Bruce Knox posted the following comment on my recent post about the “Technology-Transformed Learning Environment.” He writes…
My job involves sitting with teachers and coplanning their units of work with an emphasis on infusing technology. I am going to take your 5 points and final comment to ask 7 questions of my teachers as they consider planning a unit.
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| 1939. Anacostia High School, Washington, D.C. “Carpentry shop.”
To see the kind of learning that I’m trying to describe, think of the old shop class that some of us attended in the ’60s and before. |
Bruce did a good job of sumerizing the rather vaguely presented list I wrote about. He has also given me a chance to expand on the ideas, my comments inserted below, italicized and indented.
- What questions will your students be asking?
My notion of this would be questions that are largely unpredictable. My question of teachers would be, “What barriers will your students encounter, that will compel them to ask ask questions, seek information, or invent solutions?” Rather than inserting questions into the unit, we should insert reasons to ask questions, barriers to overcome.
- What will their conversations be about? Who could they be conversing with?
These qualities are all thoroughly interconnected. The posing of questions is what provokes the conversations. But the questions can be aimed at and involve exchanges with classmates, students outside of class, experts, you, other teachers — but perhaps even more often, the exchanges are with information sources such as reference books, periodicals, online encyclopedias, online databases, search engines, and often by working information with spreadsheets, graphic enhancement, visualization techniques, etc. It’s learning by exchange.
- How will the assignment/unit talk back?
It’s a clever way to express it. But what I’m looking for is, “How will the learning experience reveal or uncover the desired knowledge or skills?” In a way, we’re looking for an experience that waits for the learner to do something, before the answer forms.
- How will this increase the self-value of the student or develop something of value to someone else?
In what ways will the learner grow, as a result of the activity. This can be a new skill that is self-identified as worthy, or a resulting product that the learner is proud to include in his or her portfolio.
- Where are the opportunities to make mistakes safely?
I think that it needs to be stipulated that these be good mistakes. Where might students get it wrong, and in getting it wrong, find the right way.
- Where is th opportunity for you to ask your students, “Surprise me!”
In what parts of the unit can you not predict the method or outcome. Where will the students as for clarification, and your response will be, “Surprise me.”
- What will your students be able to do with what they have learned?<
This is core, I think.
This last one, I think, is one of the most important shifts that should and will come from technology-infused learning environments. Because learners are empowered to not merely consume knowledge and skills, but to literally mine it, work it, and express it compellingly to real audiences, then learning becomes something that you “do with,” rather than being “done to.”
To me, this is the definition of instructional rigor. Not how much you are taught, but what you can do with what you learn.
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I think the value of blogging is that it can connect or link people with similar interests, areas of expertise, and even curiosities to each other in a virtual community. Of course, there are pros and cons to this networking process, too. On the positive side, blogging allows people to communicate with each other on a regular basis. It is safe on one hand, because the participants don’t come into physical contact with each other. They can express their views without the fear of being criticized or ridiculed at that specific moment. However, on the
Negative side, one needs to be careful of privacy issues, their audience, and even cyberspace in general. Also, as human beings, are we able to truly function without physical contact? By that, I am referring to facial expressions, sitting beside someone and sharing an amusing story or event, learning from observation, getting exercise etc. Have we set in motion an irreversible path that could lead to our own destruction? What would we do if suddenly all the computers/ Internet etc. was inaccessible for a long period of time? What about all the increasing stress related health issues people are facing? It appears that everyone has to be connected 24/7 in order to “function”. What about the EMFs from all the various technological “goodies” we like and want so much?
Here are some questions I have for bloggers:
1. How many hours in a day do you spend blogging?
2. How often do you check your blog?
3. What do you get out of it?
4. What types of comments do you receive on the blog?
5. For what purpose was this blog created? Money? Information? Communication?
6. How do you sift through the amount of information received?
7. Do you read ALL the co