Often times in class there will be a point where the class is having a discussion and there needs to be a record of the ideas and thoughts/conclusions being created. Typically the teacher will write these on the board and then students will copy them down. There is a big disruption in the thinking process as the writing occurs. If we look at technology as a way to make classroom activities more efficient and effective, then there is a simple way that we can fix this.
One way is to pick a small group of students, or have them volunteer, to take notes for the whole class. I would think that in a class of around 25, a good number of note takers would be 3. Have these three students write down the notes and ideas into a Google Doc that is shared with everyone in the class. Project the Google Doc onto the board if you want to only have 3 computers open at a time. This will allow the teacher to keep the flow of the discussion going while also minimizing the chance of students being off-task on the computers. Having multiple students taking notes means that there are different viewpoints being recorded which can allow for a more complete representation of the discussion.
Eventually you may add more students but I would definitely change up the students who are the recorders. By having the notes typed into a Google Doc, every student can get a copy of it and can even provide feedback and a conversation could be carried out at a later time in the comments section or even in the document. There are a lot of options where you could go with this but it starts by using technology to make a common event in a classroom more effective and efficient.
Friday, December 6, 2013
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Engagement is King!
I recently read a news article about a teacher who was using social media in their classroom to engage students. They were using Twitter as a tool to learn and discuss various issues related to the content. The students who were interviewed enjoyed it and the teacher commented on how student learning was improved by using Twitter as a tool in the classroom.
I should have stopped there, but unfortunately I went on to read the comments. Multiple people were complaining and saying this was the reason why our educational system is in trouble. They said that the teacher was too focused on the kids enjoying themselves and not enough on the learning. That got me thinking, what would those who complained imagine when asked about what does good learning look like. Would they rather see the students obediently taking notes while listening to a lecture? Would they rather see worksheet after worksheet being completed and turned in? What would they think of as good teaching and how does it compare to how we view good teaching?
Unfortunately we face a major problem in schools, we are teaching students who live in a culture that is vastly different than what their parents grew up in. We have technology in schools that was not even thought of 20 years ago but yet many parents expect to see students doing what they did in school. Many do not understand how important it is that we engage our students and not let them passively exist in our classrooms. Many do not understand how a lecture or a worksheet is not engaging to students and how just because they completed something, does not mean they learned anything. Just because there are points in a grade book, that doesn't mean that those points mean anything.
One of the biggest challenges today in education is related to how we engage our students into the learning. Where memorizing lots of facts was used before, that becomes obsolete thanks to technology which allows us to look up a list of state capitols faster than anyone can spit them out. I do not need to memorize a periodic table or a list of constants if I have an app that shows that to me instantly. Even my physics professors told me it was useless to memorize all those numbers, we write them down and look them up later because they are not what is important. The understanding and use of those facts are what is important. It is not what you know that matters anymore, it was what you can do with that information. This is not a bad thing, this is just the next step in our learning process.
Teachers have to find ways to engage students such that they can not only learn the information, but so that they can use that information. We need students to think critically, collaborate and communicate with each other. We need students who can innovate and do things that were not done before. We can use technology to not only engage these students but also to help them use that information to do something with it. Learning today is not about facts but it is about thinking.
If using technology can create a more engaging lesson for students that moves beyond memorization and towards creation, then we must use it. Use the technology to allow your students to communicate with other people, to allow them to create and share that with the world. Use the technology to let your students debate a topic online and use the resources that they find to defend their statements. Use the technology to create a learning space that goes beyond the 45 minutes of class and the 4 walls of the classroom. Use the technology to engage your students into thinking critically about what they are learning and not to just take notes and complete worksheets. If we are still focusing too much on factual knowledge and not understanding, then we are wasting our students' time.
I should have stopped there, but unfortunately I went on to read the comments. Multiple people were complaining and saying this was the reason why our educational system is in trouble. They said that the teacher was too focused on the kids enjoying themselves and not enough on the learning. That got me thinking, what would those who complained imagine when asked about what does good learning look like. Would they rather see the students obediently taking notes while listening to a lecture? Would they rather see worksheet after worksheet being completed and turned in? What would they think of as good teaching and how does it compare to how we view good teaching?
Unfortunately we face a major problem in schools, we are teaching students who live in a culture that is vastly different than what their parents grew up in. We have technology in schools that was not even thought of 20 years ago but yet many parents expect to see students doing what they did in school. Many do not understand how important it is that we engage our students and not let them passively exist in our classrooms. Many do not understand how a lecture or a worksheet is not engaging to students and how just because they completed something, does not mean they learned anything. Just because there are points in a grade book, that doesn't mean that those points mean anything.
One of the biggest challenges today in education is related to how we engage our students into the learning. Where memorizing lots of facts was used before, that becomes obsolete thanks to technology which allows us to look up a list of state capitols faster than anyone can spit them out. I do not need to memorize a periodic table or a list of constants if I have an app that shows that to me instantly. Even my physics professors told me it was useless to memorize all those numbers, we write them down and look them up later because they are not what is important. The understanding and use of those facts are what is important. It is not what you know that matters anymore, it was what you can do with that information. This is not a bad thing, this is just the next step in our learning process.
Teachers have to find ways to engage students such that they can not only learn the information, but so that they can use that information. We need students to think critically, collaborate and communicate with each other. We need students who can innovate and do things that were not done before. We can use technology to not only engage these students but also to help them use that information to do something with it. Learning today is not about facts but it is about thinking.
If using technology can create a more engaging lesson for students that moves beyond memorization and towards creation, then we must use it. Use the technology to allow your students to communicate with other people, to allow them to create and share that with the world. Use the technology to let your students debate a topic online and use the resources that they find to defend their statements. Use the technology to create a learning space that goes beyond the 45 minutes of class and the 4 walls of the classroom. Use the technology to engage your students into thinking critically about what they are learning and not to just take notes and complete worksheets. If we are still focusing too much on factual knowledge and not understanding, then we are wasting our students' time.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Technology as a Time Machine
Last month marked the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy. CBSNews.com replayed their broadcast from that day as it happened. You got to see how the news played out that day and how people reacted initially. Watching this I did wonder how many teachers showed this to their students. How many used this as a teachable moment versus how many just mentioned it or had the students read something from a textbook. Our students had the opportunity to be taken back in time to the moment that Walter Cronkite confirmed what many were fearing, that the President had died from a gunshot to the head.
There is no way that I can see it, that a textbook can help students understand this as well as watching it happen "live". Some teachers may use some other text, a handout, or even a newspaper from that day but to watch it happen and use that to create discussions in class can create such a more engaging experience.
The video feed is not the only way that we can make this event real to our students and create an opportunity for them to learn. A post at Edweek (http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2013/11/this_friday_nov_22_marks.html) lists many different ways teachers are using this moment to teach and help their students learn. There is so much that we can do when we combine technology with our methods in the classroom, so many ways to help students understand what the world was like then and how this was such an important event.
This was not just about the assassination, it gives students a chance to see so many differences between now and 50 years ago. At one point they use language that would definitely not be used on television today, when referring to the racial identity of one person. The way that information travels back then pales in comparison to today. If President Obama got a paper cut today, millions would know right away by viewing a tweet. Walter Cronkite is seen holding up printed pictures from time to time that the cameraman has to zoom in on. Today we could use a 3D simulation to zoom in on the actual location and show what happened. Students could even create their own 3D models to help support the conclusions drawn about the lone shooter or to defend their own conclusions as to what happened that day. The amount of resources and activities that can be used is almost never ending, but almost all of them are much more effective than a worksheet.
We have to stop seeing technology as an add-on and see it as a way to really change how we teach and setup our classrooms. We can use technology to show our students so much more than what we can with a textbook or a handout. Technology can even take us back in time, if we let it.
There is no way that I can see it, that a textbook can help students understand this as well as watching it happen "live". Some teachers may use some other text, a handout, or even a newspaper from that day but to watch it happen and use that to create discussions in class can create such a more engaging experience.
The video feed is not the only way that we can make this event real to our students and create an opportunity for them to learn. A post at Edweek (http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2013/11/this_friday_nov_22_marks.html) lists many different ways teachers are using this moment to teach and help their students learn. There is so much that we can do when we combine technology with our methods in the classroom, so many ways to help students understand what the world was like then and how this was such an important event.
This was not just about the assassination, it gives students a chance to see so many differences between now and 50 years ago. At one point they use language that would definitely not be used on television today, when referring to the racial identity of one person. The way that information travels back then pales in comparison to today. If President Obama got a paper cut today, millions would know right away by viewing a tweet. Walter Cronkite is seen holding up printed pictures from time to time that the cameraman has to zoom in on. Today we could use a 3D simulation to zoom in on the actual location and show what happened. Students could even create their own 3D models to help support the conclusions drawn about the lone shooter or to defend their own conclusions as to what happened that day. The amount of resources and activities that can be used is almost never ending, but almost all of them are much more effective than a worksheet.
We have to stop seeing technology as an add-on and see it as a way to really change how we teach and setup our classrooms. We can use technology to show our students so much more than what we can with a textbook or a handout. Technology can even take us back in time, if we let it.
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