In this pictured lesson, students are in Spanish class. Every week, towards the end of the week, students participate in a formative and interactive game to test their knowledge on their vocabulary. Throughout the week, the teacher monitors their progress on Quizlet to ensure that students are putting adequate effort and time into learning their new vocabulary. The technology of Quizlet and the SMARTBoard allows for students to grow as independent learners who can work at their own pace while having interactive features for collaboration. Students are heavily monitored during their independent Quizlet time whether that occurs at home, at school, or at the library. Quizlet enables the teacher to directly engage with the statistics of which students work with the material throughout the week and which ones do not.
As “a constructivist philosophy (Duffy & Cunningham, 1996; Jonassen, Mayes, & McAleese, 1993) of learning was the basis of the instructional strategy adopted in the study…recognised that in order for learners to ‘construct’ knowledge they must be actively engaged in ‘processing content for understanding’”(Morgan, 2008, 126). In this activity, students are physically and actively engaged in their learning. As they “interact with their environment” of learning a new language they are undertaking a very high level task that arguably is “beyond the abilities of the unassisted individual” (Morgan, 2008, 127).
Since distributed cognition is as much working with technology as it is with other people, their Spanish teacher enables them to do both. Students are directly engaging and working with the technology of Quizlet while they are studying independently. They are also working with other people as they work together as a class to accurately define vocabulary. They are externalizing their knowledge in both an active and verbal way. The top finishers also receive a bonus point. This is given to them on a piece of paper that they must remember to bring to class in order to receive the point. This works on students being held accountable as well as staying organized and responsible.
When working with the Quizlet software and the SMARTBoard hardware students are equipped with different ways to study and to become familiar with this material. One of the effects of working with this technology is the multisensory component. Students can engage with the material through their sight as well as their hearing. This caters to individual learning needs. The effect of this technology is that students can take it and do it anywhere that best suits their living and learning situation. It also invites students to engage with the material through different games that invite them to learn in a fun way.
I believe that this lesson and integration of technology will make students smarter as students getting maximum exposure to these vocabulary words and their definitions. Having students do part of the review independently and at their own pace and schedule helps learning to be an individualized experience. Having students participate in their review together as a game also benefits student learning because “the use of games to promote learner engagement can be supported by a range of learning theories, including those of Vygotsky, Gardner, Keller, and others.”
This type of formative learning activity aligns with “Vygotsky (1934) [who] believed that learning takes place within the “zone of proximal development” (ZPD), which is “the gap between what a learner has already mastered (the actual level of development) and what a child can achieve (potential development) with the guidance of an experienced and capable assistant such as a teacher or more capable peer” (LEARN NC, 2008, p.1)” (Gareau, Stephen and Guo, Ruth (2009)). In working as a class and with the support of their teacher, students’ knowledge and boundaries are being pushed to grow.
Gareau, Stephen and Guo, Ruth (2009) ““All Work and No Play” Reconsidered: The Use of Games to Promote Motivation and Engagement in Instruction,” International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Vol. 3: No. 1, Article 12.
Morgan, M., Brickell, G., Harper, B. (2008). Applying distributed cognition theory to the redesign of the ‘Copy and Paste’ function in order to promote appropriate learning outcomes. Computers & Education, 50(1), 125-147.
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