Good timing

While each perspective of learning has strengths and weaknesses when explaining how we learn and what methods foster learning, I try to use an eclectic approach in the classroom by combining ideas from several of the perspectives in different cases.  Sometimes it makes the most sense to approach teaching from the cognitive perspective.  Students need to be able to effortfully encode information and make it meaningful to them in order to store and retrieve this content for later.  Other topics in the courses I teach require a more hand-on approach that the Constructivism perspective focuses on.   It's important to know which of these perspectives is needed to reach the goals you set for your students.  Designing lessons backwards will help teachers decided which of these perspectives to focus on for each individual lesson since identifying the desired results drives which instructional strategies and learning activities are needed. 

 I teach AP Psychology and AP Macroeconomics, but I've chosen to focus on AP Macro when creating a LMS.  I've decided to go with Schoology, which is perfect for me because our district as just decided to adopt this learning platform this school year to make a smoother transition between face-to-face and digital learning.  My goals for this course and this school year is to prepare my students for knowledge based-work.  Tony Bates talks about how the hefty majority of students are entering a field of work where "more brains and less brawn" are required for success.  The traditional classroom is not currently preparing for students who work in a digital age where communication, business, and the economy are all changing because of technology.  He goes on to say, "The wide diversity of the student body is a major challenge for institutions. This requires more focus on teaching methods that provide support for learners, more individualization of learning,and more flexible delivery."  Digital learning management platforms, like Schoology, are the flexibility and the support that will prepare our students to be successful in the digital world. 

References:

Bates, A. W. (. (2015). 1.1 Structural changes in the economy: the growth of a knowledge society. Tony Bates Associates Ltd. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/chapter/structural-changes-in-the-economy-the-growth-of-a-knowledge-society

IDKB - Models/Theories. (2014, March 18). Retrieved from http://cehdclass.gmu.edu/ndabbagh/Resources/IDKB/models_theories.htm