Complete Second Encounter

Second Encounter

This entry is about the second week content as each encounter represents a week study pereiod. The second week, though, not much was covered, useful information has been delievered. This sort of information which can be seen as cornston blocks for some pedagogical grounds basically includes 'theories of learning, instructions for blogs and social media applications.

The 'learning theories' includes a comprehesive set of theories, or schools of thoughts for instance behaviorisim, cognitivisim, constructivisim amd soci-constructivisim where lights were shed on and selected as the most important ones for delievery by the tutors. Behaivurisim basically suggests for instance the following: 

1.Learning happens when a correct response is demonstrated following the presentation of a specific environmental stimulus.

2.Learning can be detected by observing an organism over a period of time.

3.Emphasis is on observable and measurable behaviors

4.Emphasis is on relationships between environmental variables and behavior.

Behaviorism is built upon notceable behaviors, thus information and data collection when conducting researhc can easily be accessed which is a surplus for such a school of thoughts. Effective  techniques such as intensive behavioral intervention or analysis, , token economies and discrete trial training are all rooted in behaviorism. These approaches are often very useful in changing maladaptive or harmful behaviors in both children and adults.any critics argue that behaviorism is a one-dimensional approach to understanding human behavior and that behavioral theories do not account for free will and internal influences such as moods, thoughts and feelings. Behaviorism does not account for other types of learning, especially learning that occurs without the use of reinforcement and punshment. People and animals are able to adapt their behavior when new data is introduced, even if a previous behavior pattern has been established through reinforcement. Drwaing on pedagogical implicationa of such a theor in the Saudi education contex, i think that there is an adaptation of such theory in practice by a vast majority of teaching practionairs possibly uncounciasly. This is quiet clear of basically in the dominant approach of teacher-centeredness as an observable style of teaching and memorisation by heart learning. One way to change such a behaviour is gaining awarness of the assumptions and patterns of such a school of thoughts and understanding the advantages and disadvantages of it, them making serious efforts to adapt other theories which can serve the teachers' needs and go in harmony with recent developments in pedagogy. To sum up while behaviorism is not as dominant today but maybe more in other parts of the world not much in Saudi Arabia, as it was during the middle of the 20th-century, it still remains an influential force in psychology. Outside of psychology, animal trainers, parents, teachers and many others can make use of basic behavioral principles such as basic drills like repetition for language begginers to help teach new behaviors and discourage unwanted ones. Actually this what globale literature has aggreed on while accessing various reflections on such a school of thoughts.

A part from learning theories comes the use of social media applications.  Such applications can include many uses of technological programs such as Skype, blogs, screens, slideshow, prez among many others. In fact, i found this tutarial very useful and has open my eyes to various ways of technology pedagogical applications. Before i had no extensive knowledge of the use of such technology in classroom and even for myself but now there seems to be an addition in personal theories and schematic knowledge. This has levelled up the span of world knowledge on one hand and also my personal knowledge on othe other. However, there seems to be a need to further examine the use of such tools practically on more than one occusion. I think that it would have been more useful if had spent more practical sessions on the use of such programs in a way that reinforces the threshhold level we have got in technology.