Tricia's Blogsphere

Rubrics

2004-11-19T05:28:00.000-08:00

I found our class discussion about rubics quite interesting last night. All the WebQuests that we looked at as examples contain rubrics and most articles you read about WebQuests suggest that rubrics are popular. So you GOTTA put a rubric in ALL WebQuests, right?

Wrong. I was unsure of what I was going to do about a rubric in my WebQuest (because the examples we were given and the articles I've read suggest that you use rubrics, I felt that I needed to include one) and discovered that I was just putting it off because I don't believe rubrics are really constructivist in nature.

Rubrics, in my opinion, are another way of presenting objectives and imposing the 'teachers' requirements on the learner. The learner is still 'marked' according to a rubric imposed by the 'teacher'.

Perhaps, instead of calling them rubrics, guidelines would be a better term to use.

This all goes back to context in which we are designing our instruction. For example, in a public school system, university and or Community College setting, you are really limited in what you can do in terms of evaluation. At the end of the day you STILL have to give marks. It seems to me that there would need to be a radical change in the fabric of how institutions view and adminster marks in order to move toward a more constructivist environment.

I really like the idea of pass/fail based but you still have to impose 'guidelines' of what it means to pass or fail. Learning portfolios and self evaluation/reflection is a nice idea and one I'm currently quite interested in exploring further.

Audio Recording Our Class Discussions?

2004-11-08T17:15:00.000-08:00

After our last class and the lively reflection/discussion we had about our PowerPoint games and the new discussions that came to life while we each presented our WebQuest topics, I think it's a shame that our discussion is now a thing of the past.... I wish it could be kept alive. This leads me to ask the question "How do you retain those 'ah hah' moments in the classroom?

Would it be worthwhile for us to audio-tape our classroom discussions? What could those audio-tapes be used for? My answer, I think they could be used for a lot! They could be converted to digital format and uploaded to the Web...then everyone who is interested in what the class of ED:6225 (2004) had to say about constructivism, WebQuests, Blogs, Wikis, CLEs, problem-based, goal-based and other constructivist learning philosophies and what we think about the NASA World Wind Project could download our audio file(s) and be enlightened :-)

They could be used for research, they could be used as resource material for future offerings of ED:6225, the possibilities are endless.

It's certainly not a new concept but I believe it's one worth thinking about.

Brent Wilson on Thinking About Constructivism

2004-10-11T15:49:00.000-07:00

I found this article by Brent Wilson and it really sums up how I think of constructivism:

To still others, constructivism is an underlying way of thinking that informs instructional decisions and activities--but does not imply specific strategies (Wilson, 1997). Teaching from a constructivist viewpoint may include a drill, or a lecture, or a prepared reading assignment without sacrifice of principle. A constructivist would ask, what are the fundamental aims?How is meaning construction best facilitated in this case? Strategies are then placed opportunistically in the service of these worthwhile ends.

http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~bwilson/WebLearning.html

Distributed Cognition

2004-10-06T07:18:00.000-07:00

My search to find information about Distributed Cognition started online where, as you can imagine, I found several references to the topic. The following definitions are ones that I found caputured the essence of distributed cognition:

According to Wikipedia, Distributed Cognition is:

"a school of psychology developed in the 1990s by Edwin Hutchins. Using insights from sociology and the psychology of Vygotsky (cf Activity Theory) it emphasises the social aspects of cognition. Distributed cognition views a system as a set of representations, and models the interchange of information between these representations. These representations can be either in the mental space of the participants or external representations available in the environment"(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_cognition).

Jy Wana Daphne Lin Hsiao of the College of Education at the University of Texas at Houston defines distributed cognition as being:

"The concept of distributed cognition emphasizes the interaction among individual, environment, and cultural artifacts. It claims that development and growth of cognitions of individuals should not be isolated events, rather the changes should be a reciprocal process. It starts from the minds of individuals, through the reciprocal teaching and guide each others or acquainting themselves with the tools. It leads to the changes of the subsequent joint performances and products, the improved competencies then can distribute among and reside in individuals. As who plays the leading role in influencing distributed cognitions is really situated bounded"(http://www.edb.utexas.edu).

Yvonne Rogers and Mike Scaife from the School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences at the University of Sussex summarize distributed cognition in the following manner, characterising it as:

"a hybrid approach to studying all aspects of cognition, from a cognitive, social and organisational perspective" (http://www-sv.cict.fr/cotcos/).

I also found the following definitions of Distributed Learning to be helpful:

Definitions of distributed learning on the Web:

1. (n.) A student-centered approach to learning that incorporates the use of technology in the learning process and, according to Chris Dede, emphasizes four educational characteristics: 1. supports different learning styles by using mixed media; 2. builds on the learner's perspective through interactive educational experiences; 3. builds learning skills and social skills through collaboration among learners and with the community; 4. integrates the learning into daily life by doing authentic tasks. www.wested.org/tie/dlrn/course/glossary.html

2. Students take courses from a variety of sources (and delivery modes) to customize a program of study. Often is used synonymously with online learning. www.neiu.edu/~dbehrlic/hrd408/glossary.htm

3. any educational activity that does not require regular physical attendance. www.scoea.bc.ca/glossary2001.htm

4. the storage of information in memory that occurs over a long period of time rather than all at once lms.thomsonelearning.com/hbcp/glossary/glossary.taf

5. A type of distance learning. It is facilitated by an instructor and uses video conferencing to unite a class. www0.alx.org/glossary.asp

6. Distance learning that makes use of information technology. Includes most types of distance learning but not plain correspondence (very similar to e-Learning ) www.lct-waidmayr.at/e_glossary.htm

I have included a few links under Useful Resources/Fav. Sites that refer to distributed cognition.

A Journey Into Constructivism: An Article by Martin Dougiamas

2004-09-13T17:43:00.000-07:00

Martin Dougiamas' article "A Journey into Constructivism" is well worth the read. His article is written in such a way that is easy to understand and his use of metaphor to articulate his ideas is refreshing.

One aspect of Dougiamas' article that I find quite clever is the way he has chosen to physically layout the words on the page/screen and his use of contrasting text colors (black text for the main article and brownish/yellowish italicized text for the sub-story which unfolds in-tandem with the main article). Dougiamas demonstrates -- with visuals (color and italicized text) and words that two things are happening at the same time, both are linked and it's virtually impossible to read one thing without considering the other and vice versa. He succeeds in demonstrating his point that you cannot ignore context. Life happens all around us and we are not passive recipients but active learners.

To read Martin Dougiamas' article, follow the link below:

http://dougiamas.com/writing/constructivism.html

Note: For some reason the link takes you to the middle of the article. I've tried to change it but had no success. You'll have to scroll back to the top of the article to read the full article.

Stephen Downes' Website

2004-09-11T14:59:00.000-07:00

Stephen's Web -- a weblog maintained by Stephen Downes, a senior research officer with the National Research Council of Canada whose research focus is e-Learning-- is a blog that contains a wealth of useful information for anyone in the field of education, teaching and/or learning. In other words, it's a blog that everyone can learn from.

Stephen's Web is one of my favorite sites for several reasons, the top five being:

1. The views expressed are similar to my own
2. The blog is well-maintained and current
3. The ideas expressed are well-thought out and insightful
4. If you feel the need to express yourself.....YOU CAN!!
5. It is a fine example of a constructivist learning environment

You can find information about recent or upcoming conferences, published articles, relevant web sites or even learn about Stephen's cat -- who is the first cat in Manitoba to have her own website.

Is ED6225 A Constructivist Learning Environment?

2004-09-11T14:53:00.000-07:00

From the time I walked into the classroom of ED6225: Designing Constructivist Learning Environments, I was pleasantly suprised when Ellen told us we were expected to determine our own learning goals and outline how we felt we should be evaluated. By doing this, Ellen was passing ownership of her learners learning over to ... her learners. Bravo!

The Handshake excercise was a great constructivist demonstration, which illustrated the point that different individuals solve problems in different ways. There is no right or wrong way to problem solve. If it works for you, use it.

One portion of the class that I felt was non-constructivist was when Ellen was describing the various constructivist theorists. However, I know Ellen was quite aware of this and even said so while she was doing it.

Having a course outline in a course about designing constructivist learning environments is also questionable; however, one must consider that the course is operating within a 'bigger picture', --the University environment -- which has it's own 'rules and regulations/ theories' of how student's should be assessed and evaluated and how information should be presented.

Creating our own Blogs was a great experience. Ellen gave us the basic information we needed to set up our blogs and then left the class to it's own devices/skill sets to feel our way around our blogs. Overall, it was an excellent learning experience, which was enriched by everyone (with their various skill sets, experience) in the room.