As a first year education student, I have listened to several classroom discussions focusing on the teaching styles of behaviorism vs constructivism and how and when we should effectively implement technology along with our curriculum. My primary education consisted of behaviorism teaching with plenty of reinforcement, repetition with a pencil and paper. Yes, computer technology was not publicly available in the 1970's & 1980"s. As an undergraduate, I have been cautioned that I will revert to "old school" behaviorism style teaching as an educator. I would like to debate this common belief that I will be a behaviorist teacher and why I embrace the importance of embedding technology into project-based learning. I have tested my theories in the classroom... I had the opportunity to work with several teachers, volunteers and students through a non-profit called Junior Achievement. Junior Achievement offers financial literacy and business education programs for students from grade four through to grade twelve. These programs are facilitated in the classrooms through qualified community volunteers. The program that I noted the most student growth and development is the Junior Achievement program called Company Program. The object of this program is to offer a group of high school students the opportunity of providing a product or service to their community for a semester. We implemented the program with a simple business offer to the students. The basic parameters of the program are outlined and the chosen business venture and the technology are the student’s responsibility. The program outcomes are project-based learning with the tenets of mastery learning and they forever changed my perspective of education and technology. Let me explain... I facilitated Company Program in five school divisions. The following are the learning outcomes I observed: 1. Students who were not on the academic honor roll or participated in school sports now found a new niche of participation within their school. The initial outcomes were relationship building, peer identity, team playing. (CTS, BIT: ENT1010: 5.3.1) 2. As the students “applied” for their various positions within their company and operated their business, I witnessed student growth through responsibility, problem solving, and group decision-making. (CTS, BIT: ENT1010: 5.2.2; 5.1.4) 3. When the students interacted within their community, I witnessed local community relationship building and networking. (CTS, ENT1020: 3.1.1) 4. There were steep learning curves with the understanding of basic business skills such as sales, reporting and intercommunication skills, but once these were applied to spreadsheets and reported as a group, the students could clearly formulate their company objectives. (CTS, ENT2010: all) 5. I noted that the students collaborated together to assist one another with technology skills such as building a website and working through the accounting software. The students were excited to apply technology knowledge to a practical application. (Info & Comm Tech-Division 4: C1-P6) 6. In the liquidation of the business, I noted pride among the students for their accomplishments both in the school and in the community. (CTS, ENT2040: all) (http://education.alberta.ca/) In summary, I noted that the majority of students were able to choose their positions within their company and observe the functionality of the other "company" positions that mirror a real corporation. The application of technology reassured students that the project-based skills acquired are applicable to life after the classroom. With programs such as Junior Achievement, I feel that project-based learning is key to aid in mastery learning, which is preparing the students for future employment. The most important element of project-based learning is to know when, where and how it will be applicable to your students. Now that’s another set of skills. Time to head back to class… Lorie Penner is a wife, a mother and a full-time student in the U of A Bachelor of Education program at Red Deer College. Lorie lives with her husband, Chris and her family in Red Deer.
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