How is learning presumed to occur within the context of Web 2.0?
In the context of Web 2.0, much of learning will occur through what Brown calls “deliberative inquiry”. The process of learning the process of learning.
Students need to know why what they are learning matters, how they can effect what they are learning and why they are learning it that way. With all of the tools and information available to them it can become overwhelming and they look to their instructors for guidance. It is our job to watch and listen to how the learning is happening and empower the students to share this insight with each other.
What are the differences in the role of the learner and the facilitator as compared to ‘traditional’ learning environments? (Do you consider these roles and processes viable/valid given your philosophy of learning?)
As facilitators, we need to start thinking of ourselves as learners as well. There is so much that we can learn from our students, that can make our jobs easier and encourage students to take some real ownership of their learning.
Students are learning everywhere they go, allowing them to facilitate gives them an opportunity to share what they’ve learned outside of the classroom and for other to experience things they may not otherwise have the chance to.
The good news is that instructors don’t have to be experts in everything anymore. They can rely on students and other available resources to teach the technology pieces and they themselves can concentrate on the content.
The educational environment around us changing and this is due to a number of factors, some we have control over and some we do not. Right now are not preparing our students for the lives they will lead in the 21st century. But why? Some of the hardest push back is coming from both faculty and parents alike. But why?
What implications do these shifts have for how we think about designing learning environments?
There is much discussion about students being excellent multi-taskers, and they very well may be. But we’ve also seen highly focused and highly engaged students especially when it comes to something they are passionate about, i.e. video games. It is possible to engage our students to this degree, we’ve seen it done, and there times when this kind of focus is necessary to learning a specific skill or concept. I’ve been a part of several classes where “gamification” was employed successfully and rated rather highly by the students.
The shifts that I see happening all have to do with how flexible and agile we’re able to be when designing new learning environments.
Hannah, you posted, “The good news is that instructors don’t have to be experts in everything anymore. They can rely on students and other available resources to teach the technology pieces and they themselves can concentrate on the content.” There is a wonderful example of this in TedTalks (I’m mildly addicted to them) where Sugata Mitra discusses using a computer to teach students who do not have a teacher, speak English, rarely go to school, do no know what a computer is, or what the internet is. It is titled, “Sugata Mitra’s new experiments in self-teaching” and can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk60sYrU2RU It is amazing what he found with his experiment. Absolutely worth watching!
Karen, what kind of computerized test prep program did your school use? I am just curious.
Shelby, thank you for sharing David Wees’ blog post; I have never heard of his blog and it was a reminder of the importance of educating students with the right end result and purpose in mind. I do feel that we must find balance between preparing students for being good people (which is a very general definition of focus in my opinion) and preparing students for future careers. Wees brings up several good points in the final two paragraphs of his blog: “When the goals of industry match the traits we think good people should have, then no one notices that our focus is wrong. What if the goals don’t match?” I tend not to think as specifically in job skills as many others it seems; I think job skills AND life skills go hand in hand because they both involve similar skills: organization, communication, problem solving, and the ability to collaborate with peers.
-Erika
The last school where I worked started using computerized test prep because the state-wide tests themselves are now digital. We were all surprised by how much the students seemed to really enjoy the game exercises. They actually sort of forgot that they were doing test prep at all. It was really interesting to watch it all unfold in the media center. The point was to get them used to being on the computers for testing, but it ended up being more positive overall. Some of the students even played the games for fun. These were students who were struggling, but you’d never guess it watching them doing those games.
Hannah-
I think your comment about teachers learning from their students and the experiences of their students is very important. I agree with you. Many of the teachers and professors that I have had unfortunately were not “open to change”. Your quote:
“The good news is that instructors don’t have to be experts in everything anymore. They can rely on students and other available resources to teach the technology pieces and they themselves can concentrate on the content.”
I believe this to be true. I believe that instructors should be learners as well and take in the knowledge that these “digital kids” have to offer. At the college level I have found that instructors are more “open for change” than at the high school or even middle school level. I have witnessed many teachers being “set in their ways” and when they are offered help or advice on improvement, they are insulted and decline. Part of their reasoning may be they are not comfortable or familiar with using technology or they think that they shouldn’t be “learning” from the students they are “teaching”.
You’re right when you say we are not preparing our students for the lives they will lead in the 21st century. http://davidwees.com/content/prepare-students-life-not-jobs “Thoughts from a reflective educator” David Wees- This post has a simple title- “Prepare students for life, not jobs”.
His question: “Are the aims of an education focused on the needs of industry the same as an education focused on the needs of our students?”
I completely agree that if we can engage the students with something they are passionate about that it can really help. I redesigned an online course recently and tried to incorporate several games and I couldn’t believe the positive feedback I received about this. I know that some students identify as kinesthetic learners, but I thought that the laboratory portion of the course was well suited for those types of students. But pretty much across the board, I have positive feedback about the use of games to really improve understanding of lecture content. And I know that I learn from my students all the time! It makes me sad when an instructor feels that they have a course “in the bag” and don’t want to improve or change anything because it has worked for them in the past, so it must be fine.