Social Learning and
Connectivism
Natalie Laverne
Shirley Jackson
Connectivism and the social
learning theories correlate very well to that of the cooperative learning
strategy. The cooperative learning strategy stresses to teachers and students
that it is important that teachers are not always ability grouping. (Pitler,
H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K., 2007) It is necessary to group students in base groups (long-term)
or informal groups (short-term).
In each of these groups the students use technology-integrated
activities where students can feed off of one another.
“Cooperative
learning is not so much learning to cooperate as it is cooperating to learn”
(Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K., 2007). Students need to learn how imperative
it is for them to learn and grow from one another. The social learning theories
are based upon learning from our surroundings. Multimedia such as students creating videos is a great way
for students to work together and share a task with an unlimited amount of
responsibilities and tasks. These
videos can be built upon a specific subject in school and shared at the end of
the project to the entire class. Therefore, the students are constantly
learning from one another.
There
are several different websites that allow students to participate in
cooperative learning with other classrooms. The website, www.epals.com
is a great website for collaborative classrooms. (Pitler, H., Hubbell, E.,
Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K., 2007)
Web quests, website creations and even the Blackboard Learning that we
participate in each week is a form of collaborative learning that allows us to
learn form one another. We are able to build upon each other’s ideas and create
our own images to chare with others.
When
I was in my last year of my undergraduate program at the University of Georgia
I learned of the jigsaw cooperative learning activities. These partner and
group activities let students and adults become experts on a specific subject
and learn about other concepts from opposite groups. Relating ideas and feeding
information off of one another allows people to consume much more knowledge;
therefore, becoming natives of the social learning theories.
Social
learning theories and connectivism are essential inside the classroom.
Considering that students learn formally from their parents and families and
then from their education it is imperative that we are instilling a positive
learning and growing environment for our students. The more technology that we
use in activities such as cooperative learning the more our students are able
to gain knowledge from others and grow as people in knowledge and in life.
References
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K.
(2007). Using technology with
Hi Natalie,
ReplyDeleteIt is true that the instructional strategy cooperative learning correlates with connectivism and the social learning theories. Cooperative learning is based on learning collaboratively and both connectivism and social learning theories stress the importance of people working together and learning from each other. Infusing this strategy with technology, like the sites you mentioned, expands the pool of people from which our students can learn and work with. Furthermore, communication software like Skype and wikis, allows our students to collaborate with each other from anywhere and at anytime. The integration of technology enhances both the strategy and the learning experience of the students.
Andrew Haynes
Natalie,
ReplyDeleteI am just learning about Jigsaw activities and am seeing how useful and beneficial they will be in my classroom. I like the idea of assigning the different students to become the experts and then turn around and teach others. As we read this week, this is when learning truly kicks in. I plan to research more about different ways to incorporate jigsaw strategies. I am sure there are some excellent ways to pull technology into these activities too.
Thanks for sharing,
Megan
I like your statement the more technology that we use in activities such as cooperative learning the more our students are able to gain knowledge from others and grow as people in knowledge and in life. Technology is a great tool for getting students engaged in their learning and explaining to them why they are learning the lesson. Technology opens up our classrooms to endless material and sources. I have found that each year I am using more and more technology. I feel that it has greatly changed my style of teaching for the better.
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