Whats the Difference?

What is technology? Technology is things created by humans to help us

and solve problems. I need to define technology because to me and probably
many people, when we think of technology, we think of things that are high
tech such as computers, TV, telephone. But technology can be something as
simple as a pencil, or an umbrella.
Students can use technology to support their learning by easy
access of note taking. Sometimes, I use my laptop for note taking
because I type faster and I can easily view and access my notes
again. When I am reading word that I do not understand, I use the
dictionary app on my cellphone to define it for me. This is done easy
and fast because I carry my phone with me. I can easily define the
word and then continue with my reading. Another way technology
supports my learning is by letting me be creative in how I want to
present what I have learned to my classmates. Technology allows
me to decide how I would like to present whether it is through a
PowerPoint, a video, or just pictures. Another way technology
support my learning is with emails. I can easily email my
classmates, or my instructor when I need more support or even text
them.
Students can use technology to support their learning by searching on
the web to learn more about the subject in the classroom, taking photos of
the thing they learned, using other ideas to prove their point and so much
more. When a student present, s/he uses PowerPoint to present, or video to
recreate their learning. When a student learns to write, s/he uses the
computer to play letter games. When a student need help, s/he text her
friend for help. All this and much more are examples of how students support
their learning through technology.
There are many technologies that influence civilization. However, the
two major ones are television and cellphone. All three connect our lives and
keep us in touch with ones another. Television allows human beings to be
updated on content as well as keep us engage such the News. Cellphone
keeps us connected to our loved ones as well as give us access to the
internet to socialize and search. The internet I feel, is the biggest thing that
changed and influence civilization. The internet makes life simpler with just a
touch to connect, engage and pass knowledge that was not there before.
One can easily search through hundreds, or thousands of books. One can

find anything on the internet nowadays. Along with that, it connects us with
our families, friends, and other human beings. It allows us to purchase things
without leaving our house. It can help us navigate through places. The
internet has such a huge impact on civilization today that it is implemented
into every technology we own from computers to cellphone to even TV now.
Technologies are crucial in a classroom. I am not saying to use
technology to replace everything we do but to use it to engage as well help
our children learn because our children uses technology daily. Two
technologies that influence what and how students learn are the
computer/laptop/IPad, and games. Students use computers to learn through
watching and typing and through gaming influences, student learns through
hands on. Through computers, students are learning by watching videos,
reading, easy access to all the knowledge out there and to expressing
themselves. Through playing games, children are learning by hands on.
Overall, they are learning rules and regulations, how to do things, how to use
technology, how to wait, how to be creative, how to succeed, how to read,
how to connect and how to express themselves. They are basically learning
about the world around them.

Theorist Graphics
Piaget

Th
eorist Jean Piaget developed 4 stages of development. They are the
sensorimotor stage (from birth to age 2), the preoperational stage (age 2-7),
the concrete operational stage (ages 7-11) and the formal operational stage
(adolescence into adulthood). In the Sensorimotor stage, infants and toddlers
learn new knowledge through their sensory experiences and manipulating
objects. Infants and toddlers learn though looking at things, touching them
and putting them in their mouth. Toward the end of this stage children
develop what Piaget called object permanence in which children starts to
understand that even though they dont see an object does not mean it does
not exist. In the preoperational stage, children learn through pretend play but
struggle with understanding another persons point of view. In the concrete
operational stage, kids are starting to think more logically. They also stop
thinking about their self as much and more about other people. The formal
operational stage is the final stage in Piagets theory. In this stage, there is
an increase in logic, reasoning and understanding of abstract ideas.
http://psychology.about.com/od/piagetstheory/a/keyconcepts.htm
Bruner

Jerome Bruner proposed three modes of representation: Enactive

representation (action-based), Iconic representation (image-based), Symbolic
representation (language-based) which information or knowledge are stored
and encoded in memory.
Enactive involves an action based information and storing it in our memory.
For example, shaking a rattle and this makes the rattling sound. A baby will
remember the motion. Iconic representation develops next in which the
information stored is in the form of images. For example, using diagram or
pictures of a story to remember information. The last to develop is symbolic
representation in which the information is stored in a form of a code or
symbol such as language. Symbols are more flexible so a person can
manipulate, classify or put it into order. In this stage, knowledge is stored as
mainly words, mathematical symbols, or in a symbol system. Bruner believes
that any information can be learned as long as it is learned in this structure
from enactive, iconic to symbolic.
http://www.simplypsychology.org/bruner.html
Vygotzsky

Lev Vygotskys theory is on the fact that children learn through interaction
with their environment, their peers, their teachers and other adults around
them. Young children are curious and actively involved in their own learning.
The main thing about Vygotskys theories is the zone of proximal
development and scaffolding. The more knowledgeable other (MKO) is
anyone who has a better understanding or higher ability than the learner. It
can be anyone from a parent, a teacher to a peer. The zone of proximal
development is the distance between a childs ability to perform a task under
guidance and the students ability to solving the problem independently.
Learning occurs in this zone. For example, when a child cant put the puzzle
together but with a little support or scaffolding the child might be able to do
it. Instead of doing it for the child, tell the child to turn the pieces around or
noticing how the different pieces connect. Now the child learned how to do it
and can do it independently. In the zone of proximal development, all the
child need is a little scaffolding from the MKO to assist them into being able
to do it on their own.
Think of it as a stepping stool. As instructor, we are like the stepping stool for
the kids into climbing. The child might not be ready to climb yet but when
they are (Zone of proximal development), we can provide the stepping stone
(Scaffolding) for them to step on and be able to reach where they need to go.
Vygotskys theory have the most influence in education today although every
theorists help us understand how to help students.

http://www.learning-theories.com/vygotskys-social-learning-theory.html

Strategies
One of the great strategies I learned about is Differentiated instruction.
This instructional strategy s one in which the instructor create different
experiences as a way to meet the needs of individual students. It is having
students learn the same materials and concepts but through a different
strategy. For example, having students read a book. The instructor can have
some students read the book, some listen to it, and some follow along with it
on the computer. The next day, have the students rotate or change what
they are doing.
I think this is a great instructional strategy because it allows all
students to experience the same thing and learn the same thing but in
different strategies because some may learn better with one than another. I
especially like the examples in the book about the students learning about
probability in different ways because although each group was doing
something totally different from one another, they were still all learning the
same concept: probability. Some learned it through real life experiences,
some with computer, and some with tossing a dice, and others through
worksheet. I really like the idea of using real life experiences into the process
of learning a new concept because for some students, they need this to
understand and want to learn about it.
I can assess if students have learned this by having a short 5 question
quiz to see if they have learned it. I like the idea of giving them a quiz to see
if they have learned it or not and then if not, change the groups so that the
students can learn it in a different way similar to that one program we saw in
the video. Another way to assess if students have learned it can be by
questions or by hands on activity on the computer. Using different ways to
assess if the students have learned anything is also important because just
similar to how students learn different, students show their work differently.
By continuing to assess if the students have learned it or not, I can learn to
adapt or change the activities to best increase their learning as well.