Businesses once needed employees that knew how to take and follow directions. Now, they are looking for people who can work together to solve problems not just within the organization but globally. (Solomon, G., & Schrum, L., 2007) To prepare our students for this type of work and future changes, they need to be literate in a different way. “To be literate today involves acquiring new skills, including those of using technology, understanding science, having global awareness, and most important, having the ability to keep learning.” (Solomon, G., & Schrum, L., 2007) Through the different articles and videos for this week, I learned about the three different educational theories, constructivism, connectivism and cyborg. These theories focus on the changing the way educators teach and students learn. Constructivism theorizes that students come with a set of knowledge which will impact what and how they learn the new information presented to them (Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 1999). This process is individualized, as each student will use a variety of ways, but not the same ways, to learn new information being provided. Connectivism seems to agree with this but takes it one step further by saying that external connections that students make with other students, people, data, and so on, also impact their learning (Siemens, G., nd).
In both of these theories, the inclusion of technology as a tool to learning is important. Using technology along with a well-designed lesson, “not only increases student learning, understanding and achievement but also augments motivation to learn” (Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K., 2007). Kevin Warwirk, (nd), in his video, Cyborg Life, took technology one step further. He proposes that in the future, technology will be implanted into people and that the knowledge will be downloaded into their brain. In this way, nature is given a helping hand to improve on the human design. It is this Cyborg theory that made me think about the future. By creating this hybrid of human and machine (cyborg), though it may be an easy way to access information, we will need to find a way to ensure that the information is used responsibly and ethically. In the end, “The tools student use may change where and how they get the information, but only educators can make sure that students learn how to process and use that information wisely. (Solomon, G., & Schrum, L., 2007).
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Introduction, 1 – 14.
Siemens, G. (nd). The Changing Nature of Knowledge. Youtube.com. Retrieved on October 5, 2009 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMcTHndpzYg
Solomon, G., & Schrum, L.(2007). Web 2.0: New tools, New schools. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education, 7 – 44
Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, (1999). Learning as a personal event: A brief introduction to constructivism. Retrieved on October 4, 2009 from http://www.sedl.org/pubs/tec26/intro2c.html
Warwirk, K. (nd). Cyborg Life. Youtube.com. Retrieved on October 5, 2009 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB_l7SY_ngI
