So for assignment 1, I had to create a learning matrix and post it on Word Press. I have never made a learning matrix but I have made a website using Word Press before for class. Word Press is probably the best website builder I have used, but it can be very annoying at times with the mass amount of plug ins needed to make a very good site, and the constant tinkering you have to do to make it look the way you want. But overall it is a really good site builder.
As for the matrix. It was not really hard to make overall, I really just needed to understand what a matrix was and what the best method in making one was. I chose Word because I find Word easier to deal with, and Excel is probably the one that I never like using. Docs I am just now getting used to. I have never been tech savvy, and I think that is one of the areas I really need to work on getting better with so I think going forward I will try to use Word sparingly to better understand alternatives.
As for using the methods that were discussed, I am starting to see their merits in practice while doing my student observations. Not everyone learns the same, and educators must be adaptive in their lessons and lesson planning to address better ways to ensure student learning. I think my biggest takeaway from these observations is that students are more likely to learn if they are more involved in the learning process. The old way of teaching in hours of lecturing, death by PowerPoint, busy work, and mountains of homework have proven not to be the most effective way of student learning. Students engagement is key to student learning.
I think all the methods (Constructivism, Behaviorism, Cognitivism, and Connectivism) are key to student learning, and not just one method is superior over the others. Constructivism teaches us that we should encourage life long learners. These thoughts date back to the Ancient Greeks and encourage an educated citizenry. Behaviorism teaches us that humans can react differently to different stimuli. Critique to one student’s work will probably influence them differently to another. No one reacts the same. I think no one learns the same as the cognitive theorist theorize. We should encourage different processes and methods of learning. Finally, connectivism is fairly new, but essential in the digital age. Our students are glued to technology and social media nearly every hour they are awake. It would be a mistake not to incorporate those things into our lesson planning
The resources I used were Word Press, Word, PDF, and the below linked articles:
https://www.wgu.edu/blog/five-educational-learning-theories2005.html
Educational Blogging 