My Teaching Philosophy in the 21st Century--Change Happens!

     My philosophy of education has evolved over the years to this current snapshot featuring
•    Learner centered education
•    Teacher as learner
•    Active learning
•    Diverse learning styles and multiple intelligences
•    Lifelong learning
     I am a learner-centered educator. Like Carl Rogers I don’t believe that you can make anyone learn anything. The desire to learn comes from within the individual. The teacher’s role is to be the facilitator in the learning process, setting up experiences and activities that will engage the learner and lead the learner to discover information that is relevant for him or her. The teacher is a learner as well, making the education endeavor a synergistic experience. In a standards based environment it is important to set up opportunities for learners to explore on their own through research projects or other authentic learning experiences.
     Learning is an active process, one where the learner is engaged and involved in critical thinking. My presentations involve my learners through their questions and comments. As much class time as possible is devoted to students talking about the material in small groups or pairs discussing case studies, brainstorming ideas to solve problems, and using the higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy of thinking skills to create solutions to real world situations.
     Learners are diverse in their learning styles and multiple intelligences. Each learner has their own profile of learning strengths and learning styles that combined are their own unique way of experiencing the world and learning new things. I believe in recognizing these intelligences and learning styles and using them to the learner’s advantage. I have learners participate in assessing their own learning styles and intelligences so they can capitalize on them and be an active partner in the learning exchange.
     Learning is dynamic. It is important that I, along with my learners, develop skills for lifelong learning. Technology and the read/write world of the Internet take center stage in this process in the 21st century. As I'm learning these new technologies through Yavapai College TELS trainings, institutes and EDU 255, I'm exploring applications of my learning to my classes. ECE 120 which begins Nov. 6 will have a class Wiki and assignments related to it to provide a constructivist experience in exploring the web and collaboratively developing a toolbox of resources for issues in early child care. I can hardly wait for the experience to unfold!

Educational Implications of Photo Sharing

Educational Applications of Photo Sharing

    Visuals have always been an important part of the instructional process in my ITV ECE and EDU classes. Since I am only physically present on one campus and the other campus is viewing a screen, visuals add to the experience making it more vivid and real. I also find that many of my learners are visual learners, it being their preferred mode of taking in information.
    Photo sharing Web 2.0 tools can make the teaching and learning experiences in my classes even better. My first idea of how photo sharing could be used involved students creating learning materials. I created a slide show of young children’s faces showing different emotions as an example. This could be shown to children when helping them learn the words for the feelings they have. Recognizing emotions is an important social skill that enables toddlers to use words for their feelings rather than striking their classmate in the head with a toy when they are upset. My students could develop their own slide shows to provide other learning experiences for their classes such as slide shows on colors, classifying objects, foods, shapes, learning the alphabet letters, etc., etc.
    Another way that students in my class could use photo sharing would be to create portfolios of different learning activities they’ve developed. In the ECE 120 class I teach for one credit, students are required to develop a learning activity as a final project. Taking photos of these and placing them on a class Ning or Wiki would give students access to the ideas after the class has ended. They could start or add to their own E-portfolios as well. I found some preschool groups in Flickr that have good ideas on how one could take such a photo. A picture is worth a thousand words!