My course' rationale: activities design and learning theories

    Welcome to the third post under the label of my online course design, my fellow teachers. This time I am going to reflect on the activities and tools that I have chosen for the course and explain how these activities align with learning theories. 

    Before the discussion of activities that I created, I would like to note that learning theories, SAMR model, CoI (Community of Inquiry) framework and Padagogy wheel helped me build the structure of the online course' activities. There are also several digital tools that I incorporated into Google Classroom assignments to enhance learning and meet set learning outcomes. The first category of online course' activities that I am going to discuss is activities that have behaviourism in them. Behaviourism is a learning theory which tells that learning happens through interactions with the envrionment that has conditioning (imitation, practice and habituation) (Adjini, 2021). Usually, the activities that follow behaviourist manner are controlled by the teacher and the teacher is the one who provides stimulus as well (Budiman, 2017). Therefore, most of the completion exercises or those exercises that require repeated actions (drills) reflect the principles of behaviourism. In my online course, there are some activities that rely on the principles of this learning theory. Among them are: 

• Wordwall activities when students have to drag and drop definitions, or match definitions (lesson 3.2);
• Google Quizzes on email writing (lesson 1.1), common texting language practices (lesson 2.1);
• Quizizz reflection quiz (lesson 3.2);
• Kahoot! quiz on story structure (lesson 4.1);
• External links with worksheets (fill-in activities)

    Therefore, all of the mentioned activities reinforce practice of students' knowledge under conditioning and provides immediate feedback, which is also a component of behaviourist learning.

    The next learning theory is cognitivism. This theory is built on the notion that learning occurs inside the mind, focusing on how information is processed, stored and analyzed with the help of internal mental processes (Dilshad, 2017). I believe that the video with questions embedded from Youtube on EdPuzzle platform and then share as an input in my lessons is the definitoin of an activity that reflect cognitivism. EdPuzzle prompts learners to actively process information as they watch videos. In particular, questions at intervals might help learners analyze and remember key points of the information learnt. Also, I designed an assignment that included practicing on Write & Improve AI tool developed by Cambridge. This platform provides detailed feedback to student writings, giving them an opportunity to edit their works and proofread. This process aligns with the principle of cognitivism to allow learners refine their knowledge by providing feedback through guided practice (Institute of Education Sciences, 2016). 

    The next theory that I considered while designing activities for my online course is constructivism. In this theory, the learners are expected to have active involvement in constructing knowledge and meaning. Thus, constructivist teaching in our case should promote students' critical thinking and encourage them to learn independently, shifting the focus to students' own efforts to build blocks of knowledge in their minds (Jafari, Davatgari and Amineh, 2015). Activities that would make students learn through experiences and reflection in my online course are creation of blogs, writing short stories, recordings made with the help of Voki (lesson 2.2 lead-in activity), Wakelet resources (lesson 3.1 input). In particular, resources from Wakelet space can be used by students to analyze the content provided in different forms.

    On the other hand, there are some activities that reflect the principles of social constructivism. Social constructivism is a learning theory that emphasizes the construction of knowledge through social interaction (Saleem, Kausar and Deeba, 2021). In English language writing classes, social constructivism can be applied in pre-writing stage in a form of discussion activity, or brainstorming with group members (Fu, 2018). Through this, the students can construct their knowledge through cooperation and persuasion of their classmates. In addition to this, I integrated discussion boards in Google Classroom in some lessons, discussion on Kialo platform with prior stimulus (image) (lesson 4.1), pair work writing task, Padlet boards. Therefore, all these activities enable learners' engagement in a dailogue, construct their knowledge and improve their writing.

        Last but not least, there are activities that contain the principles of connectivism in them. Connectivism is a learning theory that focuses on learning as a networked process, using digital tools and digital connections to facilitate teaching-learning process (Goldie, 2016). As the course that I am developing is an online course on writing, I believe that networks, which are the main concept of connectivism, have to be prioritized. Students in my online course have to navigate through different channels, tools, platforms and often synthesize information on their own. The usage of platforms like Wakelet, or having a Goosechase scavenger hunt game in my lessons facilitates networked learning as well. Also, there are two of three parts to the activities that I create, so the learners will be gaining knowledge from different sources meaningfully. For instance, the learners should watch a YouTube video, complete an interactive task on Twee based on that video, learn through materials on Wakelet space and proceed to discussion on Padlet. I believe this is how connectivism can be applied in my classroom. In addition to this, there is an activity during which the students are asked to use shared Google Docs for writing project. This also integrates connectivism as learners co-create a piece of writing real-time, despite being in an online space. This way, they can actively participate in the lesson.

References

Ajdini, F. (2021). Behaviorist theory on language learning and acquisition. Filologjia-International Journal of Human Sciences, 9(15-16), 90-96.

Budiman, A. (2017). Behaviorism and foreign language teaching methodology. ENGLISH FRANCA: Academic Journal of English Language and Education, 1(2 December), 101-114.

Dilshad, M. N. (2017). Learning theories: Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism. International Education and Research Journal, 3(9), 64-66.

FU, J.-J. (2018). A Study on the Application of CAT in English Writing from the Perspective of Social Constructivism. DEStech Transactions on Social Science, Education and Human Science, (icaem). Available from https://doi.org/10.12783/dtssehs/icaem2017/19081.

Goldie, J.G.S. (2016). Connectivism: A knowledge learning theory for the digital age? Medical Teacher, 38 (10), 1064–1069. Available from https://doi.org/10.3109/0142159x.2016.1173661.

Institute of Education Sciences. (2016). Teaching Secondary Students to Write Effectively . Available from https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Docs/PracticeGuide/508_WWCPG_SecondaryWriting_122719.pdf

Jafari, R., Davatgari, H. and Amineh, R. (2015). Journal of Social Sciences, Literature and Languages Review of Constructivism and Social Constructivism. ©2015 JSSLL Journal, 1 (1), 9–16. Available from https://www.blue-ap.com/J/List/4/iss/volume%2001%20(2015)/issue%2001/2.pdf. 

Saleem, A., Kausar, H. and Deeba, F. (2021). Social constructivism: A new paradigm in teaching and learning environment. Perennial Journal of History, 2 (2), 403–421. Available from https://doi.org/10.52700/pjh.v2i2.86

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