Amy Robertson

3/1/2020
EDTECH 592: Portfolio

REFLECTION PAPER

Lesson One: Reflections on Learning

When Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky simultaneously developed their learning theories in

the early 20th century, learning environments in America were often lecture-based with the

recitation of information and rote tasks as primary methods of instruction and assessment. John

Dewey, Vygotsky, and Piaget created learning theories that offered new insights to how people,

especially children, learn. These theories have been examined and researched since their

inception, but as technology becomes more integrated into 21st century learning environments,

collaboration methods utilizing technology tools have changed and are continuing to develop as

technology progresses. Research on collaboration and technology in current learning

environments has been increasing, and recent research has begun to focus on measuring

outcomes for collaboration and technology integration with students in social constructivist

learning environments (Scalise, 2016). As technology integration in learning environments

continues to increase, my understanding of the relationship between learner collaboration and

technology has become more important for me and my learners and has become an integral part

of my daily instruction.

My research on learning theories brought about big questions for me when I was learning

about how people learn. When considering educational technology and collaboration, what

evidence exists that supports the idea that technology might enhance collaboration and learning

in social constructivist learning environments? This question prompted me to explore the

connection between social interaction, learning, and technology in my EdTech 504 course

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Synthesis Paper. Exploring how people learn and researching the methods and paths people

follow in learning provided me with a rich understanding of how I learn and how I instruct

learners. The research and inquiry that evolved throughout my research helped me understand

pedagogical approaches of social constructivism and why I prefer this approach in my

instruction. Reading books and articles by Vygotsky and Dewey expanded my knowledge about

educational theory, which has influenced my instructional content foundation. Including social

connection and discussions in all my projects has become essential and providing opportunities

for students to engage in discourse in groups both digitally and in person is commonplace in my

courses more now. I was intrigued by Vygotsky’s writings about the relationship between

individuals and the culture of the community, which he believed supported the learner to make

meaning in learning, contributing to the development of cognition and higher order thinking

(Vygotsky, 1978). This had a huge impact on my learning as I began to understand why social

conversations in learning environments are so important for learners, in addition to building

strong relationships between learners and instructors.

According to Dewey, education is connected to action. Knowledge and ideas are born

through meaningful and important experiences for the learner. These situations occur in social

environments and in this fashion, knowledge along with the community of learners is developed

(Ültanır, 2012, p. 207). Comprehending Dewey’s ideas that learning is connected to meaning

through learning activities was influential in my learning about how people learn. Dewey’s

learning theories focused on the importance of previous experience and prior knowledge leading

to understanding, as well as how inquiry and collaborative learning support the learning process.

Dewey developed a reflective thinking model in 1933, which emphasized reflection as a means

to deepen understanding and experiences of learning. “According to Dewey, reflective or critical

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thinking deepens the meaning of our experiences and is therefore a core educational aim. Critical

thinking both authenticates existing knowledge and generates new knowledge suggesting an

intimate connection with education” (Garrison and Akyol, 2012, p. 108).

This research has influenced my instructional approaches to include reflection opportunities for

me and for my learners. My PBL learning log and my EdTech 541 course blog are examples of

how I have utilized reflective practice to enhance my professional practice. Both show my

reflection and research, and both show my learning at various stages about reflection in my

professional practice throughout the MET program.

Technologies linked to learning are so important today as schools have moved to remote

learning due to Covid-19. As I teach remotely, I am grateful for my MET coursework that has

provided me with solid skills to create and use technology to instruct my students. In my EdTech

541 course I created a technology integration website that contains exemplary technology

resources for my courses and other disciplines. It demonstrates my understanding of integrating

technology into content and I am excited to be able to share my learning and my technology

integration skills with other professionals through a public website.

Lesson Two: The Art and Science of Teaching

A book I read often is "The Art Spirit" by Robert Henri. He mentions, "The student is not

an isolated force. He belongs to a great brotherhood, bears great kinship to his kind. He takes

and he gives. He benefits by taking and he benefits by giving" (Henri, 1923, p. 18). Although

much of the book is advice to painters about specific techniques and ideas, he does discuss the

growth and development of the artist and the person. He says, "Education is a self-product, a

matter of asking questions and getting the best answer we can get" (Henri, 1923, p. 170). He

even mentions teaching children by letting them ask the questions because it will "sink deep" if

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children are the questioners. Henri deeply explored the art of teaching art through a series of

lectures that were captured and produced in his books. I find his thoughts on ideas of art and

learning as well as his considerations of aesthetics and the human experience very relatable and

these readings have shaped some of my philosophy on art instruction and learner needs.

Dewey and Vygotsky produced scholarly research on teaching and learning in the early

twentieth century and introduced their learning theories that included collaborative learning and

inquiry as a form of social constructivism in education (Ültanır, 2012). Dewey even produced a

book entitled Art as Experience that details his philosophies on aesthetics, art, and learning. This

makes me wonder if Dewey and Henri knew each other? They share many aesthetic ideas about

art, learning, and collaboration. In his educational research, Dewey theorized that cognitive

development is dependent on social interactions with more knowledgeable others (MKO) within

the learner’s zone of proximal development (ZPD), and he emphasized the importance of

scaffolding learning through social discourse and community involvement (Ültanır, 2012).

Vygotsky stated, "learning is a necessary and universal aspect of the process of developing

culturally organized, specifically human psychological function" (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 90). He

believed that social learning tends to come before development, which was opposite to Piaget’s

theory, which emphasized self-initiated discovery as crucial to the process of development.

These three scholars have produced works that have had an enormous impact on me as an artist

and an educator. Throughout the MET program, research has been an essential core of my

understanding of educational technology and learning and through my study and research on

constructivism. I have been able to identify and refine the influences on my instructional

approaches with learners. Dewey and Vygotsky’s ideas of collaborative learning and social

constructivism fit well with my project-based learning approach in my classrooms. Henri’s ideas

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of aesthetics and learning about art fit well also. The relationship between individuals and the

culture of the community was what Vygotsky believed supported the learner to make meaning in

learning, contributing to the development of cognition and higher-order thinking (Vygotsky,

1978). I agree with the idea that higher-order thinking evolves from making meaning in

learning, in which collaboration and personal connections have a solid purpose in these learning

environments. Artmaking creates objects and constructs ideas with materials that not only create

art objects but can have and can create meaning for the artist and the viewer. The making of art,

as well as the art itself, can be considered experience, as Dewey mentions many times in his

book Art As Experience.

Prior to taking EdTech 504, I could explain my personal and professional reasons for my

instructional methods, but following the in-depth research for my final synthesis paper entitled

Social Constructivism: Collaborative Learning and Technology, I can communicate my

instructional practice and approach with an understanding of educational theory that has

influenced my choices in pedagogy. The work I have done that best exemplifies my

understanding of social constructivism can be found in my current courses through project-based

learning in the classroom where students work in teams and collaborate on tasks to complete

projects. My Art and Design online learning course for EdTech 512 is an example of my

instructional design skills that show my knowledge of theory and instructional course design. I

incorporated online discussions into each assignment and made attempts to create an online

learning environment designed for a community of learners to feel welcome, engaged, heard and

supported. Through multimedia instructions and resources, and discussions with open

commenting and video-enabled technology tools like FlipGrid I incorporated educational

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technology and collaborative learning into my course with a social constructivist learning

environment in mind.

Following the EdTech 512 course, I have discovered I am excited about creating online

learning environments that bring people together and invoke a sense of belonging and enjoyment

of learning. I am impressed with the Canvas platform for online course design and I would like

to design courses in other platforms with aesthetic pleasing layouts like Articulate 360. These

technologies have opened a new idea of what online learning represents for me and the new

knowledge I have gained from educational theory and instructional design has guided my

thinking towards the possibilities of designing online learning environments for not just online-

only learners but for hybrid courses and face-to-face courses. I am particularly interested in

using technology integration to support learners who need extra help with content in their current

coursework and for students with special circumstances or disabilities who cannot attend school

regularly. Before I came into the MET program, I did not know how to effectively support my

high needs students that fell behind for health or personal reasons. With my new understanding

of social connection and a community of learners, multimedia, learning theory, and online

instructional design I can see approaches that I might be able to utilize with technology tools to

help all learners succeed.

Lesson Three: The Design and Evaluation of Instruction

The biggest take away from the MET program regarding design and evaluation of

instruction has been the knowledge I have gained from practical experience with instructional

design (ID) and online course design. All my EdTech courses in this program played a crucial

role in helping me prepare for designing online, face-to-face, and hybrid courses. One artifact I

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am most proud of is an online high school art and design course I created in Canvas for EdTech

512. It contains seven fully developed modules that include media, instructions, driving

questions, resources, assessments, and discussions. It is ready to roll out to students at any time

and I have used most of the content for my face-to-face course in the fall of 2019.

EdTech 503 provided invaluable support for my understanding of high-quality

instructional design, evaluation, and assessment that precedes a formal instructional design

report. For my Final ID Report, I redesigned a lesson from one of my media courses and

streamlined the lesson to include motivational strategies, pedagogical approaches, an ARCS

table, a needs assessment, and so much more than truly helped me inform my instruction. The

text from the ID course is one I refer to often in my teaching position and it was invaluable

during the design of my online course. I also learned that the technology aspect of instructional

design is essential a bonus to developing and designing with the end in mind and that carefully

evaluating and assessing the technology tools in instruction can enhance and influence learners if

used appropriately. “Technology should always be used to meet a specific instructional

need...Determine your learners’ needs and how technology might support those needs before

selecting a technology” (Larson and Lockee 2014). The needs assessment strategies I learned for

the ID report directly benefited my online course design for EdTech 512 and my EdTech 505

Evaluation Report.

Increased technology expectations on teachers with minimal training was the reason I

joined this MET program because I felt inadequate as an instructor with so many technology

platforms I was expected to learn and master, to teach my courses. The opportunities to show my

learning in the MET courses with video, audio, multimedia presentations, and online resources

has opened my eyes to a better way to manage technology in instructional design and in

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instructional settings for students, instructors and support staff, as well as families and

communities. (Larson and Lockee, 2014). The research I found most beneficial in the design of

how content is presented came from the EdTech 513 and EdTech 503, which provided

knowledge and hands on projects creating artifacts about multimedia principles. This learning

guided me as I worked to transform my instructional visuals and course content for learner needs

using multimedia principles like the coherence principle and the personalization principle. The

artifacts I created about the ADDIE Model, Booms Taxonomy, Pedagogical and Scaffolding

Strategies, and the ARCS Motivation Model are projects I use and share with colleagues during

discussions regarding supporting learners. These strategies have influenced the way I use

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in my classrooms and how I design online content to help

learners feel connected. I specifically use UDL strategies to meet the needs of my IEP and 504

students when they need to adapt or modify projects with flexibility to meet or exceeding

standards. Usually this involves adding personal meaning to the work they create. The idea of

creating instruction to connect learners and make learning personal, drives my interest in

supporting teachers to learn how to create scaffolded and supportive learning environments.

Lesson Four: Networking and Collaboration

My approach to networking and collaboration has dramatically changed since I entered

the MET program. Being a part of an online learning community in each course has supported

me in my learning and growth as an educator. The collaborative nature of peer reviews in all my

courses has helped me to learn new perspectives from diverse educators and professionals. The

opportunity to have discourse with peers in my courses has broadened my understanding of how

educational leadership and instructional approaches differ around the United States and the

world. For example, in my EdTech 505 course I had an incredibly strong peer review group and I

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was fortunate to provide and receive excellent suggestions and recommendations for every step

of the way in the course. My Final Evaluation Project and EPD are my best examples of how

peer reviews strengthened my writing, data analysis, and recommendations. The peers and

professor critiques helped me to expand my knowledge and improve my overall practice.

Participating in the peer reviews provided an excellent view into peer projects that were both

inspiring and professional. Having the opportunity to have discourse about my work and peer

work was a collaborative experience I lack in my professional practice. This reminds me that my

research in EdTech 504 focused on social constructivist theories that are a supportive model for

learners that incorporate personal and meaningful experiences in conjunction with social

discourse and reflection. I realize that I need more interactions in my professional work to grow

as an educator. In addition to student voice and choice, these constructivist approaches can create

an environment that respects the learner and encourages a supportive climate and community

while encouraging higher levels of cognitive processing (Garrison and Akyol, 2012, p. 106).

This confluence of theory and community in educational environments has been

researched by Garrison and Akyol in online distance education. The commonalities of their

research findings with online learning environments and blended learning environments provide

ideas about how collaboration and social constructivist approaches can be transformed with

technology by creating a community of inquiry. Within their explanation of communities of

inquiry, they state that by creating a sense of community online, “a sense of being is created

through interpersonal communication” (Garrison and Akyol, 2012, p. 106). In their research

they defined three presences that need to be in place for an educational experience and a

community of inquiry to be balanced. The three presences are social presence, cognitive

presence, and teaching presence. Through supporting discourse, selecting content, and setting

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climate, the balance of the educational experience can exist (Garrison and Akyol, 2012, p. 106,

fig. 7.1). I felt these experiences especially in EdTech 502, EdTech 512, and EdTech 533. These

courses truly turned the tables for me and helped me see how technology can be a powerful tool

for learning, instruction, and designing instruction. All three courses had excellent professors

who had online video conferences with whole classes and small teams when needed. EdTech

502 had the biggest learning curve for me with HTML and CSS learning. The videos that Dr.

Evanouski created were exceptional instructional demonstrations with high level technical merit

and inspired me to create my own video tutorials for my students. Dr. Lowenthal’s videos for

EdTech 512 showed a kind and thoughtful approach to instructional content delivery that

inspired me to talk with my students, rather than at them while filming video tutorials, and Dr.

Snelson’s EdTech 533 videos were enriched with media, audio, clarity and a sense of calm. All

three instructors made a powerful impression on me as I now create websites and video content

for my students. I am grateful for their expertise and their various approached to learning and

supporting learners. These courses have transformed my professional practice and my

technology integration approaches for my learners.

Lesson Five: The Research-Practice Connection

My personal connection between research and theory has been one of change and

transformation throughout my teaching career. It seems that every five years in my career, a new

buzz word or teaching method has taken over. I recall character and virtue education, “learning

styles”, and mood meters as a few that quickly faded in the background when something new

was introduced. A research practice connection that has been enlightening for me during my

MET program has been learning theory and the relationship it has to professional practice and

technology. The research being done today that supports how technology can enhance classroom

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environments as well as content delivery has been a huge motivator for me in the MET program.

Creating a Professional Ethics Scenario for EdTech 501 was my first opportunity in the MET

program to conduct professional research and my findings regarding equity and educator

commitment to students empowered me to take more action to ask for funding for my art and

CTE programs and to request equitable equipment for all my learners. An Annotated

Bibliography I created for EdTech 501 helped me develop skills for researching and writing a

school technology evaluation report that also provided an eye-opening look into my school’s

technology system stage. I was surprised to learn we were split between the integrated and

intelligent systems stages. In my report I cited the Journal for Research in Business Education

that mentioned that making efforts to integrate technology across curriculums and training

teachers to use the technology in the most effective manner to support students learning was a

highly effective means of gaining support for funding within school districts and evidence for

school technology needs when applying for grants (Mitchell, Wohleb, and Skinner, 2015). This

research helped me to be a stronger advocate for technology tools I need to deliver instructional

content to support students.

Another example of my EdTech work that has helped me define my purpose as an

educator in a Project-Based Learning and standards-based grading school is my Final Synthesis

paper for EdTech 504 on social constructivism and collaborative learning and technology. The

research that was involved in this paper was in-depth and raised my awareness of the histories

of learning theory and the connections between learning, experience, meaning, and

collaboration. Considering technology integration had an impact on my understanding of how I

could create learning environments that engage and motivate students to learn and want to learn.

As I learned more about social constructivism, I realized that past and current research implies

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that educational technology and collaborative learning may support learners, instructors, and the

process of learning in social constructivist learning environments. Web 2.0 technologies that

can be used to support collaborative learning are abundant, are continually being developed, and

could be center stage in enabling the transformation of educational practices for the future. It is

clear from current research in technology integration that tools are available that can enhance

and support learners in online, blended, and K-12 learning environments (Garrison and Akyol,

2012, p 107). Methods to establishing an effective learning community that embraces social

constructivist approaches with collaboration, and technology integration is worthy of more

research. Further research and detailed studies of incorporating social constructivism theory

into modern learning environments could be transformative for educators and learners and could

provide further data for supporting PBL, problem-based learning, or Montessori approaches and

technology integration. I am looking forward to being a part of this transformation in education

now and in the future.

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References

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Brown, J. S., Collins, A., and Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning.
Educational Researcher, 18(1), 32–42. doi:10.21236/ada204690

Garrison, D. R., and Akyol, Z. (2012). The community of inquiry theoretical framework. In
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M. G. (2013). The community of inquiry theoretical framework. In Handbook of
Distance Education (pp. 104 - 117). New York, NY: Routledge.

Henri, R. (1923). The Art Spirit. New York: Harper and Row, Publishers.

Jonassen, D., Land, S. (2012). Theoretical foundations of learning environments. (Second ed.),
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Larson, M., and Lockee, B.B. (2014). Streamlined ID: A practical guide to instructional design.
New York, NY: Routledge.

Mitchell, G.W., Wohleb, E.C., and Skinner, L.B. (2015). Perceptions of public educators
regarding
accessibility to technology and the importance of integrating technology across the
curriculum. Journal for Research In Business Education, 57(2), 14-25.

Scalise, K. (2016). Student collaboration and school educational technology: Technology

integration practices in the classroom. i-manager’s Journal on School Educational
Technology, 11(4), March-May 2016.

Ültanır, E. (2012). An epistemological glance at the constructivist approach: Constructivist

learning in Dewey, Piaget, and Montessori. International Journal of Instruction, 5(2),
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED533786.pdf

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes.

Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

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