Cognitive learning theories aides our teaching to help our students get involved in the lesson. In the text Using Technology with Classroom Instruction the Works (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007.), the two instructional strategies I use are advanced organizers and note taking. These two strategies allow the learner to take information, and see it visually, and then connect it to prior knowledge which helps them remember it. My goal is to use strategies that involve my students, strategies that are student-centered, not just copying information because I told them they had to remember it.
An advanced organizer allows the student to focus on an essential question then make connections as information is gathered. As I learned to use concept mapping in the unit I am teaching, I was excited to finally find a way to help students link together events and ideas to support the essential question. For example, my students have a difficult time understanding why the Jews did not fight back during the Holocaust. By using a virtual field trip, students gain a deeper understanding as the see photographs, watch videos, and read true stories of survivors. Once students take a virtual field trip, an advanced organizer, like a concept map, can be used to connect all the information they have gathered.
PowerPoint can be a tool used in note taking instead of just copying notes from a text and writing them in a notebook. With keeping my Holocaust unit in mind, students could create a slide or slides with an image that supports the notes students gather focused on concentration camps or a ghetto. For seventh graders, the image of the camp with a bulleted list that describes life in a concentration camp could be a powerful way to organize and comprehend the life for the Jewish people.
Creating experiences for our students will help them remember the information. (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011.) Using concept maps and PowerPoint to help organize the overwhelming amount of material covered during a Holocaust study would be of great benefit. Cognitive learning theories are the core of good teaching. Creating experiences, connecting information, and analyzing material is essential to good instruction.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Program five. Cognitive learning theory [Webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Shelley,
ReplyDeleteI too am excited to have discovered virtual field trips. I can't wait to share the one about the life of the Pilgrims with my students. We are beginning our unit on the 13 colonies next week and this will be a great launch activity. I wish such technology would have been available when I was in elementary school. I will also be using a content map for notetaking.
I am glad we are going back through the different learning theories. It has refreshed my outlook on classroom management.
Martha
Martha,
ReplyDeleteI agree! I got lucky with our computer lab this week, so my students have been exploring the Holocaust virtually. The first day, I let them just look around. I had them use the headphones and listen to whatever they wanted. The second day, we read a specific story and took notes. Then, we filled in one of the concept maps to organize what happened to the Jews from Poland. The third day the students are completing a scavenger hunt so that they will visit each theme on the web site.
What a difference virtual field trips make! I hope your students love it as much as mine. Exploring the learning theories again have helped me refocus my instruction. The good news is that I think we are discovering that we all were using these theories, we just forgot what they were called! Thanks for the comments and I hope your trip is a good one!
Shelley
I like your comments about teaching students how to take and organize notes so they can use it, "not just copying information because I told them they had to remember it", or just because they get 10 points a day for notes, etc. I do not believe that students know how to take notes. I was never really taught how to take notes, not even in college, where my notes were all over the place. Another point is that students need to go back and study their notes and if they are organized and have clear cues and structure it will help them learn.
ReplyDeletethank you for your post
Scott
p.s. I tried commenting a few days ago and I could not open your page. I am not sure why.
.
Scott,
ReplyDeleteThat's weird. I have no idea why it wouldn't open! Technology. Maybe the site was down?
Note taking was hard for me, too! I get SCOPE magazine (Scholastic) for my class and they have great printable material with each issue. This month I used the graphic organizers provided to explain cause and effect, but the best thing was a video with a worksheet to take notes on. We watched the video twice just to get good notes written, then I gave them time to form their answers in complete sentences. Reading has changed because our students have to learn to read a web page, watch videos, and take notes. It sounds easy, but developing listening skills is harder than they think.
Thanks for your comments!
Shelley
Shelley,
ReplyDeleteI love using virtual field trips (especially when you can't actually go there) to help my students understand and gain a deeper understanding of what you are teaching.
I also like the idea of using PowerPoint to both teach and integrate note taking into your lesson.
Thanks for your ideas!
Nicole
Shelley,
ReplyDeleteYou have some really good technology integration ideas. I think that note taking is a hard concept for students to master. A lot of the reason is that students don't know how to correctly take notes. They find it hard to differentiate between useful and non useful information and how is should be organized. This is a huge concept in my classroom since I teach 4th grade in NY. On our ELA state test the students have to take notes on a story I read and then use those notes to answer questions and write an essay. Because of this teaching the students how to take and organize their notes is very important. Whenever we start talking about note-taking the students think they know exactly how to do it, until we start breaking it down. Teaching students how to take and organize their notes is a life-long skill that they will use throughout their life.
Great post,
Chad
Nicole and Chad,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. I enjoyed using virtual fields, too. Taking notes is tough for seventh graders! I can't imagine taking notes in fourth grade as part of the testing. That's great that you have figured out a way to help them break it down. If your fourth graders can figure it out, my seventh graders have no excuse!
Thanks,
Shelley