Upon reading this week’s articles, one prompt stood out as a good starting point to base my thoughts and questions off of: What is one idea from the readings or videos that you disagree with, and why?
I will preface this discussion by stating that, it’s not that I disagree with a point, but rather question it based on my prior knowledge on the subject… (Could this be an example of why learning is hard?)
In Chapter 11, Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism, of Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology, authors Ertmer and Newby mention the idea of not being able to restrict teaching to only one theoretical approach and to select from the options based on the particular situation. While this idea and it’s rationale makes sense to me, during the reading I found myself struggling with behaviorism as one of the options presented.
Having just finished up ED-D 301, Learners and Learning Environments, and EDCI 303, Historical and Philosophical Foundations of Canadian Education, these theories are fresh in my mind, although in a different light than presented in this week’s article. Based on my knowledge built up during these two classes, I have come to view behaviorism in a negative way. When looking at the effects this kind of teaching can have on elementary school learners, their motivation, their needs, and the relationships this approach fosters, just to name a few, I can’t help but feel like behaviorism is not a great method to choose, even if it “fits” the best and there are some benefits to learners.
In contrast, the authors present it in a far more neutral, almost clinical way that did not get into the deeper psychological side of it. I understand that online teaching environments are a whole different ballgame that I am still working through and learning about, and that this approach may be more suitable in this venue, but this juxtaposition between what I thought versus this new presentation of the same theory created an information roadblock that I got quite hung-up on.
The realization of this contrast in the context of technology mediated-learning, an area I’m not hugely confident in, has left me wondering how the three learning theories mentioned in the article translate differently to an online environment.