Digital Blog Post C- Chapter 3

            There are many parts of Chapter Three of Transforming Learning with New Technologies that were related to the different types of learning. After reading the book I was very much drawn to active learning. The term active learning refers to students being physically and cognitively involved in the learning process. In other words students are personally doing something to compare and contrast ideas in the learning environment. I was particularly drawn to active learning because it is something I would like to implement in my classroom. I prefer a classroom environment where students can be hands on in most of the things they do. However, this chapter also makes it clear that hands on learning isn't always the best bet. You need to adapt to the lesson you are trying to teach because not everything can be taught by comparing and contrasting.

Another approach to teaching is teacher-centered or transmission teaching. Transmission teaching is when the major energy of the class goes from the teacher to the students. This method includes students reading textbooks, completing worksheets, and taking multiple choice tests and quizzes. Teacher-centered methods help to convey information to students who are expected to learn and use it. This method is also referred to as information processing or an acquisition approach to teaching and learning. After reading into this type of teaching I find that it seems appropriate under certain circumstances. While, I am all for students being hands on and learning their own way, I do agree that a quiz and some worksheets are needed from time to time to reinforce the lessons.  I enjoyed learning more about this form of teaching, because it has helped open my eyes a bit to the different ways of instructing a class.

My final point of interest was the inquiry learning style. In this method students are engaged in projects where they do authentic and active work by investigating relevant questions in the subject field. Inquiry learning allows students to use information in many different ways, more vast than those presented in a teacher lecture. Students do so through researching a hypotheses, collecting data, formulating conclusions and presenting their findings. An example of this is when students do science fair projects; they go through all of the steps of the scientific method and then present their data to their fellow classmates. I enjoy this type of learning because it can be used for many different classes, and lessons. As a teacher, I could assign students reading assignments, and have them study the text, followed by presenting their opinions and conclusions.




By: Laura Ruiz on bubbl.us

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.