Instructional Strategies and Technology Integration for 21st Century Teaching

Blog 1 - Module 2

“Students are engaged when they are both highly interested in and committed to their learning pursuits. They have some level choice and voice in their school experiences and are motivated to persevere in the face of challenges that occur” (Renwick, 2016).

Students learn best when instructional strategies provide:

• meaningful experiences
• emotional investment and interest
• positive environments and relationships
• real life hands-on problem-solving 
• creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication

These instructional strategies can be face to face, distance learning, blended, independent study both informal and structured. Most lessons have a blend of both teacher centered and student centered strategies.

Student-centered strategy – are those where the teacher is not the instructor of information but the facilitator or guide of the information and students are responsible for their own learning. This involves cooperative learning, problem-based learning, games, simulations, or discovery (Smaldino, Lowther, Russell, 2015). Most lessons have a blend of both teacher centered and student centered strategies.

Teacher-centered strategy – learning is directed by the teacher that involves a presentation, demonstration, drill and practice, tutorial, or a discussion (Smaldino et al., 2015). Utilizing a variety of instructional strategies gives both teachers and students a chance to experience information with different learning styles ways to connect with the information for learning. The variety offers new ways for engagement and participation.

Drill and practice learning let students build basic knowledge on how to complete particular skills. Technology integration can involve websites that offer drill and practice problems and flashcard creators. Cramberry.net and Quizlet.com let students create flashcards online for study. These flashcards can be shared and allow several users to work together in creating them.

Problem-based learning gives students opportunities to use critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration to solve problems. This cognitivist learning theory practice provides students with engaging and authentic tasks. Technology integration can involve mind mapping applications such as Padlet.com or MindMeister.com for students to layout thoughts and solutions. Students can use digital portfolios to showcase their projects with services like Seesaw.me.

Cooperative learning allows students to learn from each other’s perspectives and experiences for interpreting information in new ways. Using collaborative tools such as Google Apps for Education or Office 365 students can share and work on documents or presentations together. Socratic seminar and jigsaw projects are beneficial for students to work together in groups for sharing and discussing information with their peers.

Simulations and discovery learning allows students to take more control over their own learning that matches their interests. Simulated experiences can create meaningful and memorable experiences for students to understand information in new ways. Google Expeditions lets teachers take their students on virtual field trips to any place in the world to explore nature, landmarks, and different cultures using Google Cardboard (“Expeditions Pioneer Program,” 2016). See the embedded presentation at the end of this post about this emerging technology in the classroom.

Instructional strategies for Instructional Technology Trainers, such as myself, we tend to use presentation, demonstrations, hands-on, and drill and practice strategies. Training teachers, staff, and administration on how to use technology and applications usually is an hour to a couple hours to cover the topic. Having more time with the adult learners would allow for using more problem-based learning, cooperative, and authentic real life simulations.

I have found through my teaching experience that adults learn best when:

• they understand why something is important to know how to do
• freedom to learn their own way
• learning is experiential
• they can immediately apply what they are learning
• have encouraging feedback
• and the process is positive

Applying multiple instructional strategies such as problem-based, cooperative, simulations, and discovery learning can lead to students having more responsibility for their own knowledge. Matching learning with memorable experiences and student interest in a positive environment can lead to authentic learning opportunities. Using simulations such as Google Cardboard and Google Expeditions will allow teachers to explore new virtual environments and experiences that students and teachers have not been able to use before. Using more student-centered instructional strategies will create a better climate for our training and student learning.

Take a look at Google Cardboard an emerging educational technology for simulations and discovery learning:

References

Expeditions Pioneer Program - Google. (2016). Retrieved from https://www.google.com/edu/expeditions

Renwick, M. (2016, April 30). Student Engagement and Closing the Opportunity Gap. Retrieved from https://readingbyexample.com/2016/04/30/student-engagement-and-closing-the-opportunity-gap/

Smaldino, S. E., Lowther, D. L., & Russell, J. D. (2015). Chapter 1 Exploring 21st Century Learning. In Instructional Technology and Media for Learning (pp. 7-12). Pearson Education.