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Utilizing Multiple Learning Theories in Blended Classrooms /A Practical Beginner’s Guide for K-12 Classroom Teachers /
Kim Ashcraft /
2/27/2013 /
Dr. Sunnie Watson
EDCI 572
The terms “blended learning” and “online learning” are becoming more and more prevalent in K-12 education and administrators have an ever-increasing expectation that their teachers not only understand this term, but are able to utilize best practice strategies of teaching and learning in doing so. To early practioners of blended learning the term is quite obvious, but it is not so obvious to those teachers who are just beginning their foray into using web technologies. Using web technologies is an overwhelming undertaking when one is new to it and one of the most common mistakes that teachers make is using technology for the sake of using technology. Technology in the classroom should be used when it best aligns with the learning goals. Utilizing learning theories is an excellent way for the classroom teacher to design lessons which leverage both technology and best practice and help ensure that the right technology is utilized in the best possible learning scenario for the content to be learned. This paper will be most useful for a teacher who is at the beginning of his or her online journey (both new and experienced teachers) and the goal of this paper is four-fold: 1)to provide practical definitions for some key terms that are particularly relevant for blended learning, 2) to describe how and why a teacher might blend multiple learning theories to accomplish a teaching/learning objective, 3) to discuss what drives teachers to use certain technologies, and 4) to provide some relevant and specific examples of web and digital technologies that are currently available and how they align with the learning theories mentioned. I will begin with a few practical definitions and discussion of the terms that I will be using in the following paragraphs as they apply particularly to blended learning.
Blended learning: generally applies when the teacher uses a combination of traditional face-to-face learning and digital, usually web-based, learning solutions. Most teachers are now doing this, even though they may not know the term for what they are doing.
Behaviorist Learning Theory: “involves a stimulus, a response and the association between the two,”(Ertmer & Newby, 1993). This is learning in observable, behavioral terms. In verbal learning, the stimulus is the presentation of the verbal knowledge to the learner and feedback to the learner, the response is what or how the learner demonstrates the presented knowledge and the association is how the cycles of presentation and feedback influence the learners’ abilty to show that they have “learned” that information. Behaviorists always begin with a set of “instructional objectives.” “Mastery learning,” “personalized learning” and “reinforcements” (Driscoll, 2005) capture the Behaviorist ideas of repetition, constructive feedback and behavior modification towards mastery of the instructional goal. Behaviorism is at the root of very many digital learning products today and can be very effective for some kinds of blended learning.
Cognitivist Learning Theory: this theory sees the mind as a sort of computer with sensory, working, and long-term memory stages driving the internal learning processes. Cognitivism is concerned with capturing and keeping the learner’s attention (sensory memory), presenting information in a logical, sequential, and not too difficult manner that doesn’t clog up too many brain resources at once (working memory) and “encoding” the information properly so that it can be used or remembered later (long-term memory), (Driscoll, 2005). The idea of “automaticity,” (Driscoll, 2005), has parallels in the Behaviorist idea of repetition. Metacognition, or understanding one’s own learning,also is important to help encode information properly.
Cognitive Load Theory: an extension of Cognitivism, this theory focuses on how to avoid overloading the working memory during the learning process. This has important implications in on-line learning because of the multimedia bombardment that is often the case with digital presentations.
Constructivist Learning Theory: this theory is grounded in the belief that learners make meaning for themselves from the world and sources around them rather than learning by prescription or extremely structured objectives. Some basic ideas include social and collaborative learning, learning in authentic or simulated environments (rather than just facts and figures). The ideas of “ownership” and “self awareness in learning” (Driscoll, 2005) are parallel to the idea of metacognition in Cognitive theory. This learning theory is the most widely written about for use in online learning and there are very many web technologies available to accomplish constructivist teaching and learning goals.
Teacher Beliefs and Technology Use
Research shows that the type of technology that teachers are likely to use has a strong correlation with their existing pedagogical beliefs (Ertmer, 2005), (Koҁ, 2005). Both Ertmer and Koҁ conclude that teachers who are more constructivist in their epistemological beliefs are more likely to use technology in general. Ertmer further cites Becker (1994, 1999): “In general, low-level technology uses tend to be associated with teacher-centered practices while high-level uses tend to be associated with student-centered, or constructivist, practices.” Koҁ (2005) states the outcome of a study on teachers: “…experienced teachers had a tendency to embrace objectivist views of learning…” Interestingly, Ertmer (2005) also writes that even when teachers describe themselves as constructivist, their technology integration is often more behaviorist in nature. Most teachers who are using technology are generally using “ drill-and-practice tutorials, games, word processing and publishing appklications (Koҁ, 2005). Both Ertmer and Koҁ agree that in order for this to change dramatically, there needs to be more meaningful technology use in pre-service programs and that will take a number of years. So, what about the very many teachers who are already in practice and far from their pre-service days? Of course there is hope and it comes in the form of professional development and individual motivation to learn. There seem to be fewer studies based on those “experienced” teachers so I believe that more research needs to be conducted in order to understand more fully what experienced teachers are really doing, what they need, and if, perhaps, there isn’t more constructivist learning happening in their classrooms than the current research indicates.
The Blending of Theories
It is my personal conviction and practice that learning theories are most valuable when used in conjunction with each other. Ally (2004) and (Alzaghoul) quote Ertmer and Newby (1993):
“Behaviorists’ strategies can be used to teach the what (facts); cognitive
strategies can be used to teach the how (processes and principles); and
constructivist strategies can be ued to teach the why (higher-level thinking
that promotes personal meaning, and situated and contextual learning).”
Research shows that poor design equals poor educational outcomes even when the delivery method is digital. In other words, technology itself does not make for good design, it’s the quality of the design and the pedagogy behind it that makes a difference (Johnson and Aragon 2002). We know that learning differences exist among learners and thus a blending of theories to present instruction is necessary in order to touch all learners. Similarly, it is not realistic to expect that every learner would be able to jump into a high-level task that might be too abstract for them. Some learners absolutely need to begin with concrete and repetitive tasks that a behavioristic approach to blended learning can provide.
Behaviorist Web Applications
In my opinion, Behaviorism is currently being denigrated when it should not be. It has its place in education, and an important place that is. While it is true that some content areas might be successful never using behaviorist principles, others cannot survive without them. For example, languages and mathmatics rely heavily upon a cycle of repetition and feedback. If carried out correctly, these help lead to mastery. Jonassen (2000) as reported in Koҁ (2005) agrees that “CAI [computer aided instruction] can increase achievement because it leads to automaticity of lower-level skills through extended practice.” The automaticity of facts and simple processes is instrumental in reducing the cognitive load placed on working memory from the Cognitivist point of view. There are many products available to teachers for such uses. One web application that I have found particularly rich in flexibility, user-friendliness and analytics is Quia, This site offers the ability to create classes and assign quizzes and activities to these classes. A password is generated for each student which they will use each time they access the system. One of the best features for creating constructive feedback is the ability to customize messages for both correct and incorrect answers. Feedback studies show that students will pay more attention to feedback and spend more time reading it when it explains why their answer was wrong and provides the correct answer for them. Hopefully in the next iteration of that question, the student will then get that answer correct. The analytics that are available include the ability to see such data as which questions were most missed or most correct, percentages, or an individual’s percentage. In addition, quizzes can be set for any number of attempts that the teacher desires and the analytics will keep track of each attempt and the time spent on each. If the learning goal requires repetition, it is hard to beat Quia as a resource. A motivational effect also occurs as the student is reinforced for correct answers and higher scores. A second tool that has much of the same versatility is Quizlet, . This particular site is student-friendly, has interactive gaming components that students like and even has some social media type options for students to work together. The analytics are a bit less robust but the ease of creating all sorts of digital flash cards and the interface is a hit with students. These are only two of many such applications available for drill and game type tasks.
Cognitivist/Cognitive Load Web Implications and Applications
As it applies to multimedia in blended learning, I would like to explore ideas of “dual channels, limited capacity and active processing” (Mayer & Moreno, 2003). These theories lend themselves more to the manner in which the teacher should design a multimedia learning and so they apply to nearly any digital presentation that the teacher creates or makes available to the students. “Dual channels” refers to the fact that the brain has separate channels for processing visual and verbal material and “limited capacity” means just that – each one is limited in its processing ability. “Active processing” means that the brain is required to work in both these channels for learning to occur. If the duration of working memory is approximately 20 seconds, (Ally, 2004), then information that causes a cognitive snag is going to hinder the ability for the working memory to effectively encode the information for future use. The problem is that most teachers bombard the visual and verbal processing channels with too much information at once. The cognitive “overload” can be caused by five different scenarios in multimedia instruction. Mayer and Moreno classify type 1 as a “split-attention effect” (Sweller 1999). This is common with instructors who have knowledge with animations. They typically will use animations in conjunction with written text. Instead, they should use voice narration with animation. Many teachers use presentation tools such as PowerPoint. PowerPoint and other presentation tools have the ability to add voice narration as well as animations. Another common problem is the inclusion of too many extraneous items for the sake of being colorful or artsy. A simple line drawing or diagram is often more effective than a flashy graphic, even though we are tempted to use the flashy graphic. This is because it competes less with the verbal information we want students to remember along with the graphic. Yet another rather obvious idea is to keep text labels with the graphic they identify. Fancy moving labels or offset labels cause cognitive overload so keep visual and verbal together. Slide Rocket, is a powerful web tool that teachers or students can use to create visually interesting presentations and there is a large array of features for incorporating other types of media. Just remember to keep it simple to avoid cognitive overload. Analytical features are also available for a fee.
Constructivist and Interactional Web Applications
Without a doubt, applications that address these theories are the most exciting and fun, for teacher and student and is “the most suitable one for online learning environments” (Mishra, 2002) These applications should be student centered. At times they are collaborative in nature (Social constructivism) (Swan, 2005) and at times personalized to suit each student individually and accommodate various learning styles. “Assessment practices are designed around real-life problems and promote self-evaluation”(Mishra, 2002) A large number of exciting web tools are available, including tools for online web discussions, creating wikis(Konieczny, 2007), developing digital portfolios and websites and collaborative group work.
Online Web Discussions: One excellent web tool to accommodate K-12 discussions is Collaborize Classroom, . It is a powerful tool which allows teachers to set up classes and even groups within classes. The instructor can begin with a thought-provoking video or image for the student to view and contemplate. The next stage might be a posed question for each student to answer or a question to vote on. After each student has answered the question or voted, then they respond to other students’ answers. There are many sample activities built into the teacher’s forum and it even comes with beginning lessons that teach students how to communicate with each other in a relevant and polite way in the online environment. Robinson (2011) and Gulati (2004) discuss the fact that many students are reticent to post and will often post only when their grade depends on it. This can be caused by a number of factors of insecurity and in these cases, “lurkers” (those who read but do not contribute) can be created. The moderators (teachers) of the fora are responsible for keeping the online posters on track so that everyone is contributing equally, but is “lurking” always bad? Gulati (2004) cites Nonnecke and Preece (2000):
“Lurking is not free-riding but a form of participation that is both acceptable
Beneficial to most online groups. Public posting is only one way in which
an online group can benefit from its members. All members of a group are
part of a large social milieu, and value derived from belonging to a group
may have far-reaching consequences.”
If used properly, this type of collaborative learning might be useful to “ improve students’ social skills or interpersonal skills ( (Huang, 2002).
Developing Digital Portfolios and Websites: Several wonderful tools are available and perfect for students to develop their own digital portfolios. This type of learning promotes self-awareness in learning and creates ownership (Driscoll, 2005). One great web tool is Weebly, . This tool again allows the teacher to create student accounts with passwords. Students can create digital portfolios with the website and house various projects that they do throughout the course. The site allows integration of animation, graphics, video, voice recording and html code. Students can create a number of tabbed pages to keep their digital products organized and the teacher can easily log in and view student progress. There is also a blog feature for students to provide peer evaluation and feedback for one another’s work, yet another example of social learning.
Conclusion
As I have discussed, learning theories are valuable in guiding teachers to choose appropriate web tools for inclusion in the K-12 classroom. A teacher who utilizes a variety of theories and the web tools to go along with them is more likely to be successful in teaching to the diverse learning styles that define the students of today. Some tools are best used for drilling basic information, some tools are great at presenting information in a sequential, non-confusing and efficient way and some tools help learners to develop their own meanings and self-awareness. I believe that a great deal more research needs to be conducted related to more experienced teachers using technology and research is also needed in areas of student achievement and motivation in using web tools. I remain convinced that all we need for exciting and successful teaching is already available, we need only to understand it and harness it through the careful choices that are dictated by future research in best practices.