MSU2011: Behaviorism & ICT

Behaviorism is often seen as an "old-fashioned" way of looking at education, but the MAET students at MSU proved that there are very nice ICT examples that you can use in the classroom. To see how the principles are integrated in the examples, please visit the websites (and... the descriptions below are copied from the websites of the products, they are not meant as commercials...).

Behaviorism principle: chaining and extinction
Technology: Wolfquest

Description of the technology: An immersive, 3D wildlife simulation game, WolfQuest challenges players to learn about wolf ecology by living the life of a wild wolf in Yellowstone National Park.

Behaviorism principle: prompting and fading

Technology: Livemocha

Description of the technology: Livemocha's content allows students to learn with native speakers in a secure, fun environment.  They will build their vocabulary, grammar, writing and speaking skills and have invaluable cultural experiences along the way.

Behaviorism principle: classical conditioning
Technology: Grand Prix Multiplication
Description of the technology: Grand Prix Multiplication is a multi-player racing game for multiplication. Students race against each other to capture the Multiplication Cup. How quickly the student correctly answers the multiplication problem determines how quickly the race car will go. The student with the fastest rate of correct answers will win the race. Hits and misses are recorded and displayed at the end of the game, along with the student's rate. 1-4 players can play at once.

Behaviorism principle: positive and negative reinforcement and punishment
Technology: Khan Academy, practices
Description of the technology: The Khan Academy is a not-for-profit with the goal of changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education to anyone anywhere. All of the site's resources are available to anyone. It doesn't matter if you are a student, teacher, home-schooler, principal, adult returning to the classroom after 20 years, or a friendly alien just trying to get a leg up in earthly biology. The Khan Academy's materials and resources are available to you completely free of charge.

Behaviorism principle: reinforcement schedules and shaping
Technology: ALEKS
Description of the technology: Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces is a Web-based, artificially intelligent assessment and learning system. ALEKS uses adaptive questioning to quickly and accurately determine exactly what a student knows and doesn't know in a course. ALEKS then instructs the student on the topics she is most ready to learn. A student who shows a high level of mastery of an ALEKS course will be successful in the actual course she is taking.