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Week 4 Chapter Insights


Learning With Technology: A Constructivist Perspective


Chapter 3

Learning By Visualizing With Technology: Recording Realities With Video


In this chapter, the authors showed how video can be used as a learning tool. A brief history of television was given with its pros and cons in relation to educational media. The authors want to stress that having students produce video rather than watch television can and will engage students in active meaningful learning and television is a powerful learning tool.

Video hardware, video cameras, for the classroom are small self-contained recording systems. Students can utilize them any where for productions of their work. The text describes the components of a video camera, its relationship to monitors/televisions through the use of a VCR, videocassette recorder. Editing technology today can be done through ones computer that has digitized files. The microphone of the camera is also an important piece of equipment for the production of video.

The text offers a variety of video learning activities which entail the different activities, the learning processes involved in the activities, the students roles, the teachers roles and the assessment process. Briefly the activities are labeled Video Press Conference, Newsroom, Student Talk Shows, Video Documentations, Video Theater: One-Act Dramas, and Video Modeling and Feedback. The use of teachers as videographers for creating contexts for learning can also be a valuable tool in the classroom.

Videoconferencing communication through video is becoming common place in some locals. Costs are probably keeping this technology out of schools at this time, but as technology expands it seems the cost will drop as it has for all technological devises.

As I read this chapter I reflected on my use of the video camera in my classroom to fulfill the requirements for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. I was required to get parent release forms signed before I could proceed. I did do science and social studies videos. The was quite a bit of camera anxiety for the social studies video. The science video went very well because the students were engaged on their projects rather than in front of the camera.

Classroom Instruction That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement


Chapter 4

Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition


This chapter focuses on the positives and negatives of methods for providing recognition to students for their efforts and accomplishments. The authors (Weiner,Covington and Harter) completed research and tested their theories of reinforcing effort. They bring to light two important factors. First is not all students realize the importance of believing in effort. The implication here is that teachers should explain and exemplify the effort belief to students. Secondly is the fact that students can learn to change their beliefs to realize that effort and achievement have a profound relationship for success. Teachers need to teach the importance of believing in success through effort.


Reflecting on their experiences and then verbalizing what they learned helps students elevate their awareness of the power of effort.


Providing recognition as an instructional strategy to build self-esteem is commonly referred to as "praise" and "reward." The authors prefer to use the term recognition.


Chapter 5

Homework and Practice


This chapter’s instructional strategy techniques are homework and practice. As the research indicates nearly all states require some type of homework to supplement learning of concepts taught in school.


The researchers have found four generalizations that can guide teachers in the use of homework to increase productivity of students and increase student performance on test grades.


The first point of reference is homework assignments should be different for elementary grades as compared to secondary grades. One of the researchers, Harris Cooper, found that homework had a rather minimal gain on student achievement for grades 4th - 6th, but should beneficial results for students in grades as low as 2nd grade.


The first recommendation is that homework should help develop good study habits, foster positive attitudes toward school and communicate to students the idea that learning takes work at all times. The text noted that for every 30 minutes of homework completed there was an increased overall grade point average.


The secondly parents should be involved in homework as a facilitator of the homework. Parents should help with the homework but not do the work themselves.


The third point of this chapter is the purpose of homework should be identified and articulated. Two common purposes for homework are practice and preparation or elaboration. Students should be familiar with the skill they are working on. It is not advisable for teachers to assign concepts that students have no knowledge of. Gee!? Homework should prepare students for new concepts or content that has been taught.


The fourth recommendation is that homework needs to be commented on to show a real increase in student achievement. Graded work with feedback comments has shown the greatest gain in student performance. Just graded work shows less and assigned homework with no grade or feedback shows a minimal increase in achievement.


The authors do give some pointers to have homework successfully completed. Homework needs to be established with communication in a homework policy that is feasible and defensible. Parents are partners with promoting this policy. Some of the pointers briefly stated are parents set up a homework area, a scheduled time, give encouragement but if failure is noted call the teacher, ask the child the steps for completing the work, again if failure is noted call the teacher, work for an allotted period of time and go to bed at a reasonable time.


The teacher needs to design assignments that clearly explain the purpose and outcome. Homework is for remediation of skills and a preparation for new information that will be introduced.


The teacher as stated earlier needs to provide feedback on homework to enhance student achievement. One of the findings that I found to be enlightening is that in Japan students are given two or three problems instead of the cluster traditional with American teachers. I would like to experiment with this philosophy and learning strategy. With the World Wide Web perhaps I can find a teacher from Japan that would share his/her homework policy with me in a virtual classroom atmosphere.


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