Session 4 - Guided Design / Casada, Wilson

What are your initial reactions to this theory/model?

• When I read these articles on guided design / team learning, it sounded a lot like my learning style. I am a blend of both intrapersonal and interpersonal learning style. I can work well by myself, but I also like working in groups. I like the idea of gathering relevant information / knowledge, problem-solving activities performed by a group, periodic guiding feedback from a teacher, and relevant real world problems to solve. We used these traits in the software design field I worked in before.

What are barriers to its use?

• One barrier that I can think of is students with an intrapersonal learning style. These students are strong willed and work best alone. The ones I have seen seem to pride themselves on being independent and original, and they tend to stand out from the class without even trying. They seem to do best in self paced instruction, individualized projects, and working alone.
• The research articles also talks about how this guided design theory does not work well with “non-contextual critical-thinking skills” like those used in learning a foreign language.
• Another issue that has to be considered is the dynamics that each team member brings. A team with too many strong personalities may cause the team to flounder, due to personal achievement goals, group disagreements, and infighting. That sure sounds like our government in Washington, DC.

Would you attempt to use this theory/model with the students you are currently teaching or hope to teach in the future? Why or why not? Could elements of the theory/model be modified so that it would work with your current/future students?

• I have used this style with my classroom already. It works well with social studies and science content areas. I am still looking at how to implement it into Math. It does not seem to work well with language arts, due to its limited problem solving needs. I found its success depends on how the teams/groups are organized. If you place too many strong willed students on the same team, they just end up arguing about who’s idea should be use.

Since we are taking learning theories/models that were not necessarily created with the Web in mind and turning them into Web modules, what Web-based tools or resources could be leveraged to carry out this learning theory/model online?

• I believe the idea of guided design / team learning can be implemented in web modules, but there are some issues to overcome. As (Wilson, 2004) stated in their research article,  “learning in teams in and outside the academic classroom is fraught with “monster” implications … Free Riding, uneven preparation, sporadic attendance, plagiarism, …” This brings up the issue of outside classroom group learning. I have wondered if outside classroom group learning is really group learning, or just individual learning, with a group-learning label put on it. I feel group learning does create a challenge, as to assessing how much each team member has contributed and learned. With out individual post-group learning assessments, how does the teacher truly know that each team member really learned and understood the materials. A sink or swim group/team grading system is a poor grading approach. It seems to be more of a motivational method, than a good grading system.

Session 3 - AT / Kulik

What are your initial reactions to this theory/model?

• My first initial thoughts after reading the AT Approach / Kulik articles were that it seems to be more tailored for upper grade levels. I can see the GAS (General Assembly Session) being very similar to what most elementary school teachers do when they start a new unit. They talk about the unit, what students will learn, and the expectations of what will take place. The ISS (Independent Study Sessions) are very much like independent learning task work that is directed via audio lectures. The SAS (Small Assembly Sessions) do not sound very practical for lower/middle elementary grade levels where I teach.  Trying to get second graders to give a short lecture on what they previously learned can be quite challenging. There would have to be a teacher, assistant, or a parent volunteer to help guide the student led lecture/discussion to make sure they stay on task. The adult monitor would help ensure that higher order thinking / discussions are taking place. The idea of “one really learns a subject when one prepares to teach it,” is a great idea, which will require a lot of guidance in lower grade levels.   

Would you attempt to use this theory/model with the students you are currently teaching or hope to teach in the future? Why or why not? Could elements of the theory/model be modified so that it would work with your current/future students?

• I can see using some audio directed learning in my classroom. The challenges I see in use them, is in the ISS and SAS sections. I have noticed it is hard to keep younger students focused and on task with just audio directions. Many students need written directions as a guide to let them know what they need to do next. This is especially important for EC / ESL students. A visual directed list helps to organize them. Students seem to do better with hands on learning, with manipulatives, and one-on-one assistance. With all the state and local budget cuts taking place, this does not sound like our public school system anymore. We are loosing assistants and it is hard to find good parent volunteers that are available on a regular basis, to help work with the students during the ISS and SAS sections.

Since we're taking learning theories/models that were not necessarily created with the Web in mind and turning them into Web modules, what Web-based tools or resources could be leveraged to carry out this learning theory/model online?

• I can see myself using a loose hybrid of the PSI and AT systems. Each seems to have its issues, because there is no one size that fits all. One thing that these systems miss is that some students learn better independently, while other students learn better cooperatively in groups. Human beings are very diverse in their design, as is each of our learning styles. I personally like the PSI over the AT style for my elementary classroom.  I like the idea of creating self-paced web modules (PSI) that have audio (AT used loosely) capabilities integrated into them. Making use of Voki web audio to read directions and explain the lesson concepts to the students would make the modules more effective in lower grade levels. Having the ability to replay the audio again, is great for younger students. Integrating audio, video, and hands on manipulatives would create a good independent learning environment, for those students that are independent learners. Any behavioral learning system is also only as good as the motivation of its students to learn and succeed independently.  

Session 2 - Davis / Keller

What are your initial reactions to this theory/model?

• I like Keller’s theory of PSI, since it is a self-paced instruction system.  Giving student the ability to own and self-pace their learning can be very rewarding and motivating to many students. Since a real classroom has many different student learning needs, the idea of students doing as they learn, is much better than just listening to a lecture style presentation.
• After I read the article, I was unclear if the web modules design could include the ability to offer pause / stop / continue capability for students. With elementary classroom schedules being very fluid, due too many schedule challenges and interruptions, I can see this capability being very useful. This would also be very important for any special needs students that have short attention spans like (ADHD, Autism, etc.). Having the ability to start up again, where they left off, would be very important for special needs students.

What are barriers to its use?

• I can see EC special needs students struggling with self-paced modules. Many I have worked with need constant guidance and encouragement. Many have a very high frustration level for web tools or concepts they do not grasp right away.
• ESL students, who struggle with language-two acquisitions, may not benefit from PSI modules that are heavily language-two (English) based. Interlacing pictures and text would help ESL students understand the web modules, as they are learning English.
• I can see teachers that have been lecturing in the past, may find the idea of creating modules to teach their course materials very overwhelming.

What benefits might be expected for those who overcome the barriers?

• The repeatability of self-paced modules can be very beneficial for EC students, as well as students that may not grasp a concept the first time through. 
• Having web based modules that offer audio responses for tests at the end of a module can help those that are grammar challenged. Many ESL students struggle with being able to express their academic understanding of concepts in written text format.

Would you attempt to use this theory/model with the students you are currently teaching or hope to teach in the future? Why or why not? Could elements of the theory/model be modified so that it would work with your current/future students?

• I can see this model being very effective in the higher-grade levels. Having it being effective in lower elementary grade levels can be more challenging to implement. Many younger students need a lot of guidance/feedback and teacher monitoring/supervision. This is not a bad thing, but requires the web module design to take these things into consideration.
• In the real world, the idea of one-size fits all, does not work. I feel the Keller model will work for the majority of students. Those students on the fringe with special needs will require additional support that this model may not be able to provide or is outside of its scope. I can see the web module design being critical in minimizing the size of the fringe.
• In elementary grades, having the ability to highlight new vocabulary words in a module with pop-up definition windows, would be a great way to help students learn and understand new vocabulary that a module may present. Learning vocabulary in context is very important, since learning vocabulary words in isolation is proven not very effective.

Since we're taking learning theories/models that were not necessarily created with the Web in mind and turning them into Web modules, what Web-based tools or resources could be leveraged to carry out this learning theory/model online?

• I like to use the web tool “LetterPop” to create a classroom newsletter. I let the students take on this responsibility. I have them work in small groups to create short summary articles of what they have learned this month and then have them build the newsletter.
• I also like to use the web tool “Blurb” to create books of classroom short stories. It is amazing how excited students get when they see their written stories in printed book form.