Social learning is very helpful in the classroom because of the principle that conversations help with understanding. Social learning occurs when "students are actively engaged in constructing artifacts and conversing with others." (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008) As a language teacher, my students are often engaged in cooperative learning in having conversations, writing and performing skits, and interviewing each other and then graphing responses. In this cooperative learning, I have often observed the More Knowledgeable Other helping students within their group. The students are able to teach each other and learn at the same time. Cooperative learning actively engages students in the learning process and empowers the student making them more eager to learn and apply what they are learning.
One of the technologies that can be used in cooperative learning is multimedia presentations. (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski, 2007) One project the students could do would be to make a multimedia presentation tour of the school. Each student could choose an area of the school which they would describe (in Spanish) and they could add pictures. They could help each other with the writing of the script and the grammar needed. They could help each other research vocabulary they were unfamiliar with. They could use Power Point or VoiceThread to put the project together. By working with each other the students would not be overwhelmed by vocabulary and they would have help with what they did not understand.
Another technology that would be very helpful for me as a Spanish teacher would be keypals. (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski, 2007) Using this so that students could communicate with students in other countries would help as students could learn to use the language as well as learn about the culture of the person they are communicating with. Social constructivism emphasizes learning through the understanding of culture and context. As they interact with others they create meaning about the cultures they are exploring. (Orey, 2001)
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Social Learning Theories. [Motion picture]. Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. Baltimore: Author.
Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
Section: Social Constructionism
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
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Sounds like you have a plan! In addition to mapping the school, could they map the neighborhood? That might be extremely helpful to new students. Maybe they could watch the video when they first arrive on campus as a sort of "Welcome to our school!" policy...
ReplyDeleteI really like the thought of putting this all into a voice thread. This just seems so easy to use.
Hi Carla,
ReplyDeleteYour plan sounds great. At my school, we have a "bootcamp" for incoming seventh graders every summer. One of the counselors mentioned that she wants to create a presentation to show the students what we do at our school throughout the year. What you talk about sounds like something we could do at my school to show the incoming students. The presentation could be completely student created. Thank you for your idea.
Ray Rust
As others have commented, a multimedia presentation created by students for the purpose of introducing someone new to the school is a great idea. Perhaps, using a tool such as Voice Thread, audio comments and photos of school personnel such as the media specialist, nurse, guidance counselor, and others could be included. By viewing the presentation first, new students may not feel as "lost".
ReplyDeleteI also love the idea of having email pals. In a community such as ours, where diversity is not always welcome, it is important that students interact with people of other nationalities, religions, and cultures. By "meeting" a peer through email, a student may begin to focus on what they have in common with this new friend. Conversations about school, sports, parents, dating, movies, or music give the email pals common ground on which to build a friendship. By focusing on the similarities first, perhaps the differences would become less important.
Carla;
ReplyDeleteHow do you deal with students who lean more on the MKO than they should? That one issue is my biggest frustration with social learning. From your post, you seem to have a plan in place that works. Do you switch groups around, let students choose or is there more regularity?
I remember taking Spanish in high school and college. I does make a difference, especially in learning a foreign language. Language is a use it or loose it skill.