1. Learning Theory:
Skinner
Operant Conditioning and a Vision of Technology
Use in Schools
Adam Brown
ETEC 5303 Beck

2. Operant Conditioning
 Behaviorist Theory
 Built upon Ivan Pavlov’s theories of classical
conditioning.
 A process that attempts to modify behavior through
the use of positive and negative reinforcement.
 Through operant conditioning, an individual makes
an association between a particular behavior and a
consequence.
 The term “operant conditioning” originated from
behaviorist B.F Skinner, who espoused the belief
that one should focus on measurable, external and
observable causes of behavior rather than internal
motivations.

3. Positive and Negative
Reinforcement
 Positive reinforcers are favorable events or
outcomes that are given to the individual after the
desired behavior. This may come in the form of
praise, rewards, etc.
 Negative reinforcers typically are characterized by
the removal of an undesired or unpleasant outcome
after the desired behavior. A response is
strengthened as something considered negative is
removed.
“Teaching is a matter of arranging contingencies of
reinforcement under which students learn.” –B.F
Skinner

4. Examples in Educational
Technology
 Voluntary response:
◦ Student Studying for an exam using web-based
tutorials, textbooks and other resources.
 Reinforcing stimulus:
◦ Student scores well on the exam and is more likely
to explore web-based learning, tools and resources
once they see the value they add to the educational
experience.

5. Views on Teaching and
Technology
 Teaching technologies do not actually teach in the
literal sense. They are labor-saving devices that
augment and enhance only the aspects that they
affect. This allows teachers to spend more time on
functions that cannot be duplicated by technology.
 Example: An instructor uses a learning
management system such as Blackboard to
organize, present and assess the content of an
academic course. This technology augments and
enhances the programmed instruction of the student,
but cannot replicate the important relationship-
building interactions that take place between teacher
and student.

6. Views on Teaching and
Technology
 Programmed instruction requires that the learner
understand each step before moving to the next. The
learner needs to stay in one stage until he or she
masters the learning objectives to move to the next
stage.
 This instruction is more than simply chunking
terminal behaviors and reinforcing them individually.
Each new unit of learned behavior should add to
already established behaviors in a cumulative way.
 Example: In a blended learning environment, a
student must apply knowledge gained in several
hybrid lecture and web-based lessons to a
comprehensive project that demonstrates learning
beyond remembering such as understanding,

7. Views on Teaching and
Technology
 Technology in teaching can help us maximize the
development of human potential.
 Technology assisted teaching is only one means of
achieving an educational end. The technology itself
should not dictate the direction of the education.
 Example: An instructor using conferencing
technologies, web-based multimedia and a LMS
should formulate their teaching strategies based on
their pedagogical content knowledge, not by the
nuanced realities of the technologies themselves.

8. Sources
 Pai, Young (1973) Teaching, Learning and the
Mind. Boston; Houghton-Mifflin. pgs. 94-117
 A primer of Operant Conditioning, Reynolds, G.
S. Oxford, England: Scott, Foresman. (1975). xiv
155 pp.