Behaviorism in Practice

Behaviorism in schools today has been widely used as a behavioral modification tool. A major part of behavioral modification is giving good students positive reinforcement while giving students who need to learn the appropriate behavior for class, negative reinforcement (Standridge, M., 2002).  Another part of behaviorism used in classrooms today is the practice of frequent repetition, generalization and discrimination (Smith, M. K., 1999). Many teachers use homework and rote memorization as ways to repeat concepts. With the advent of technology in schools and at home, students and teachers can practice frequent repetition in new and exciting ways.

Teachers can use technology to track students’ effort against student grades  (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 155). Among the different computer programs that will enable teachers and students to track effort are, spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel and data collection tools like Survey Monkey (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, pp. 156-164). The educational behaviorist belief is that students will be able to correlate the amount of effort they have put into their homework and classwork, compare that effort to the outcome in their quiz and test grades. Once students see the outcomes, they will continue to put more effort into their work to achieve those higher assessment grades. In addition to effort, technology also allows students to complete homework and practice assessments using collaborative and creative methods.

Many teachers assign homework for students to practice what they learned in class at home. “Technology facilitates homework and practice by providing a wealth of resources for learning outside of the classroom, making it easy for students to work on collaborative homework assignments and providing ‘drill and practice’ resources that help students refine their skills (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 189). Among the technology programs that help with homework for the elementary school student as well as the high school student are, word processing applications, spreadsheet software, multimedia applications, web resources, and communication software (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, pp. 189-201). In my classes, I hold a review session before each unit test set up similar to a game of Jeopardy. My students set up a Facebook page where they quiz each other at night in preparation for the test the next day.  They took the initiative to set up that page on their own and to peer review the materials I went over during the day in class. All of the participants on the Facebook page have seen their test grades improve and students not already part of that page; have put in requests to join the group for nighttime reviews. My students review page is an excellent example of student effort at work improving grades while working collaboratively with peer-reviewed materials. This is a wonderful mesh of learning theories, behaviorism and constructivism, in one classroom.

  Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Denver, Colorado: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL).

 Smith, M. K. (1999). “The behaviourist orientation to learning”. The encyclopedia of informal education. Retrieved March 6, 2012, from         

http://www.infed.org/biblio/learning-behavourist.htm

Standridge, M. (2002). Behaviorism. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching and technology. Retrieved March 6, 2012, from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Behaviorism

Reflection on Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work and Society

           Teachers are constantly learning new materials, from textbooks to technology. Teachers who have been in the classroom for the last 30+ years have learned how to use e-mail, e-board, Moodle, Microsoft programs, and others. Teachers are truly lifelong learners, they must continue to learn how to change their roles in the classroom and how to change the way in which they present materials. From this course, I learned many ways of changing my role in the classroom. I have also learned how my students should be taught the materials, through collaboration.

For the first time, I have collaborated with other teachers on developing a wiki. I created a blog and learned how to feed my groups blogs onto my blog and to post comments on their blogs as well as adding new posts to my own blog. I have learned how to become part of a group on a wiki, I have never even seen a wiki before, not only become a part of one. Finally, for the first time I recorded my students answering questions, edited their responses, joined those responses together into one podcast and posted it on my blog. I have never attempted to use these programs before; but I have learned to work with them over the last seven weeks of this course.

In Will Richardson’s, book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and other Powerful Web Tools for the Classrooms (Richardson, 2010), he gives systematic instructions for teachers on setting up blogs, wikis, and other learning tools. It has become an invaluable source of information. Mark Prensky defined the differences between a digital native and a digital immigrant and those definitions were debated between Dr. Thornburg and Hall Davidson (Debate: digital natives and digital immigrants). Surprisingly, because of that debate I concluded I was a digital native since I watched more than 3 hours of TV a week as a child. That was a surprising conclusion since I did not grow up with computers and had a panic attack in college when I had to go to the computer room for a statistics class. The personal computer has changed how we, as teachers, research, gather, analyze and synthesize information for our students. It has also changed the way in which we allow our students to do their research for class projects.

Change in the way teachers and students research, change in the way teachers run their classroom, change in the way teachers facilitate their classes rather than lecture to their classes. These changes have all occurred with the development of technology and will continue to evolve as technology changes. The challenge of the classroom today is to keep up with business. Teachers are educating the business people of tomorrow and it is our job to help them succeed. They must be able to collaborate they should become familiar with the latest technology available. Problems are posed by financial crises, school districts unable to afford the latest technology. Problems are also posed by a lack of communication between technology departments and the core subject departments. A lack of training on the newest technology also hurts teachers and students.

In closing, I have a word of advice for all teachers, we are the lifelong learners; it is our job to continue learning the newest technology. We are the ones who teach English, History, Math, Science, Technology, etc.  to students of all ages, all economic backgrounds, all cultures and all learning abilities. We are the ones who modify our lessons to meet the needs of all students. Learning new materials and transferring that information to our students is just a part of our job. We are the educators, we have the responsibility to educate our students and prepare them for the challenges of 21^st century society.

References

Bringing the fun into teaching with technology. (2008). Baltimore, MD: Laureate Education, Inc.

The Changing role of the classroom teacher: part 1. (2008). Baltimore, MD: Laureate Education, Inc.

The Changing role of the classroom teacher: part 2. (2008). Baltimore, MD: Laureate Education, Inc.

Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. (2008). The Third Wave. Baltimore, MD: Laureate Education, Inc.

Partnership for 21st century skills. (2011). (Partnership for 21st century skills) Retrieved January 23, 2012, from http://www.p21.org/

Debate: digital natives and digital immigrants. (2008). Baltimore, MD: Laureate Education, Inc.

Dede, Christopher. (2008). The Changing Work Environment, part 2. Baltimore, MD: Laureate Education, Inc.

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). Digital-Age learning. Retrieved September 9, 2011, from iste.nets.s: http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students.aspx

New Jersey Department of Education. (2010). 2010 NCLB Report. Retrieved November 2, 2011, from New Jersey Department of Education: http://education.state.nj.us/rc/nclb/nclbreprt.php?c=15;d=55500;s=010

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (Third Edition ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, a Sage Company.

Skills for the 21st century. (2008). (D. Thornburg, & C. Dede, Compilers) Baltimore, MD: Laureate Education, Inc.

Spotlight on Technology: collaboration through Wikis. (2008.). (J. Houston, Compiler) Baltimore, MD: Laureate Education, Inc.

Thornburg, David. (2008). The Changing Work Environment. Baltimore, MD: Laureate Education, Inc.

Demographic Profile, Podcasting & Interviewing Students

When beginning a project that has three components you have never used before, set aside enough time to complete each component. You will have to teach yourself, by reading and watching YouTube videos on how to use the latest applications that are needed for the project.

I began with a Survey Monkey of my students; you can find the survey I used at www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=55512367472

The demographic profile was created using the results of the survey monkey. Below is that profile:

13 surveys were given to a sampling of students

Age Group 16 to 18

Boys & girls

1.      All in 12^th grade

2.      All own a computer at home, all work on the computer for school work, all have internet service, all have e-mail at home

3.      All use a computer daily

4.      4 of the 13 answered yes to all the sub-topics (If you do not have a computer/internet can you use one/it from somewhere else?; Does  your teacher use email for communicating with your parents?; Does your teacher use e-mail for school assignments?) 9 answered no or not sure for teacher communicates with parents via e-mail

5.      2 use computer 2-4 Xs weekly

6 use computer weekly

4 use computer daily

1 seldom/never uses computer

6.      3 use it before, during & after school

1 after school only

5 during and after school

1 before and after school

3 during school

7.       6 chose all choices of the 6 that did make choices NONE USED SPREADSHEETS

8.      1 survey had no answers for 8 & 9

1 instant messaging

5 (Facebook, twitter, social networking)

5 research, 1 with word processing added

1 word processing

9.      1 survey blank

12 use the internet to Microsoft power point

After completing the survey and tabulating the results, I was ready for my interviews. I held the interviews after school in my classroom. I then saved them to a stick drive and transferred them to my home computer where I could work with editing to meet the time requirements of the project. I watched YouTube videos to teach me how to edit in audacity, and after a few tries I finally understood how to copy, paste, cut, fade in and out, and adjust the volume.

Below is my very first podcast, using programs I have never used before, with different computers in different locations. I hope you enjoy what I was able to put together and my students will tell you where improvement is needed at school and what program they are comfortable using. Enjoy.

http://podcast22181.podomatic.com/entry/2012-02-05T10_22_08-08_00

Partmership for 21st Century Skills - a Website http://www.p21.org

         When first looking at the home page of the site partnership for 21^st Century skills I was overwhelmed by all that I saw. I felt, “I’ll never be able to work my through all of this information”. However, at closer look the tabs at the top of the page can lead you into the site where you will be able to read the posted information with a feeling of adequacy. I did not like that links to articles that were advertised on the home page went to sites that you had to join, with a fee. I do not think that paying a second site to read one article is fair, the partnership for 21^st Century skills should not have links on the home page that force readers to pay a fee to complete the article.

            This site, the partnership for 21^st Century skills, clearly lays out the framework by which they have developed the skills needed for the 21st century. According to the site, their framework begins with the core subjects that include No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Secondary Education Act of 1965 that spells out the core subjects. Interesting that the secondary education act was past 47 years ago and the core subjects have not been changed since. Next in the framework is the 21^st century content that includes global awareness, financial, economic, business & entrepreneurial literacy, civil literary, health & wellness awareness, and environmental literacy. These content areas are not really stressed in many curriculums and perhaps they are not addressed in all 50 state standards.  The framework goes onto stress the learning and thinking skills that students need to be taught for them to be successful in the new business world; these include creativity and innovation skills, contextual learning, and information and Media literacy skills.  Information and communication technology (ICT) is “the ability to use technology to develop 21st century content knowledge and skills in support of 21st century teaching and learning” (Partnership for 21st century skills, 2011). The framework then goes into the life skills that are needed which include ethics and accountability, just to name a few listed. The framework ends with the type of assessments that should be implemented for 21^st century skills. According to the site: “To be effective, sustainable and affordable, assessments must use modern technologies to increase efficiency and timeliness. Standardized tests alone can measure only a few of the important skills and knowledge students should learn. A balance of assessments, including high quality standardized testing, along with effective classroom assessments; offer students a powerful way to master the content and skills central to success” (Partnership for 21st century skills, 2011).

            When looking over the laundry list of skills that we must teach our students for the 21^st century, the task is daunting. Some of these skills we have long taught while others should be the domain of parents and religious organizations. However, I can understand why we, the teachers, are the role models for a large majority of our students. I would like input from my colleagues. What do you think of these skills? How do we incorporate all of these skills into the classroom? Personally, schools would have to change. There can no longer be constant interruptions from senior trips, proms, dances, assemblies to test days. You cannot cover this amount of material from September until March when the big state tests are given, then cover more for May when the AP exams are given, covering more for early June when the End of Course state tests are given. Seriously?! Let us teach! Do not interrupt the classroom flow, there should be no state assessments in March, the state assessments should all be changed to End of Course exams that are given the first week in June. Giving assessments along these lines will enable teachers to cover large amounts of required skills and content in an uninterrupted fashion, keeping the flow moving, enabling students to get the scope and sequence of the course in preparation for one large test in June.

Works Cited

Partnership for 21st century skills. (2011). (Partnership for 21st century skills) Retrieved January 23, 2012, from http://www.p21.org/

http://www.p21.org

I can open my current blog about history curriculum up to my students’ comments, but the truth is that a separate blog dealing with a topic they are learning about would be a better tool. I am in the middle of a unit on Enlightened Despotism, which leads into the French Revolutionary Period. Developing a blog about Napoleon, someone that the students are always interested in and are willing to research would be a more appropriate blog for my history class. I would love to set something up about the good Napoleon vs. the bad Napoleon.
When I was in Ireland a few years ago, Trinity College in Dublin was having a Napoleon exhibit. My son and I attended the exhibit, which was very prejudicial against Napoleon; my son did not understand why the Irish would be against Napoleon, since my son was correctly taught that the Irish backed Napoleon and would have loved to see the defeat of England. I explained that Elizabeth I founded Trinity College as a stronghold of Protestantism in Catholic Ireland, that her goal was to convert the heathens to Protestantism. The English Protestants were Napoleon’s greatest enemy, not the Catholic Irishmen. The exhibit was prejudicial because of the religious dissent at the back of all modern history. A blog based on the two views of Napoleon would be a great sounding board for the students, a good learning experience for both the students and me, and a tool for research and writing. 
I would set this blog up for my European History class, which is a 12th grade elective course. It will enable my European history students to share their findings, to discuss the different points of view and to make their research viewable to all instead of just me. As our text states: “Blogs engage readers with ideas and questions and links. They ask readers to think and to respond. They demand interaction.” (Richardson, 2010, p. 18). Blogging can become a good tool to help students think and write at a higher level, using more analysis and synthesis over a longer period time with reflection on what they have posted to the blog. (Richardson, 2010). The blog can be the tool that aids the students in their thesis development and overall writing. 


Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (Third Edition ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, a Sage Company.

Organization of United States History Curriculum

Current discussions in the social studies department center on where my high school should begin to teach United States History.  In addition, we are discussing the placement of these courses, their starting period for 10th and 11th grades, US I and US II history.The state "end of course" exams are not yet  implemented so it is important to gather input from stakeholders including teachers, administrators, parents, students, and curriculum experts.
The implementation of technology into these newly redesigned courses also needs to be addressed. Will the community be supportive of changing each social studies classroom into a 21st century classroom? These classrooms will each have smart boards, laptops for each student, LCD projectors in the ceilings, among just a few of the technological advances needed to create interactive 21st century classrooms.