The discussions were focused on the learning theories and the conversation began with the topic of behaviorism and was labeled by Downes as being outdated and "dehumanizing"(Kerr,2007); however, as I went through the dialogue, I saw opinions from Kerr, Downes, and Kapp leaned toward the blending of the best of each theory. I feel that Bill Kerr said it best on his blog when he wrote "It seems to me that each _ism is offering something useful without any of them being complete or stand alone in their own right"(Kerr,2007). I know that in my classroom, it seems that I use different theories according to the level of learning for the students. I tend to follow the learning theories as identified by Kerr with my own different levels of 7th graders. With my introductory lessons and for my remedial classes, I normally use more of the behavorist theory, the when it comes time to apply and practice the learning, I switch to the use of the Cognitive theory, and finally, when I want the students to complete multi-step problem solving that require critical thinking, I move to the Constructive approcah. I try to include problem based learning as much as possible and use performance tasks often as formative assessments, but find myself reverting back to the behavorist theory quite a bit as I settle back into our standardized testing environment (old habits). I do agree that all of the theories are useful and necessary and give me guidelines to follow as I try to help my students achieve the learning goals.
I participated in discussions on the follwing blogs for Module 2:
http://castanosblogs.blogspot.com/
http://pnesrsta.wordpress.com
http://castanosblogs.blogspot.com/
http://pnesrsta.wordpress.com
