COGNITION, CULTURE, & LEARNING PRESENTATION

BY SHERI RUETHER

Cognitive and Educational Neuroscience, Technology and Language Learning

Cognitive and Educational Neuroscientists study the how the brain develops and learns. These two scientists work to help teachers understand how children learn.

These scientists examine the physical aspect of the brain as well as the inner workings of how the brain functions to different things such as reading and speaking.

Technology is constantly being updated and pushed into the schools. Teachers need to know how technology affects learners.

Second Language learners are in almost every school in the U.S. Regular education teachers need to understand how to teach ELL students when in a regular classroom

Children learn from their experiences in the world around them…

Sensory Experiences

Physical Experiences

Environment

The brain is constantly adding and deleting information

“Refinements in the neural circuits that mediate sensory, emotional, and social behaviors are driven by experience.” (Feldman & Knutson, 1998, p. 1067)

Positive Experiences

The types of experiences a child has will affect the child for rest of his life…

Family Life…

School…

Friends…

Negative Experiences

Homelessness…

Hunger…

Drug and Alcohol abuse in families…

Neglect…

The Socio-Economic Factor

Studies have shown children from poor backgrounds have a more difficult time academically than children from more affluent backgrounds. (Campbell, Pungello, Miller-Johnson, Burchinal, & Ramey, 2001; Martin, Ramey, & Ramey, 1990)

Advancement of learning cannot go beyond what is expected of students in the learning place. Students from poor SES backgrounds

can catch up to their counterparts but cannot go beyond what is expected without the

possibility of harming their cognitive performance.

(Fox, Levitt, & Nelson III, 2010)

The development of neural networks in young children is important as they learn to read, write, or understand numbers.

Executive Function

Attention

Task completion

Motivation

Working memory

Cognitive flexibility

Impulse control

It has also been found executive functioning is important in phonological process skills such as phonological awareness,

phonological memory, and rapid phonological naming.

When a student reads, the student must intentionally focus, remain attentive to the task, and follow through on the task of reading.

A student must be able to work with several bits of information at the same time to be able to read well and fully understand what they are reading.

Studies show that children begin developing executive functioning when they are infants…

And continues into early adulthood

A child must attend to

LettersWordsSentencesFluencyMeaningWord orderLetter sounds (Cartwright, 2009)

Reading development varies among children.

The skills used for reading are the same regardless of the primary language of the child.

Children of all languages must develop a verbal working memory to be able to use and understand phonemic awareness skills.

A student’s reading skill can be predicted when in kindergarten by observing their phonological skills during this time period. (Nithart,Demont, Metz-Lutz,

Majerus, Poncelet, & Leybaert, 2011)

All children develop executive functioning and use the same types of phonological awareness skills to develop and process reading.

A child’s SES plays a vital role in the literacy development of the child…

There has been a big push for educators to use as much technology in the classroom as possible

Technology allows students to work with other students and professionals around the world without leaving their classroom.

Students are entering school with technological skills using smartphones, iPads, laptops, etc.

Teachers should take extra time to learn about the many cultures and languages spoken in their classrooms.

U.S. schools are serving many students that are learning English as their second language.

Computers offer second and third language learners opportunities to develop their language skills in instructional or learning scenarios. These scenarios provide practice in speaking the new language while learning the new culture. (Allard, Bordeau, &

Mizoguchi, 2011)

Computer instruction and other use of media should support read a louds to build oral vocabulary of English Language Learners.

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Cognitive and Educational Neurosciences are important contributors to the field of education. The more we learn about how the brain develops and learns, the better prepared we can be as educators. New technology provides supplemental ways to reach each student at their own developmental levels.

Technology, if used correctly and with a purpose, can have a strong, positive effect on students. Second language learners can use technology for building vocabulary and reading skills. This use is not limited to only ELLs. Children from low SES backgrounds

and struggling readers are able to use technology to help improve their reading

abilities also.

I will apply my new learning as an ELL/kindergarten teacher by including more individual computer time for building stronger reading skills and vocabulary development. This will supplement the oral reading of stories already being done in the classroom.

I will also try to increase the amount of positive experiences within the school day. I will stress to my parents the importance of early experiences for their children.

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