This post is in response to some intriguing thoughts found on chapters 1-3 of “The Future of Thinking: Learning Institutions in a Digital Age” by Cathy N. Davidson and David Theo Goldberg.
Due to my personal experience working at a university and being a graduate student, some of the sections that stuck out the most were around collaboration and authorship.
Collaboration is a skill
Collaboration isn’t just an add-on to projects anymore. The authors argue that it is an important skill in a digital/participatory learning culture. Teachers should “[find] ways that individual learners with individual skills and interests can share with others who possess different skill levels and interests” (p. 25). Even though the world has changed significantly – especially through the advent and adoption of the internet, formal educational institutions have not changed. This might explain why students can be so disengaged when they are faced with lectures with little interaction. The authors state that there is a “mismatch between the excitement generated by informal learning and the routinization of learning common to many of our institutions of formal education” (p. 49).
Trapped by standardized testing
How can we integrate collaboration and informal learning into the classroom? There are numerous obstacles that are not easy to solve. First of all, the current norm incorporates much standardized testing – much of this is influenced by the No Child Left Behind act. The teaching is usually influenced by the assessments – and if the assessments are mandated and standard, it indirectly forces standard, cookie-cutter teaching as well. Many youth are already used to customized and multidisciplinary learning, but this is “diametrically opposed to No Child Left Behind (p. 21); how can assessments be changed to better suit collaboration and informal learning? (I have no idea…)
The greater good
How do we change the culture to value collaboration? “The power of 10 working interactively will almost invariably outstrip the power of one looking to beat out the other nine” (p. 62). How do we reward and value the greater good? In contexts like academia, achievement and progress is oftentimes measured by publications and inventions. With collaborative output, it is sometimes unclear on who gets credit. In particular, this can be even more complicated when collaboration is done through the web and contributions can even be anonymous.
Being digital and digitally together
I think there are more questions than answers when it comes to how formal educational institutions can move towards participatory learning. At least part of the answer will naturally come with time as every learns “how to be digital together and digitally together” (page 69) – not just learners, but educators as well.
Yes, I think you’re correct in that the questions outnumber the answers and I think that it is an exciting thing in that the fact that people are asking questions more and more should lead us to think about bigger cultural shifts (or at least, that’s the hope of many). Thanks for picking up on the collaborative aspect — you are correct in assessing that as a mismatch for traditional academia vs. industry, for example, where everything is collaborative.
Hi Jin An,
I was immediately drawn to your second paragraph where you reveal you too have worked in higher education. Did you find strong support for technology in your programs?
My feeling is there are individual educators that bring a host of learning 2.0 ideas into their own classrooms, but there is no support from administration to mesh Web 2.0 learning, and its tools, into the curriculum.
What has your experience been like?
My experience is within IT departments and within distance education. My experience has been mostly positive. However, once in a while, even in distance education, I’ve encountered some push back integrating new technologies. The challenge for everyone is the extra resources (time) to integrate anything. It’s easier to just keep doing what you’re doing.
For a long time, I ( like many teachers) have had a problem with the state standard test. This weeks reading has me brainstorming ideas of how to create an assessment. I too haven’t really gotten anywhere, but I think it would be great it if went to a project format. If there was some type of rubric that students would need to meet in an allotted amount of time. They already need graders for the written part of the test, so they could grade the project instead. I don’t really know. I do know one thing. It would be amazing if somehow we changed the way the state tests. The impact on education would be incredible. Just think if the project/ rubric include all these aspects of learning he have been talking about this semester. That could create a true modern test.
Thanks for sharing your post! I enjoy reading them from your point of view since your position is different than mine. However, I noted some of the same trends – the importance of collaboration as a skill and standardized testing obstacles. #facepalm
What I appreciated most about your post is that you’re still left with questions too. I’m feeling that the more I read and learn about technology integration, the more questions I have. I’m glad I’m not alone! If you figure out the answers, just let me know 🙂
I’m with you and Jin An. I still have lots of questions and concerns.
JIn, I like that you thought about collaborations as a skill that often needs learned. Students in the K-12 grades may work on some projects with two to four students as a group but that is not very similar to the group work that is often a part of higher ed course work. Davidson and Goldberg state,
“An increasing number of people born after 1983 (the advent of the desktop computer) and 1991
(the advent of the Internet) learn through peer-to-peer knowledge networks, collaborative networks, and aggregated private and open-source social spaces (from MySpace and Facebook to delicious)” (p.51). I think this statement helps to show what the differences are between what students are used to as “collaborative” to what is actually often practiced in higher education. Social collaborating is much different than learning and product produced collaborating that is needed in higher ed course work. It is indeed a skill that many students learn while doing.