Week 5: Tech Tools for Critical Thinking

During Week 5 we learned about learning theories and styles, open source software and we explored and mastered sights Webspiration and Wordle. A learning theory is an attempt to understand how people learn. There are three main types of learning theories; behaviorism, information process theory and constructivism. Behaviorists look at cause and effect relationships and how they are observed through behavior. The information process theory views the mind as a computer and analyzes how it stores and processes relevant information. Constructivists believe that humans construct knowledge through their minds based upon experience. Learning styles refer to the conditions in which we learn best; there are three main types of learning styles including visual, auditory and tactile-kinesthetic.  In addition to learning styles and theories, we also learned about open source software and how to use an example like webspiration. Open source software refers to computer software that has an accessible source code form that allows users to change, study and often distribute software. As a result of open software, the famous free operating system Linux was created in 1984. I also gained new skills in week 5 through the use of webspiration and wordle. Webspiration is a sight that allows its users to create intricate concept maps that are easy to share and collaborate on. Wordle is a tool that creates a graphic representation of text in a word cloud that shows the main ideas of a piece of writing or text. Different learning styles and open source software expanded my technology knowledge and are definitely ideas and skills that will be useful to incorporate in my classroom.

Being aware of different learning styles and how to teach to each style is important for any educator. It is vital for me as a teacher to understand the different learning styles so that I can try to cater to each student’s needs in the classroom. A good teacher uses different instructional approaches and considers the audience, environment and topic before deciding what the best activities are to do. In addition to being aware of the varying learning styles, open source software is also an important aspect of technology that can be utilized in a classroom. For example, sites like webspiration are a great way for students to map out their ideas on a topic and it is an easy way for parents, other students and the teacher to collaborate and share ideas. Another tool that can be utilized in the classroom is Wordle. There are numerous ways in which a teacher can use wordle. Wordle is a great way for students to self reflect on essays and main ideas and to summarize other pieces of literature or work.

I found this Youtube video to be silly and creative but also informative about the different types of learning styles that we learned about this week. The video really emphasized the importance of catering to each learning style within a classroom setting; this is something all teachers have to try to accomplish when teaching a lesson. The auditory learner in the video was able to understand the calculus problem just by hearing the explanation from the teacher. The visual learner needed to see the problem worked out on the board and the kinesthetic learner was able to grasp the concept by working through an example problem on the board. These three different learning styles represent the diversity of individuals and how they learn which will definitely be present in a classroom setting.