June 1 Announcements

Quite a weekend! Amazing SpaceX accomplishments against the backdrop of protests against racist police brutality. Oh yeah...we're still in a pandemic. I don't know about you, but I am ready to close the book on 2020.

Something I did this weekend that was actually VERY enjoyable was reading the Project #1 papers. I enjoyed reading about your selections for technology-support instruction, including the following resources:

• IXL
• Edgenuity/Edmentum 
• TeachTown
• Exact Path [Study Island]
• Ed Leadership Simulations

• Accelerated Reader
• Gizmos
• Google Classroom
• Chromebooks

I appreciated the overall quality of writing and the accurate connections made between the features of the material analyzed and behaviorist principles. I was also impressed with the speculations made regarding why Skinner's teaching machines never really made it. The general consensus was that "... lack of teacher-student interaction is the most likely reason." This is an interesting conclusion, and one that should be considered as educators shift from traditional face-to-face environments to online experiences in this age of pandemic. It seems likely that next year will include some measure of distance learning, and recognizing the importance of student-teacher interaction should inform how educational leaders and teachers should go about planning such experiences!

A few students even went beyond the surface of Project #1, providing some very insightful and critical analyses of specific resources and how behaviorist principles might help explain their shortcomings. For example, one student reflected on the Accelerated Reader [AR] program with a very critical lens, drawing the following very insightful conclusion:

​Looking at the research, it does seem that students who participate in AR increase their skills at taking multiple choice recall reading questions. But I would argue that this doesn’t necessarily make them better readers. It makes them better multiple-choice recall quiz takers. I believe this is because the act of reading (response) isn’t tied directly to the external motivator (reinforcing stimulus) - the quiz (the ability to answers questions about the text) is directly tied to the external motivator. In full disclosure, I do not believe (nor have I seen any results to prove otherwise) that Accelerate Reader “creates a culture of reading.” If students are to become lifelong readers, then the reinforcing stimulus can’t be an external reward, it has to be the internal enjoyment of the act of reading itself. 

This type of insight is very refreshing, and I encourage all of you to proceed through the rest of your program with this type of attitude toward the status quo.

OK...that was Project #1. This week, you continue your study of Cognitivism. culminating in two important goals:

• Perform well on Exam #2 (so you will be literate about cognitivism...not so you can get reinforced with a good grade for taking a multiple choice question well). Insert smiley-face emoji here.
• Complete Project #2 which asks you to reflect on your own instructional design through a cognitivist lens.

The practice items for Exam #2 are now available for you to complete. Don't forget to post any questions you might have about individual items on the practice page. 

And keep in mind the important due dates for this week:

• Exam #2 [Due Friday 6/5 at midnight]
• Complete Cognitivist project [Due Sunday 6/7 at midnight]

As always, please feel free to contact me if you need any assistance with anything!

​GS