This week in my master's class "Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction and Technology" we have been exploring Behaviorism as it relates to instructional strategies in the classroom. One instructional strategy is "reinforcing effort". Effort is the most important factor in achievement (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007), yet we don't always take the time to explicitly teach students about the importance of effort. By having students keep track of their effort and achievement, they can then see documentation which shows the benefits of their efforts. Technology can make it easy for students and teachers to keep track of such information. Third grade students may find that learning and practicing the skills of keyboarding is sometimes a daunting task. Receiving immediate feedback on WPM and accuracy and then recording this progress in a spreadsheet helps students see the relationship between effort and achievement, and therefore makes the entire concept of building keyboarding skills more meaningful, relevant and motivating. There are many "skill and drill" style online learning opportunities that students may find useful in helping them to learn math facts, states & capitals, spelling words, etc. Once the conceptual understanding of skills and processes are taught, these online tools can be beneficial especially when the connection of effort and achievement is made.
Another instructional strategy is "homework and practice". Research indicates that mastering a skill or process requires a fair amount of focused practice (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007). Technology can facilitate homework and practice by providing many additional resources for learning at home. Students can use Web 2.0 tools to help reinforce or extend skills or processes. Technology allows for differentiation to assist students in the specific areas that they need more practice or enrichment. Online tutorials and podcasts can provide endless opportunities for students to revisit concepts from anywhere and at any time.
Although technology provides opportunities for students to use and develop higher level thinking skills by creating, collaborating and communicating - I believe that the use of "drill and skill" type activities, while well supported with deeper learning, can be used appropriately and effectively in the classroom.
Resources:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M. Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Hi Cindy,
ReplyDeleteI liked that you mentioned that effort is paramount when it comes to students achieving goals. You also noted that we do not always take the time to directly teach students that fact. Isn’t it funny that we often forget to stress and explain some of the most important things. When thinking about the above facts, I remembered being a new teacher and having someone tell me that I couldn’t just assume students would follow the rules and procedures; instead, I had to show the students what I wanted. I think that came to mind when reading your post because, just like it is important to explain and show to students the rules explicitly, it is just as important to explain and show students that effort is a key factor in achievement.
I had not thought about keyboarding as a skill and drill, but it sure is. In fact, it doesn’t get any more skill and drill than that, does it? And, wow, are your third graders taking keyboarding? That is great! Being able to type (without having to resort to the “hunt and peck” method) is a wonderful asset; and, many of our students may need to be proficient at it once they enter into the workforce. The software that times the WPM and accuracy is a great tool! I cannot imagine going back to typewriters and stopwatches. I bet most students would be amazed to see a typewriter, much less understand how to use one. Also, I like your idea of using the spreadsheet to track student progress when typing; I think it would be a great motivator for students (especially when they can compare their improvement to classmates).
You are right that there are many Web2.0 tools available to help reinforce and/or further skills that students learn in class. It is amazing all the tools available. The instant feedback that many offer is wonderful in helping students asses their own understanding levels, much less, priceless in helping us track our students' comprehension levels.
Have you used Classroom Performance System “clickers” any for skill and drill type activities? They are great for review games. I can imagine that third graders would find the remote control type clickers really fun to use.
Great blog post.
Tonya Todd
Tonya, I use "clickers" in my classroom and the students and I both love them. They are a great tool, and wonderful for engaging the students and teaching and reinforcing at the same time!
ReplyDeleteCindy,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog post. I find it very important what you stated "Although technology provides opportunities for students to use and develop higher level thinking skills by creating, collaborating and communicating - I believe that the use of "drill and skill" type activities, while well supported with deeper learning, can be used appropriately and effectively in the classroom."
I found this important because our focus as educators are now always on the critical thinking questions, and advised to stay away from "drill and skill" types of activities/thinking in the classroom. However, as you noted - if used together, both are effective and valuable tools for our students and essential for their learning.
Tonya - Great thoughts, and yes - our school has two sets of classroom clicker response systems. I don't use them in the computer lab (I teach K-5 Technology) but the classroom teachers use them and find them engaging for the students. I do have software that allows me to send quick polls or quizzes to the students on their computers, which I use quiet often. Our discussions will sometimes lead to "vote your thoughts" so that the students can all participate, yet not be singled out.
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