Behaviorist Principles, Students, and Technology

Effort is sometimes a very difficult concept to explain with students, even in the wide range of types of students I teach, because they believe that either that are smart enough to get by with very little effort, or that they are not smart enough, and so effort is useless, because they will not "get it." I found the effort rubric therefore to be very interesting as a positive reinforcer, especially when used with the accompanying graph comparing their effort to their grades, because students who use it are required to face the fact that unless they apply enough effort, they cannot move forward.

One thing that surprised me about the resources shared in the text was the capabilities of Microsoft Word. I found out that along with providing instant feedback on spelling and grammar, a tool that I use frequently and encourage the use of in my classroom, this application actually assigns a grade level to the quality of writing. This capability sets achievement goals for students, and reinforces concepts taught as part of the writing process.  Particularly useful for language arts activities is a site called Mr. Nussbaum: there is a game called Sentence Surgery that is wonderful and engaging for reinforcing proofreading skills that students at the middle school level are still learning. The Flashcard Exchange is an excellent school for reinforcing vocabulary; students can design their own, and thus learning could be reinforced according to different needs. All of these resources are reflective of reinforcement, because they focus in on areas in which students need the most practice; Pitler, et al. remind us that "Mastering a skill or process requires a fair amount of focused practice" (p. 188), and suggest that educational computer games facilitate the extension of learning outside the classroom, and are an attractive way for students to hone their skills. Smith (1999) references Hartley as emphasizing that "Activity is important. Learning is better when the learner is active rather than passive." When students are actively engaged in a pleasurable activity that is reinforcing a skill, they are therefore definitely working towards mastery.

In terms of the behavorist principle of modeling, Google Docs is an excellent resource for peer editing. Posts can be tracked, so there is a record of the assistance students can give to each other in terms of proofreading and editing.  Blogging about specific topics also sets up models for students, as they can read their peers' responses and learn from them.

Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Smith, M. K. (1999) 'The behaviourist orientation to learning', the encyclopedia of informal education, www.infed.org/biblio/learning-behavourist.htm, Last update: September 03, 2009.