Learning Theory and Ed. Tech. Module 5

A couple of months ago I gave a professional development workshop on Mac Basics to about 35 teachers at my school. Our entire staff was surveyed in September about what type of technology training they would like throughout the year, and this was in response to their direct needs. Most of our teachers have only used PCs, and they were unhappily surprised when they arrived in their classrooms at the beginning of the year to find out that all of the classroom computers were replaced with Macs (about $1,000,000.00 worth!).

The first hour of the workshop was an eye opener for me. I was inundated with ultra-basic questions like:

"How do I turn on the computer?"

"Where's the right click button?"

"Where's My Computer?"

"How do I turn the volume down?"

"Where's Internet Explorer?"

I wasn't expecting such simple questions because this same group of teachers had been supposedly using the Macs in their classroom to take attendance, record grades, and plan their lessons.

I had to change my lesson plan for this workshop on-the-fly; this is just like I would have to do in my own classroom if I found the kids just weren't getting it. Keller's ARC model for the motivation of learners can be used to analyze this situation. Keller proposed four conditions for motivation that must be met to have a motivated learner (Driscoll, 2005, p 333).

A - attention

R - relevance

C - confidence

S - satisfaction

A - I had the attention of this group of teachers, but I was aware that this could quickly change.

R - The teachers' only relevance was the fact that they were forced to learn how to use a Mac because their PCs were taken out of their classrooms.

C - My goals and objectives for the workshop were overshadowed by the fact that the teachers' Mac computer skills were so low.

S - What would satisfy the teachers' needs? This had to be redefined.

After the first hour I asked the teachers if they had Mac computers at home, and the answer was a resounding "NO" from all of them. Knowing that our computer technician had ordered several extra Mac Powerbook Pro laptops, I picked up my phone and called the principal. I explained to him the situation and asked if the teachers could "keep" the laptops that they were working on in the PD. He said, "YES!" Suddenly, everyone's motivation level increased by about 500%. Even though each teacher had a Mac in their classroom, they didn't feel an immediate need to learn how to use it. The ARCs model for motivation was complete, and the second hour could not have been better!

Reference:

Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.