Question: How do we implement the idea of collective learning and assess it in a classroom setting? Thomas and Brown's theories resonate with me but I don't see how they translate to a Math or English classroom in the current educational landscape. Schools have content standards and require student evaluations that make imaginative, collaborative, inquiry-based learning difficult, if not impossible, to implement. Connection: In this portion of my blog, I'd like to talk about blogs. In chapter 4, the authors describe how blogs are a medium for learning and they allow for collectives to form organically. This section reminds me of a couple aspects of last semester's coursework. Firstly, as credential candidates, we were required to keep a blog and comment on our peers' blogs. This assignment not only allowed us to analyze and reflect on what we learned, it also created a collective among us where we crowd-sourced ideas and information. Everyone had a meaningful perspective to contribute and we all benefited from those perspectives. Secondly, I learned in a video I watched last semester for Jeff Heil's class how blogs can be used in the classroom to make students take accountability for their writing. Some students realize that no one will ever read their in-class writing assignments except for their teacher. By requiring students to put their writing in a blog, it makes that content available to millions. When this information is pointed out to students, they sometimes take more pride in their work, knowing that they've publicly displayed it for the entire digital world to see. Epiphany: This chapter wasn't epiphany provoking for me, but I did have an "aha" moment when the authors described the role of the mentor in guiding learning and creating structure for the learner. I've been trying to hone in on my role as an assistant at my clinical practice site. In the AVID class I assist in, often times students are working on advanced math and science classes that I haven't studied for nearly a decade. But it occurred to me, as a mentor, it's my job to help them troubleshoot their problem. I can show students how to find the answer on their own, by using their textbook, notes, supplementary materials, and/or the Internet. Learning this skill is more important than any one math or science problem. Chapter 5: The Personal With The Collective Quote: "Group work is almost always evaluated by assigning individual grades to students based on their contribution. What goes unrecognized is the fact that when groups work well, the result is usually a product of more than the sum of individual achievements." When groups truly work well together, they can create amazing products. In the classroom, this process is difficult to evaluate. One can point to the tangible achievements of each group member, but it seems impossible to identify the importance of communication and collaboration: the sharing of ideas and how those ideas evolve as each group member contributes to the collective. Question: Is this new culture of learning equitable in today's classroom? Despite all of the hype regarding technology in the classroom and how it can and should revolutionize the way we learn and teach, many schools still suffer from a lack of technology and a lack of technological expertise. Furthermore, I have yet to meet a class in which all students have access to a device with Internet at home. Students seem to be scattered all across the digital literacy spectrum. I'm excited by the prospect of using technology to enhance my pedagogy and incorporate collective learning into my lesson plans, but I worry that we're getting ahead of ourselves. Do our schools have the necessary infrastructure for this new culture of learning? Do all our students have adequate access and knowledge to make this shift realistic? Connection: The section on teachers conveying knowledge publicly to students who gather and absorb the information privately in the old culture of learning reminded me of a discussion I witnessed between a teacher and his students during my clinical practice just last week. He was explaining how when he was growing up, when a teacher posed a question to the class, nearly everyone raised their hand since not raising your hand would give the perception that you didn't know the answer and were therefore not as smart as everyone else. These days, when a teacher asks a question, they're lucky if they see even a few hangs raised. Students have been culturally trained to not share what they know. The teacher was trying to convey that students shouldn't be afraid to show how smart they are. Epiphany: In this chapter, the authors write, "Institutional backing is no longer a warrant for credibility. It is not that we don't trust The New York Times or CNN anymore. Rather, we have come to understand that their resources, though considerable, are in fact quite limited when compared to those of the blogosphere, which are limitless. Information put out in the blogosphere is investigated, challenged, and debated." My first impression of this quote was that it downplays the importance of trust and credibility. We look to information sources such as The New York Times because it's reliable; we know the information is screened before being disseminated. While I still believe this to be true, it occurred to me that the blogosphere does have a distinct advantage over periodicals and news organizations. While their sources may be less credible and often more erroneous, they have vastly more resources via personnel. For example, true crime shows such as the podcast Serial, and the Netflix original documentary, Making A Murderer have had numerous blogs which dig deeper into the story and explore avenues not covered in the original content. In a sense, these blogs create a community of private detectives who can commit more time and resources than any single entity/organization. And for someone like me who is never satisfied with the content delivered from a program like Serial, it's extremely satisfying to have the ability to explore blogs and websites full of additional information and perspectives. Chapter 6: We Know More Than We Can Say Quote: "In a world where things are constantly changing, focusing exclusively on the explicit dimension is no longer a viable model for education." This quote concisely states the assertion of this chapter. We live in a world of perpetual change so static knowledge is of little use, or at least is of less use to us than tacit knowledge. We should be helping students develop the skills necessary to acquire knowledge since those skills are often more enduring than subject knowledge itself. Question: A lot of what the authors are writing about makes sense to me. I agree that the best way to facilitate learning is to facilitate imagination and spark student inquiry so that they are motivated to seek out knowledge based on their own questions and curiosities. What I'd like to know is, are there any teachers who have created unit plans for their classes based on these ideas and what would those unit plans look like? Connection: The authors write "In the digital world, we learn by doing, watching, and experiencing. Generally, people don't take a class or read books or manuals to learn how to use a web browser or email program. They just start doing it, learning by absorption and making tacit connections." This echoes the mantra of our professors: Those who are doing the work are doing the learning. Explaining how to navigate a web browser or email program would be far less effective than allowing students to explore it on their own and learn by doing. I hope to follow this advice whenever possible in my classroom. Epiphany: The argument of this chapter is more or less the same as Will Richardson's in his book Why School. Both books call for a change in our educational mindset from facts and standardized assessments to student based learning, inquiry, and collective learning. Brown, J. S., Thomas, D. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. Soulellis Studio.
5 Comments
Hannah O'Shea
2/12/2016 01:12:11 pm
Thank you George for your blog post. I found it meaningful that you directly tied what was in the book to the mantra of the program, as well as to the other readings that we have had. I wonder what steps we can take as a new teacher to help the old model of education evolve faster so that it is working in synchronization with the ever evolving world of technology.
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Taylor Schuman
2/12/2016 02:39:02 pm
Great post George. I was also thinking a lot about how there is so much hype on technology in education, yet most students do not have access to it. I want to be able to incorporate technology into my classes, I just hope I am able to provide it for my students. When will there be action on these ideals at a higher level?
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2/12/2016 05:32:35 pm
George,
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Trevor Rawlings
5/11/2016 07:19:28 pm
Hi George,
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Kelly Wehrley
5/15/2016 12:52:00 am
Wow, George! So many great insights in this post!
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AuthorGeorge Porter, English Teacher at Sage Creek Archives
May 2016
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