Connecting the Dots

The connections in "connectivism" refer to the connection between what students see modeled and what they can create and understand on their own. The model might be the teacher, a parent, or another student. That connection between seeing and discussion with others to explaining and doing independently carries through all levels of education and is highly effective because humans are social beings.

I've noticed that the most reluctant student to speak in front of the class can be the most expressive during a "pair share" with another student. I try to transition my children from the "I do, you watch" to "I help, you do", to "You do, I watch", especially in the area of writing. In college, I was always told not to model, because then the children would abandon creativity and just make what I made. But I've found that in this age of point and click visual learners, some students will literally sit and do nothing before they start working if they can't understand what something is "supposed" to look like. Also, I teach in a very impoverished neighborhood where most parents don't speak English, and for most students, they don't know what I'm talking about unless I can model and show them what to do. Sometimes it seems like individuality is a luxury when working as a team and showing examples yields much better results. Also, culturally,, my students are more comfortable working with another child because they come from large families and a large part of their identity seems to be how they interact with others.

In "Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works" the authors list a few ways to integrate cooperative learning experiences with technology, such as "multimedia projects" and having pen pals over the internet. (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007). I would love suggestions on how I could incorporate more group work with technology, but I am honestly stumped. I was thinking they could work together to make some kind of video using the Flipcam, but all that they would be able to do is film it, I would have to do with editing with or for them. Do you think that would be worthwhile? We've used the Flipcam to make a few "tutorials" for Literacy Stations, does that fall under this umbrella? Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Also, on a side note, I got engaged on Thanksgiving!

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA