Chapter 7: Knowing, Making, and Playing
Question: The authors describe a study in which young people were not able to find Iraq on a map and then a separate study where young people could find Iraq on a computer map and even knew how to access satellite imaging or street view. This is explained to illustrate the difference between asking where information is as opposed to what information is.This second study, however, doesn't make me feel any better about the first study. What it shows me is a reliance on technology. Similarly, before I had a smart phone, if I planned on traveling somewhere I'd never been before, I would go online at home and map my directions to the desired destination. Now that I have a smart phone with GPS, I use it any time I need directions somewhere. I'm proficient at using my phones map functions as I can use it to get anywhere I need to go and I can determine the total distance, the estimated time of arrival and alternate routes. However, if I'm without my phone for any reason, I'm helpless. I've been relying on my phone for directions for so long, I've lost the ability to navigate on my own. If we know how to access information, or in other words, if we know where the information is, does that make having the information, knowing what the information is, less important? Connection: The section titled "Making" explains how context matters when interpreting information. A movie preview given a different music score can change the perception of the movie from a drama to a comedy, for example. This reminds me of the study of primary documents in my social science methods class. We learned that students not only need to interpret a picture or document in order to understand it. Students also need to analyze the significance of the document within the appropriate context. This is an essential component of common core. Epiphany: Related to the "connection" segment, I remembered a few Youtube videos I saw that were remixed movie previews for Mrs. Doubtfire and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory that had been recut in such a way that it appeared to be a psychological horror/thriller movie. Not only were they hilarious clips, but they were surprisingly convincing. It's something I would consider showing my classroom as an example of the importance of context. Chapter 8: Hanging Out, Messing Around, And Geeking Out Quote: "Collective indwelling is fundamental for the emergence of a networked imagination." This quote summarizes the main point of the chapter. I interpret indwelling as subject mastery or fluency which when achieved as a group, allows for enhanced creativity and exploration. Question: How can/does the "Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out" progression work in the classroom? Connection: This chapter reminds me of the online community created for the teacher candidates. At the beginning of the first semester, the activity on the Google+ page was infrequent and simple but as we all progressed and become more fluent with the dynamics of the Google+ community, you could start to see all the different ways in which the community was being used. Peers began posting comprehensive assignment due dates, possible meet-up ideas, questions on assignments, articles of interest and more. It has blossomed into a lively online network. Epiphany: I had a"hmn" moment after I read the chapter and thought about the connection between the three concepts of the chapter and the three badges we have to earn from Jeff Heil's class: Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out. I'm hoping that I've actually reached the Geeking Out stage by the time the program comes to an end. Chapter 9: The New Culture Of Learning For A World Of Constant Change Quote: "Play fuses the two elements of learning that we have been talking about: the information network and the petri dish (or bounded environment of experimentation). That fusion is what we call the new culture of learning." This quote clearly explains how collective content knowledge and creative inquiry cultivates learning. Question: How can the immersive and collective learning qualities of MMOs be translated into an English or History classroom? The authors seem to sing the praises of MMOs for their ability to nurture the new culture of learning but I don't see how this can be replicated in the classroom. Connection: This chapter reminds me of what we learned about through the Youtube videos we watched and reflected on last semester for our "Hanging Out" badge. One of the videos emphasized how failing is an essential part of learning. The book talks about clans in World of Warcraft who go on highly difficult raids that require immense synchronization and collaboration. Often times, the clans fail and have to modify their strategy based on prior failures. Eventually, through all that they learn through failure, they eventually succeed. Epiphany: My epiphany happened as I was writing this blog post. It occurred to me that what I learned from this chapter and from the entire book can help me with my 20% Project. I need to determine how I can join a collective that can help me learn and inevitably reach my goal. Brown, J. S., Thomas, D. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. Soulellis Studio.
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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. 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. |
AuthorGeorge Porter, English Teacher at Sage Creek Archives
May 2016
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