Unit 3

There are many similarities that I noticed between the four learning theories in this unit. The four theories that were investigated were Goal Based, Anchored Instruction, STAR Legacy, and MOST Multimedia. It seemed after reading the articles that the main similarity is learning through authentic, meaningful situations. In goal based learning, the learner’s motivation is the driving force. The teacher provides opportunities to the child, but keeps a skill set in mind that he or she wants the student to learn. Anchored Instruction was similar to goal based in which the student learns a set skill set as well. The difference between the two was that goal based seems to allow more control by the learner. The STAR legacy model is a 5-step process that begins again with an interesting problem and then works the students through a process. This is similar to anchored instruction, as students go through a step-by-step process. The STAR legacy model is a more condensed version keeping it at 5 steps where Anchored Instruction should be around 14 or more steps. The one theory that seemed the least like the others was the MOST Multimedia approach. MOST seems to focus on low performing students where the other theories seem focused on all types of students. The MOST Multimedia approach was also literacy focused, where the other methods could probably be applied to all genres. 

The theory that I initially felt most connected to was the anchored instruction theory. In this theory, the teacher sets up an open ended question and then guides the students through a process giving them just enough information to make them think, but not too little information that the student gets frustrated. Goal Based might be a great learning theory, but allowing students that much control would be difficult for me as a teacher that is evaluated on test scores at the end of the year. I think that in middle school, many of my students are not super motivated, and many would probably not get the full extent out of the unit. STAR Legacy seems very much like the problem based learning theory. The one element of the STAR Legacy model was having students consult with “experts.” This may be done through online learning experiences or research which I thought the students would enjoy. Finally, I’ve heard of the MOST Multimedia before, but I don’t remember if it was listed under the same name. I think that I really agree with this model for low-performing students or students that are learning English as a second language. I have heard of adults saying they were able to learn English by watching TV and listening to music. I think that since this method touches on more than one sense, people remember it better. I know personally that listening to a lecture in college and taking notes (auditory and tactile) were the best way for me to learn.

I think that there are many barriers to implementing these learning theories in the classroom. In order for goal based to be successful, the teacher needs to do a great job of coming up with a list of skills you wanted to teach and then allowing yourself to give control to your students. I think this is tough for teachers to do. Anchored instruction would require a lot of work up-front, but once the scaffolding was in place, it could be very easy to use time and time again. Finally, with MOST Multimedia, working on finding appropriate videos might be difficult. This theory also emphasizes allowing the student to take on the role of a teacher. Just like giving up control during goal based learning, this might be tough.

In order to overcome these obstacles, I think that teachers should work with their professional learning teams (PLT) in order to figure out what skills need to be taught as well as sharing the responsibility for the creation and upkeep of the projects. If you share the workload, each teacher will benefit far more than if they tried to work alone. Also, the teacher could adapt these learning theories to an online environment where work could be saved and easily updated for future classes.

I thought a long time about how to integrate these theories into my 6^th grade math classes, and I had a much harder time than with any of the previous units. At the end of the year I do give my students a project that could be somewhat related to goal based. Students are given a project to design a recreation room for a wealthy client. They are given money, room dimensions, and other information such as favorite colors, and design style. They are then challenged with designing a room to please the client. At the end the students present their rooms to the class, and then the class is given an opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback. I know that there would need to be some adjustments to get this to fit goal based more closely, but I think it could be done pretty easily.

I would probably be least likely to use MOST Multimedia in my classroom. I do feel that if I adapted the videos to be math centered instead of literacy centered it might work as well.

I had so many good ideas about how these learning theories could be adapted to the web when I was reading the articles. Goal based learning and the STAR legacy could easily be adapted to a Google site or wordpress site. These are both easy to learn, so even a teacher that wasn’t great with technology could use it. The teacher could make a page for each of the 7 steps in goal based learning. It would be easy to integrate videos and a Voki in step 3 (Cover Story). The students could watch the video and listen to the voice on the Voki to get the background information. The teacher could easily assign roles and outline those roles on a website. Anchored instruction screams webquest! I think that all webquests should follow the steps of anchored instruction. The teacher sets forth an open ended question, and then guides the students through the learning process by providing resources and data. This would be so much better than just a website with links to other websites that I’ve seen in previous webquest examples. MOST Multimedia could easily be adapted for an online environment, students could use Voicethread. Voicethread allows the user to upload pictures, turn them into a slideshow, and then narrate the pictures using voice or typing of captions. Students could find pictures or the teacher could even provide the pictures for the students. Students could then organize the pictures in sequence and then narrate the story. For lower ability students, the teacher could even put the pictures on the website, and have the students just rearrange the slides.

None of these modules really seem to be group based, so a teacher could check in with students via e-mail or Skype for face-to-face communications.