Week 1: CEDO 525 Enhancing Learning Materials through Technology

This week we kicked things off by discussing and reflecting on what constitutes effective learning and effective teaching. As part of this exercise, I reviewed two articles: Principles of Teaching and Learning and A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of teaching and learning.

I first took a look at Principles of Teaching and Learning from the Carnegie Mellon Enhancing Education website. The principles discussed for both Teaching and Learning were familiar and supported much of what we do in the program I supervise for Title I students. The company I work for has developed a program that is goal oriented, with the objective that students will gain mastery of skills they missed along the way.

I found the Teaching Principles truly aligned with the approach taken in our Title I skill development program. It is critical to the success of our program, and the success of our students, to take the time on the front end to gather information and put together a targeted plan with a reasonable number of goals to be met within a term of instruction. I liked principle #4 where it states "Coverage is the enemy." So many classroom teachers who come to work in our program have a difficult time adapting to the focus of our program--we only see our students 120 minutes per week, so in order to see progress it's important to prepare lessons that focus only on the goals. Attempting to cover too many different topics or concepts can lead to confusion and/or students not able to reach goals within the set time period. I also liked the final principle that spoke to self assessment as an educator and using the data to help make decisions regarding effectiveness of curriculum and whether or not it is time for change.

The Learning Principles were also very helpful. While I think the teachers I supervise are in tune with their students and have a good sense of what motivates them, I believe there is a need to slow things down and take the time to have meaningful conversations with the students about what they are learning. I also think time constraints in our program, and the nature of the students we are working with, often translate in teachers making many decisions for their students rather than coaching the students in making appropriate decisions. This is a skill I have seen missing in our classrooms and one I've been encouraging my teachers to integrate into their teaching styles. Easier for some than others.

The second article, A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of teaching and learning , was more of a case study done by Hersh C. Waxman, Meng-Fen Lin and Georgette M. Michko out of the University of Houston. I found this to be a challenging read due to the technical nature of the information presented. I also found that most of it focused on documentation of sources and what constituted a valid vs invalid case study. The overall conclusion that technology had a positive impact on student outcomes back in 2003 reflects what I believe to be true in 2011. The integration of interactive whiteboard technology in our Title I program has greatly improved student engagement, motivation to attend and participate in class. I strongly believe when students are engaged in learning it can only have a positive effect on student outcomes.