Chapter 1
Quote: The quote that stuck out the most to me was a segment in “Sam’s Story” regarding his online search for other Scratch programs: “Yet Sam made perhaps the most revealing comment, one that tells us the most about the new culture of learning. when we asked him what he looks for in other people’s programs. He told us, ‘something really cool you could never know yourself.’” This, to me, describes the natural way we learn. Growing up playing sports, I was always told if I wanted to get better, I had to play with kids that were better than me. You had to play with people who knew skills and aspects of the game that you didn’t. That’s how you get better; that’s how you learn. I think this is what Sam, and the author, is talking about. If we have an interest in something, we naturally want to learn more about it. What better way is there than to learn from others with the same interest? Question: My question is an echo of a question asked in A New Culture of Learning and yet is not answered, at least to my satisfaction. The author writes, “In the twenty-first century, how do we cultivate the imagination? My first thought when reading this was, “do we need to?” Humans are inherently imaginative. How else would you explain the vast array of fictional stories in the form of movies, novels, videogames, and illustrations that we, as a civilization, have produced? But then I thought about that question in the context of education. People are far more imaginative when it’s a subject they find interesting. Furthermore, imagination can facilitate learning. So how can we cultivate imagination, in order to promote learning, in educational subjects that students may not find interesting? I think it would benefit all teachers to ask this question. Connection: Upon reading the first page, which brought up the challenge to respond to constantly evolving technology, I immediately started thinking about a recent discussion I participated in during my social studies methods course. We were talking about how memorizing information is not nearly as important these days since we have a practically limitless database of information via the internet. What seems more important in the “internet age”, is the ability to distinguish between information and misinformation. We should be teaching students how to critically analyze a document and determine whether it’s credible or not. Epiphany: I feel that I have a lot of the necessary attributes to be an effective teacher. One attribute though that I don’t feel confident about is my subject area mastery, or lackthereof. After reading the segment, “Googling the Error” it occurred to me that any lack of knowledge I have can quickly be remedied by a Google search. Of course, I will always come to class prepared and I’ll make sure I know the content of what I’m teaching, but if a student asks a question that I don’t know the answer to, I’ll take it as a learning opportunity for them and me. Chapter 2 Quote: “...in the new culture of learning the point is to embrace what we don’t know, come up with better questions about it, and continue asking those questions in order to learn more and more, both incrementally and exponentially.” I chose this quote because I feel that it sums up the kind of inquiry-based approach the author is suggesting we transition to. Question: How can teachers practically transition from the old culture of learning to the new in a system that hasn’t caught up yet? Connection: Several of the teaching credential program professors have used the phrase “the one who is doing the work is doing the learning.” This chapter reminds me of that saying except I would replace the word “work” with “thinking.” Traditional lecture in the classroom is a thoughtless experience for many students. They blindly take notes or their focus drifts in and out. If students are the ones thinking and discovering, they’ll be taking control of their learning. Epiphany: This chapter didn’t induce an epiphany moment for me but more of a “hmn.” In the final paragraph, Thomas and Brown describe the new culture of learning not as what you know but what you’d like to know. I like the idea that students should have a say in what they learn and why. I believe it will help them become much more motivated and engaged in their education. Chapter 3 Quote: “Embracing change means looking forward to what will come next. It means viewing the future as a set of new possibilities, rather than something that forces us to adjust.” Many people are resilient to change. In fact, I’ve heard several people in the education community argue that many teachers are retiring because the profession is changing too drastically for them. New standards, expectations, and technologies have deterred them from teaching. While I acknowledge that change is often difficult, I see it as a new challenge or new adventure. Question: Why haven’t technology classes become a required part of the school curriculum? It seems that something as ubiquitous as the internet would get it’s own class of study. No student should leave school illiterate. Likewise, no student should leave school digitally illiterate. Connection: Reading about the kids in the Harry Potter fictional online universe made me think about two things: The book Why School by WIll Richardson and his chapter about Minecraft, and Dr. White’s YouTube video about the Visitor/Resident theory. In Richardson’s book, he explains how inquiry led a child to quickly learn the ins and outs of the Minecraft world. WHile these skills aren’t something that would traditionally be taught in the classroom, in many ways, they’re just as valuable. This child sought out whatever resources necessary to inform them about the dynamics of the game. In other words, this child learned to troubleshoot, a great life skill. In Dr. White’s video, he explains how players in an online universe worked together to create some amazing things. As with the Harry Potter online universe, These activities acted as a bonding experience that utilized communication and collaboration skills in a very unique setting. Epiphany: This chapter made me keenly aware of the technological trends I learned about last semester from Jeff Heil’s curated Youtube channel. There was a video I watched that described the social networking platform trend and how quickly one replaced another. Myspace ruled supreme for a while until Facebook supplanted it. Then sites like Instagram and Twitter came along and now the popular networking site is Snapchat. Reading about how much the internet has changed over the last two decades and realizing that the digital landscape is so vastly different than when I went to High School was a little mind-blowing. Brown, J. S., Thomas, D. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. Soulellis Studio. White, D. (2013, May 31). Visitors and Residents. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sFBadv04eY Richardson, W. (n.d). Why school?: How education must change when learning and information are everywhere. Available from http://www.amazon.com/Why-School-Education-Information-Everywhere-ebook/dp/B00998J5YQ.
2 Comments
Brian Gillette
2/6/2016 12:02:31 pm
Nice post George. I really like the connections you made to last semester. I was also interested in the same quote you shared from chapter 1. I think this definitely sums up how we learn naturally.
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Matthew L.
4/26/2016 10:01:50 am
Mr. Porter,
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AuthorGeorge Porter, English Teacher at Sage Creek Archives
May 2016
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