The World is Their Classroom
Four children live in my household. Four. They range in age from 7 years old to 18 years old; they are in 2nd, 7th, 11th, and 12th grades. There are more tablets, laptops, netbooks, PC’s, cell phones, and gaming systems in my home than there are textbooks in my children’s backpacks. The children each spend approximately 35 hours per week in school, more than that if we count extracurricular activities such as clubs, sports, and band. What they dislike most about school is the restrictions placed on their connectivity. Let’s allow that to sink in, shall we? … What my children hate about school is the fact that in the very place our culture has assigned their learning experiences to be focused, housed, and ultimately assessed as pass or fail, they cannot connect (in what they perceive are meaningful ways) with engaging content. And when they walk through the door at approximately 3:15pm every weekday from September through May, the clamor they raise for broadband rivals their capacity to inhale granola bars at lightning speed. And I’m not mad. …. I embrace that my beautiful brood of post-millennials thirst to connect with learning environments in ways so seamless that their zeal transcends ubiquitous computing. What if I told them that over 90% of learning throughout their lifespan is happening outside of the classroom (Bransford, p. 216)? … I’m not going to mention it (similarly, I have failed to mention how I sneak spinach into the ravioli or occasionally pass off cauliflower casserole as cheesy mashed potatoes). But I bet they’ve already got an inkling. Informal learning encompasses nearly every context in the metacognition of real world education, and mobile technology exists as an integral facilitator of those ongoing and multi-faceted endeavors of lifelong learners. But if the world is their classroom, why isn’t the world IN their classroom?
Today’s learners are evolving at a much more rapid rate than traditional educational settings. In an interview with Mimi Ito, Digital Media and Learning Research Hub (2012) poses the question “Might the information age free us to pursue learning centered on individuals and not institutions?” This inquiry opens an interesting discourse that mirrors the convergence theory of implicit/informal/formal learning wherein three (formerly distinct and separate) conversations become integrated in order to more effectively examine human learning with “simultaneous emphasis” (Bransford, p.210). Similarly, Sharples defines a combination of five points regarding mobility within the concept of mobile learning; these points encompass physical space, technology, conceptual space, social space, and cumulative learning, and reinforce the notion that mobile learning not only occurs across contexts but continues connectivity throughout the lifespan (p. 235). While theory may dictate a more inclusive consideration of mobile learning, practice simply has not kept pace. Compelling on a macro level is the DML question about individual-centered learning, and Dr. Ito’s (DML 2012) response: “We’re so used to … giving responsibility for learning to professionals instead of looking at how it’s part of the fabric of our interactions with everybody…. How can we use the capacity of these networked resources … to bring people together who want to learn together?”
I’d like to continue this conversation. And so would my kids. How about my house, 3:15 Monday afternoon? I’ll supply the granola bars … and the broadband.
References:
Bransford, J., et al. (2006). Learning theories and education. pp. 209-244.
[DMLResearchHub]. (2012, Oct 31). Connected learning: Everyone, everywhere, anytime. [Video file] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viHbdTC8a90.
[DMLResearchHub]. (2011, Aug 4). Cultural anthropologist Mimi Ito on connected learning, children, and digital media. [Video file] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuV7zcXigAI.
Sharples, M., et al. (2009). Mobile learning: Small devices, big issues. pp. 233-249.
“But if the world is their classroom, why isn’t the world IN their classroom?”
Gosh, that was a very deep statement and I agree with you all the way. Since I fall in the category of millennials, I do find myself trying to get some sort of connection in every way possible. When examining the free age, I really don’t think institution will go away so easily but rather modify themselves to stay in the game.
Thank you, Michael. I agree with you. And I am a fan of the institution. I don’t want it to go away – but I do want it to evolve into a learning-rich environment that incorporates mobile technology as a genuinely learning-enhancing implement.
Crystal, your quote from Mimi Ito about bringing interests and networks of people together is very apt. Do you have some thoughts on some first steps we might take to engender these types of interest-based learning in formal environments as well? Since you have the perspective of someone who has children of varying ages, how do you think we might accomplish some of the cross-boundary types of learning/interaction? Thanks!
Thank you, Dr. Sharma. I think the most important first step we can take is to empower classroom teachers to utilize technology through policies that allow mobile devices as enhancements to the formal learning environment (as opposed to policies that consider them detriments). In my purse at any given time there are at least two mobile devices; my children are always connected. When they go to school, they are forced to “unplug,” and they are bored. My high-school senior (who takes some online hybrid courses due to the limitations of epilepsy) is most comfortable in his tech-draw and CAD courses because he is allowed the use of a mobile device to create very interactive assignments. And yet he attends an English class where the students are still writing essays pen-to-paper. We need to empower our teachers to be learners and to encourage them to get in touch with their learners; the old “We’ll do it my way because I’m the teacher” adage just isn’t cutting it in contemporary classrooms when learners have access to so much information outside of the formal classroom. A an instructor myself, I must say that at the post-secondary level I see most of my students fully engaged in my CMS mobile app. I think the most important aspects of mobile learning are mutual investment, meaningful dialogue, and genuine engagement. It makes sense to me that millennials (the majority of my students) embrace mobile learning opportunities, as they tend to be a globally-oriented and socially-minded group. For example, in teaching a lesson on neuropsychology, I challenged each of my students to be an “expert” on a certain concept (neurons, CNS, the brain, etc.); rather than assign the concepts, I had the students discuss their interests in class and give me their topics after about 10 minutes. After class I created a discussion within my CMS in which each student took a turn guiding the class on a tour of the chosen topic. (They love the discussion threads, as they are very similar to social media format and in Schoology they can even “like” their classmates’ replies.) The result was not only enlightening, it was EMPOWERING for the learners. Both in the next class and in the discussion thread through the CMS app, students guided each other to explore the concepts and explain misconceptions. As an educator, I was able to step back and facilitate, adding input as needed to keep them on the right track. Some see this type of assignment as “lazy teaching,” but I think it is smart teaching. We must equip our learners with the tools they need to acquire knowledge in the real world and to communicate that acquisition among other learners in the real world. The classroom itself is such a small aspect in the scheme of lifelong learning; promoting mobile learning, both in a formal setting and beyond, gives us the opportunity to show our students how much potential they possess, and how much they can learn ANYTIME, ANYWHERE.