April 1

The other class I am taking along with this one is Critical Pedagogy. I have learned so much in that class. I was reading our chapter for homework and it was discussing ....ta da...homework. It said that we should give students time in class and a safe environment to complete homework assignments. I feel this is true. However, I feel this is especially true with homework that has anything to do with technology. First, many families do not have access to computers or various software. Second, some families may not know how to use various technology. If we as teachers assign homework, we need to be sure that students are able to complete the assigned task. I teach Kindergarten and there really is not much homework we are required to use the computer for. But for older grades there is and should be. I know during black history month the students in fourth grade at my school have to research a famous black person. They are required to use technology in this assignment. I also know that many of the children where I work do not have computers at home. I was glad to find out that time is set aside for them to use the computers in the library. I know integrating technology into homework is important. However, we cannot ask children to do things that are not possible for them. We must make a way for them to be able to complete their homework in a safe environment and with the help of others.

comments about def. of learning

Mealnie,I found an article online about learning and memory. I believe what you are talking about is memory. Learning is different. Learning is how you acquire new information about the world and memory is how you store that information. Learning is more of a process. Learning is the ability to make sense of the environment and world and understanding the world around you. Learning is making sense. It involves taking knowledge and relating to other knoweldge and your world. I feel like it is easy to get the two confused. However, I feel we should concentrate on learning as a process. I'm just throwing out ideas here. I want to know what others think!

I agree with that! I LOVED her class. It was amazing!

Jill, I agree with this defintion becaus it focuses more on the process of learning and not jsut memory. I feel this is good!

agree with the first part but not so much the second. For example, I have learned ALOT in my graduate classes. I can pass the test and write the papers. However, alot I don't remember or apply to my life and my teaching. You can learn without it being in your memory. But you REALLY learn things that aplly to you and you know will be useful!

That is real learning. When you use it. However, you can learn something just long enough to be successful for the needed reason. I feel like there may be different levels of learning. There could be learning just to get by or please others. There is learning that is personal and meaningful and useful.

But learning definitely is a process. The storing away deals with memory. These two are seperate.

I agree. The statement I am trying to make is that there are many different ways and levels of learning. Also, learning is different than memory. Learning is a process!

Learning is a process and memory is a product. Do you not agree with that because that is only what I am saying. I am just saying that there is a thin line between a process, learning, and a product, memory. I do not think memory and learning as the same. I think they are different. I fthey were the same there would not be any thing such as unlearning or relearning. Do you not agree that there are many different levels and degrees of learning?

This is exaclty what I AM saying! I started all of this because the first few post were saying that learning is when you remember or memorize something and I was saying that is not tru. Learning and memory are different! That's all I was saying.

Learning and memory do go hane in hand. All I am saying is that remembering is not learning. That is not all there is to it.

I agree with all of this.

I enjoy this discussion. I think it is great to hear all the sides. However, we all agree that memorization is wrong. However, it is a way to learn. It is a product of learning. I mean think about all the memorization WE have done. "My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas" This is what I feel. 1.)Learning is a process. Depositing what we have learned into our brains for a period of time or memorizing is a product of learning. Learning and memory are not the same thing. 2.)There are many different levels of learning and memory. There are many different varied degrees of learning and memory. 3) Memorization is wrong but WE have all personally experienced it and still know and use it today. You have to. What about phone numbers? Faces? Websites? All of this we have memorized (stored in our memory). I feel like we are on the same team but we are misreading each other or something.Thank you for your discussion. I enjoy it!

March 25

Chapter 7 is on distance learning. I chose to write about this because I feel there are different kinds of distance learning and various pros and cons. The pros are that it makes education available to many different people who may not have the time to go to class because of jobs or family. They may not have the money to attend face -to-face schools because some distance learning programs are cheaper than tradtional. You must personally be highly motivated to succeed in tradtional distance leraning. Russell says that students have the same achievement from distance leraning as they do from face-to-face instruction. However, earlier the book said there is NO substitute for a real teacher. I feel like Russell may be used incorrectly as a source here because they do not tell what age group he is talking about and exactly what type of distance learning he is discussing. By taking a short look at the faculty office page of blackboard, WE hve way more problems in this distance education class than we probably would fae-to-face. Luckily, we have a good instructor who answers all of our questions in a timely manner. However, that is not true for all distance learning classes. Personally, I feel that the traditional form of distance learning with no face-to-face, or very few, meetings is best for college and graduate students because t really takes a highly motivated individual to be successful at these. However, remember reading an artcile about a local High School participating in distance learning. However, they had a distance instructor as well as a classroom supervisor who was there to personally help them whenever they needed it. I thnk this type of distance learning is good for upper elementary, middle school and high school.

March 4

Redang chapter 7, abput introducing th Internet, made me think back to my lesson plan critique. I teach Kindergarten and I feel they are not too young to learn about the Internet. I feel like my lesson plan I critiqued would be a great way for them to learn more about the Internet. However, I would have to do it in whole group first, small groups, so I could help them better, and, finally, let them work on it individually. This basic outline could be used with whatever you are studying, however, my particular lesson plan was about bears. The goal of the lesson plan was to, eventaully, have the children find a present a fact that they learned, from the Internet, about their favorite bear. This woud be presented with a picture the found on the Internet. The first time they did this on a topic, it would take a while. Eventually this would take about a week. This simple lesson on bears could easily be used for learning about anything, which is basically what we use the Internet for. This is real world learning at it's best.