Reflecting on Chapter 1

What is the focus in the school system today? As I read and think about the activities promoted in classrooms, I wonder if the focus is on true "meaningful learning" or learning and knowing how to take tests. The book describes meaningful learning as "willingness to be engaged in a meaningful task" (p. 2). If we provide students with opportunities to be engaged and think critically in the classroom, those skills should hopefully transfer when they do have to take a standardized test. When the material is interesting and means something to the students, they are usually more interested and will learn and remember the information for a longer period of time. Unlike standardized tests, children do care about technology and issues surrounding the topic (as we can see through the Growing Up Online video). Learning can take place just about anywhere and children need to understand this concept. However, in order to learn we must be active and engaged with the material or task that we are presented with.

In my personal life, I am the type of person that likes to "go and do" all the time. Sometimes, though, it is important for me to just sit down and reflect on what's going on in my life. The same is true for the classroom. Students need to be active and have opportunities to be involved in learning, but the learning process also requires reflection on what was learned. It was good for me to read this idea in the chapter because I need to be reminded how important this aspect is and how it can help myself as well as my students. Three other parts of meaningful learning, as stated by Jonassen et al. are intentional, authentic, and cooperative. Each individual's learning should be directed toward a certain goal and should represent understanding. In addition, students should hone in on specific topics that they can learn about and eventually transfer the knowledge about the topic in other situations. One thing I have leared so far in my pursuit of becoming an elementary teacher is that students learn from eachother; therefore, collaboration is key in the classroom. Children need to converse and talk things out and we should never hinder this from happening. In the future, I plan on allowing students to work in partners, groups, and individually. The diversity will keep students on their feet and they will have experience with many different ways to learn.

In this class, I am excited to learn how technology is used in the classroom and how it is beneficial for students. This chapter provided me with information on that specific subject. In the past, students were required to learn "the information presented by the technology" (p. 6). Now the focus is more on learning with technology. We can use technology to organize thoughts, comparing, representing beliefs/ideas, and to do many more things. I believe my thoughts about technology will change throughout this course as I learn practical ways to use the tool. I've always known that technology is an important part of our socitey, but it is even better to know how and why it is important.