and to give children opportunities to use technology, but in a positive, productive way. Overall, I would say that the conversation went well. I shared Elder Ballard's talk with her and I hope she reads it in its full form because it is such a strong statement about technology and media and how it relates to the family.

301 Personal Learning Theory

My personal learning theory takes into consideration all the theories that were discussed in this class. I like some aspects of certain theories better than others, and so I have taken pieces of different theories and tried to work them together in my mind. My experiences I have had during practicum have also influenced my own learning theory.

To begin explaining my personal learning theory, I would like to start with Vygotsky. I have seen how real the zone of proximal development is as I was teaching and how when teachers teach in this zone, student understanding is greatly increased. This idea is supported by the phrase: “what I can do with help today I can do by myself tomorrow.” How do the students reach a position where they can work independently? Through scaffolding that the teacher sets up so that the student is more supported in the learning in the beginning and as the learning continues, the responsibility is transferred more and more to the student. This set up of responsibility is known as assisted learning. These ideas of Vygotsky are part of my learning theory.

As I was reviewing social cognitive theories, I wanted to include some of those ideas into my own theory. For example, I believe that self-efficacy plays an important role in student learning; if students believe they are capable of learning, then they are more likely to do better. Similarly, the teacher’s sense of self-efficacy is a critical part of student learning. This is one of the few characteristics that teachers have control over that is correlated with how students perform in the classroom. I noticed that as I was more confident as a teacher during practicum, the students became more responsive. Also, modeling is an important concept from the observational learning theory that I strongly support. It is extremely helpful for students to have someone model the behavior that is expected of them. When I used this principle when I was teaching, it definitely helped solidify the expectations for whatever activity we were doing. Another aspect of this model that I include in my theory is self-regulation. This is when students learn to control their own behavior. It is an important skill for students to learn. As I taught, I would have the students check their voice levels and check themselves to see if they were on task. This helped prompt the students to evaluate their own behavior.

Looking at the cognitive approach and how the memory works helped shape my theory also. In particular, it is important to use priming when beginning a lesson. Activating background knowledge helps when teaching a new concept or even when continuing an ongoing unit. It adds flow to the lesson and the students are able to focus better. Another important principle is elaboration. Connecting new information to existing knowledge is a way for students to make sense of new information and allows them to figure out how it fits in with what they already know. It is a good way for them to contextualize what they are learning. Organization also helps students’ learning. When material is organized, students will understand it better and will be more likely to remember it in the future.

The ideas from the course on social processes also influence my personal theory. For example, collaboration is important in any learning environment; it is necessary to respect others’ differences and build on the knowledge that other people have. Similarly, cooperation in the classroom is also essential. Learning how to work together for a common goal will help students throughout their lives. By engaging in cooperative learning, students can work in small groups which help each other learn. This is the kind of learning I want to have in my classroom.

Another important part of my learning theory depends on the student’s locus of causality. When a student is intrinsically motivated, I have found that they focus better on learning activities and strive to think and learn about the subject. However, when students are extrinsically motivated, they are easily distracted and become off task. If teachers can try to harness the intrinsic motivation, it will encourage lifelong learning because learning is its own reward.

These ideas from this course have helped shape my own personal learning theory. I believe that these ideas coexist and that the various theories help explain each other. Learning is a complex process and I do not believe that one theory explains all aspects of learning, which is why I chose to work from a combination of the theories.

301 Learning Log and Reflection

For this assignment, I chose to learn how to cook and bake better. I chose this because it is a skill that is important and one that I have wanted to improve in my life but haven’t had the time. I had my roommate teach me how to make some meals and some desserts as well. She is an excellent cook, so I was excited to learn her secrets. While I didn’t learn so much about cooking that I can instantly tell what a dish needs to make it better, I did learn basic skills that are used in general cooking and baking situations.

I also learned from my mistakes as I went along. For example, when baking pie crust, you should poke holes in the bottom of it or it will expand and a weird bubble will form. Also, poking the bubble will just make the filling fall through the poked hole and not make the bubble go to the bottom of the pan if it has already cooled. However, if when you make pizza and the cheese forms a weird bubble, poking it when it is in the oven will deflate the cheese bubble and it will no longer look like fluffy pizza. These little nuances of baking are best dealt with when experienced. I’m not sure I ever would have come across those situations if I hadn’t taken the time to make both of those dishes. The mistakes I made while cooking helped me realize that mistakes are a helpful way to increase learning. Because I have had these experiences, I am more likely to remember how to fix these mistakes than if I had done it correctly the first time. Although learning from mistakes is one way to have knowledge become part of your long term memory, it is certainly not the only way; doing things correctly the first time does help reinforce the correct behavior so that you remember what to do next time.

Learning Log

1/16/09 cooked chicken 7-8pm 1 hour

1/23/09 pizza crust 6-7pm 1 hour

1/30/09 enchiladas 7-8pm 1 hour

2/28/09 chocolate lollipops 9-9:30pm ½ hour

3/13/09 pizza 7-8:30pm 1 ½ hours

3/14/09 chocolate pie 2-3pm 1 hour

4/4/09 peanut butter cookies 5-6pm 1 hour

4/4/09 cinnamon rolls 8-11 pm 3 hours

New Ideas from Presentations

I learned new ideas of how to incorporate technology from the presentations today. One thing was about how recording the students' work (whether auditory recording or visual recording) allows the students to see their work presented through technology helps to motivate the students to learn. It also helps them be proud of their work and have a good sense of ownership. Another thing I learned was that allowing students to have more involvement with the technology helps the lesson and the engagement of the students.

Reading about Internet Safety

For the reading assignment, I chose to read "An Ensign to the Nations, a Light to the World" by President Gordon B. Hinckley. After reading this article and the other articles assigned, I decided that one of the most important things I learned was the need to be open and address the dangers of internet. If children are aware, then they will be better prepared with how to deal with it if it crosses their path. Also, by talking about it openly, it dissipates curiosity about what it actually is and it lessens the shame if they accidentally come across it. Another thing I thought was important was to address the positive, uplifting factors of technology. By replacing bad things with good things, children will be able to be tech savvy without having to feel the negative consequences of degrading media.

One thing that I will do as a teacher and/or parent is talk about internet safety with my children so that they are aware of the dangers. Also, I will have them talk about what rules they think it is important to follow. If children come up with the rules themselves, then they are more likely to follow them. By having this discussion, they will see why it is important to make these decisions before a dangerous situation presents itself.

One way that I can have a positive influence on family and friends is to let them know about the things I've learned from my reading. I think the 7 things that Elder Ballard mentioned in his article were especially helpful, and I am going to share them with my mom. Also, when talking about the influence of technology, I can give positive alternatives about how to use technology in fun, productive ways that others may not have thought of before.

Learning from other presentations

As I looked at how my classmates used technology in the classroom, I realized that there are so many different ways that technology is easily incorporated into lessons. Some make life easier for both students, like projecting words on a screen. Other uses of technology help the students explore their knowledge farther Another presentation showed a useful way to find out what the students already know, like in the presentation that used kidsperation to have the students sort their background knowledge. I have received many new ideas for various ways that it can be helpful to use technology in the classroom

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