Resource Log, Entry 31-35

#31 - I found a website called Constructivsm: Knowledge Building in the Secondary Classroom. On one of the main pages there was a page called, "Constructivism as an Epistemology." This page contained a bulleted history on several theorists. Also, there were links provided that offered more information on each. This is an excellent resource for theorists. http://www.saskschools.ca/curr_content/constructivism/what/philosophy.html

#32 - I found a website on Seymour Papert. On the website, "Today Papert is considered the world's foremost expert on how technology can provide new ways to learn. He has carried out educational projects on every continent, some of them in remote villages in developing countries." This guy knew how technology was going to bew an essential classroom tool before anyone. http://www.papert.org/

#33 - This is a great Wiki entry for Consructivism. It offers a through defination as well as tons of external links. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructionist_learning

#34 - This website is called, "Constructivist Learning Design." The site says, "This paper represents a collaborative effort of two teacher educators to articulate a constructivist approach to "designing for learning" rather than planning for teaching. The "Constructive Learning Design" we are using now has been through a variety of revisions in the past seven years and now emphasizes these six important elements: Situation, Groupings, Bridge, Questions, Exhibit, and Reflections." http://www.prainbow.com/cld/cldp.html

#35 - This website is called, "Institute for Inquirn." The page I was looking at was called, "Constructivist Learning Theory." This page discussed Constructivism in regards to museum education. http://www.exploratorium.edu/ifi/resources/constructivistlearning.html

Resource Log, Entry 26-30

#26 - There is a website, http://www.cpsimoes.net/artigos/art_edu_psi_eng.html, that discusses the dawn of Educational Psycology and the impact it has has on the field of Education. While I realize that this isn't exactly what we're looking for, I see a parellel in what we know and think of cirriculum today and the impact that has occured since educational psycology has evolved. I didn't paste pieces of this website into this document because I would have ended up pasting the entire thing here. It had a lot of really good information for the impacts ofpsycology in and on curriculum.

#27 - There is a website called Connecting Student Learning and Technology. This is an interactive guide on technology intergration. From the site, "Constructivism, a learning theory informed by cognitive psychology, educational research, and neurological science, views learning as the product of experience and social discourse." http://www.sedl.org/pubs/tec26/flash.html

#28 - There is a website called Concept to the Classroom. It has a workshop on it called, "Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning." This workshop has a great look at the history of Constructivism, the website says, "The concept of constructivism has roots in classical antiquity, going back to Socrates's dialogues with his followers, in which he asked directed questions that led his students to realize for themselves the weaknesses in their thinking. The Socratic dialogue is still an important tool in the way constructivist educators assess their students' learning and plan new learning experiences." http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/index_sub4.html

#29 - I found a website called, "The Socratic Method and Doctrine." This was about Socreties and his foundations of instruction that mirrored what we call Construnctivism today. http://www.2020site.org/socrates/method.html

#30 - I found an online journal called, "Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education." The article was called, "You Can’t Think About Thinking Without Thinking About Thinking About Something," and it was a wealth of information on teaching children to think. The entire article focuses on cognition. http://www.citejournal.org/vol5/iss3/seminal/article4.cfm

Resource Log, Entry 21-25

#21 - This website is a paper that is on the fundamentals of curriculum development. It covers a lot, but in a very condensed way. http://org.elon.edu/catl/documents/Curriculum%20Development.pdf

#22 - This website is on Curriculum Theory and Practice, stated from the website, "The organization of schooling and further education has long been associated with the idea of a curriculum. But what actually is curriculum, and how might it be conceptualized? We explore curriculum theory and practice and its relation to informal education." http://www.infed.org/biblio/b-curric.htm

#23 - I also found a site, http://www.answers.com/topic/the-changing-role-of-government-and-education. This site also had a lot of good information on it, but nothing I think I would cite directly. I did find the below paragraph that fosters some political-based answers.

#24 - I found a fantastic site called Answers.com. I has never heard of this site before, I had a question about the changing role of govenment in education and I found a great answer there, "The debate will continue about the changing role of government in education, but there is considerable practical innovation and experimentation taking place globally that points to an acceptance of the changing role for government in educational delivery." http://www.answers.com/topic/the-changing-role-of-government-and-education

#25 - Encarta has always been one of my favorite sites. This time I was looking for information on the history of education. Now this can be a huge topic, but the page I found was clear in discription and very helpful with factual information. http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761561415_5/History_of_Education.html

Reflections Journal, Week 7

I found a website called, “The Constructivist Consortium," http://www.constructivistconsortium.org/. I noted it in my log. What really drew me to this site was the conference that was attached to it. I think we’ve all been to conferences and if we know anything technology isn’t usually conference friendly. Sure the presenters usually has tech tools, and may share a PowerPoint or demo, and there might be a few attendees with their own laptops, but beyond that the technology usually stops. How on earth could this conference teach on technology and constructivism and not offer it hands-on – actually it sounds a bit contradictory. This has been bugging me, so I went back to the website and looked deeper into the conference. The few pictures that they have on the website show participants with laptops out and working. I read over the offerings, and way at the bottom there was a note, “please bring your laptop and digital camera.” This conference is no joke. There not looking for novice tech people, they’re looking for folks that know their way around. Seeing as how this is an annual conference, they look as if they have most of the bugs worked out. I’d love to attend this conference, it looks like a it would be a blast!

Reflections Journal, Week 6

Last week in a different class, I participated in an awesome and truly enlightening discussion. The topic that was being discussed was curriculum. I know that in constructivism, the execution of constructivism exists in how it is brought into the classroom – our curriculum is one major way we as teachers do this. Back to the discussion; it started off slow. We were tasked with identifying the major contributors, at all levels, to curriculum. All of us had come up with lists that included politics, society, economics, and government. These were the general categories we all were in agreement in their effect on curriculum. We were approaching this in a direct way as to indicate that if, in one of these categories, decisions made regarding education have a direct impact on curriculum – such as “No Child Left Behind.” Our instructor posed another point to us, he said, “How does the legislation the President Obama just signed in effect curriculum.” All of us were aware that Mr. Obama just signed the policy allowing funding for abortions overseas and domestically. He also added, “Regardless of whether you agree or disagree, how does this effect curriculum?” We were all a little take back – how on earth does funding for abortions effect curriculum? Our instructor then brought up the point of teaching on evolution. He reminded us of how, once upon a time, teachers were being fired for teaching evolution. Going back to his first point, he said that we just had a president that supported abstinence, and opposed funding for abortions, therefore which trickled down in to schools. Most of us had to agree on abstinence. The moral of the story was that everything that is made into law, or that is supported by politics eventually trickles down to the classroom – be it in the planned or unplanned curriculum. I was amazed by this conversation. It never occurred to me how effected our classrooms could be by legislation, especially at the federal level.

Reflections Journal, Week 5

Last week I was on a website, http://www.miamisci.org/ph/lpintro5e.html. The site was titled, "Constructivism and the Five E's." Basically the five E’s are a systematic approach to constructivism and technology in the classroom, particularly in the science classroom. I had never heard about the 5 E's. The five E’s are: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate and Evaluate. Everything I’ve ever been taught about incorporating/creating a classroom environment with constructivism can be summarized into this notion of the 5 E’s. When I first saw this I completely agreed with all of the E’s except for Explain. Explain puzzled me. While I realize how Explain works into constructivism, I didn’t see it as a key component. I started looking through other sites and lessons to see how the evidence, or lack there of, for Explain. As I started digging I was finding more and more evidence validating Explain. I did notice in my past lesson plans, I usually coupled Explain with the evaluation – this is why I think it went under the radar for me. I’ve always included some sort of explanation into my lessons, but I usually always add it to something else. I didn’t see Explain as a strong enough trait to stand on its own.

Resource Log, Entry 16-20

#16 I found a website called, “The Constructivist Consortium.” This is a great general site, I thought the description they offered was really good. “The Constructivist Consortium was established in 2007 by leading educational technology publishers committed to student empowerment, creative applications of computers and the availability of high-quality open-ended materials. This consortium seeks to differentiate member companies and their products from the rest of a cluttered industry.” Direct quote taken from the site, http://www.constructivistconsortium.org/
This site also has a link for an upcoming conference, I think they are sponsoring it.

#17 I found a fantastic resource, well, it’s more like a school plan for creating a technological constructivist environment. It is titled, “Constructivist Teaching With Technology: Learning With Laptops.” The website is http://www.lps.k12.co.us/schools/arapahoe/21c/necc2007.html. This is a very through plan that details every step of technology inclusion and the bumps and bruises along the way.

#18 I found my first applicable ebook! It is called, “Constructivism and the Technology of Instruction: A Conversation.” It is at http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=9212366. It is really on target for this class, particularly there is a chapter called, “Technology Meets Constructivism:
Do They Make a Marriage?” This chapter really encompasses the inclusion of technology into constructivism. It discusses the “relationship” that can exist, and how it is formed, between technology and constructivism.

#19 This next website is, http://works.bepress.com/lrosenbe/1/. It is a site that offers a constructivist partnered with technology view. The page that I was most excited about was focused on adding GPS in a constructivist way into curriculum. The title of the page was, "The Design of a Constructivist Learning Experience that uses GPS Technology."

#20 My last website is a Edutech Wiki entitled, “Constructivism.” It is at http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Constructivism, and was put on the web in 2007. I think, for me, this has been one of my greatest finds because it has really helped me to understand the project we are working to build in this class and what it may end up looking like.