Building the Future of Learning...One Block at a Time
by Jessica Steffel, 2011
(c) Jessica Steffel
Think about the world our parents experienced as compared to the way that students in school today are experiencing life. There are so many differences, and many of them are technology-based. (When is the last time you heard a 5-year-old say "just google it!" and the last time you heard someone under the age of 20 seek out an encyclopedia?) The world is changing faster than an entity the size of our educational system can adjust to. We do not even know many of the jobs our students will end up holding because they haven't been invented yet. That leaves us with the question of how to best educate our children.
There are some driving forces in education that we continue to resist, such as standardized testing and one-size-fits-all curriculum, but there is no denying that the technology available for classrooms has the potential to help drive the changes that many educators are craving, to help give our children the basic building blocks for the future. Take, for instance, the shift to web 2.0 - the participatory web - and the implications for global learning and sharing. Rather than presenting static information from textbooks, we have the capability of accessing current information and then become part of the discussion about it!
Mobility and decreasing costs of technology are making it possible for devices (and thus, the web) to make it into the hands of students for learning purposes. We are demanding more and more access, and those with access have 24/7 learning they can take anywhere. Web 2.0 is an essential building block for today's educational progress. And a bonus is that many web 2.0 services offer free or educational use, making them accessible as long as schools are connected online! It is my hope that with these tools in place, and through continued development of our teachers and their skill set, we will build the future of learning together.
While I am a steadfast proponent of progress in education to meet the needs of the future, I wholeheartedly understand that simply possessing technology and having access to online resources doesn't enhance learning. Teachers are still ultimately most important and must understand the implementation of learning theories. Teachers must also have an eye to their place in global education, as classrooms are no longer isolated and should be working to mirror the real-world global economy, which requires collaboration and communication in addition to creativity and critical thinking. Having recently completed my Master's of Arts in Educational Technology, in the following sections, I discuss some of my ideals in regard to learning and best educational practices as they apply to my classroom.
There are some driving forces in education that we continue to resist, such as standardized testing and one-size-fits-all curriculum, but there is no denying that the technology available for classrooms has the potential to help drive the changes that many educators are craving, to help give our children the basic building blocks for the future. Take, for instance, the shift to web 2.0 - the participatory web - and the implications for global learning and sharing. Rather than presenting static information from textbooks, we have the capability of accessing current information and then become part of the discussion about it!
Mobility and decreasing costs of technology are making it possible for devices (and thus, the web) to make it into the hands of students for learning purposes. We are demanding more and more access, and those with access have 24/7 learning they can take anywhere. Web 2.0 is an essential building block for today's educational progress. And a bonus is that many web 2.0 services offer free or educational use, making them accessible as long as schools are connected online! It is my hope that with these tools in place, and through continued development of our teachers and their skill set, we will build the future of learning together.
While I am a steadfast proponent of progress in education to meet the needs of the future, I wholeheartedly understand that simply possessing technology and having access to online resources doesn't enhance learning. Teachers are still ultimately most important and must understand the implementation of learning theories. Teachers must also have an eye to their place in global education, as classrooms are no longer isolated and should be working to mirror the real-world global economy, which requires collaboration and communication in addition to creativity and critical thinking. Having recently completed my Master's of Arts in Educational Technology, in the following sections, I discuss some of my ideals in regard to learning and best educational practices as they apply to my classroom.
To Think (Critically)
(c) Jessica Steffel
In 2008, when I attended the Michigan Reading Association conference, I participated in a session by author Ellin Keene, who related the story of Jamika, who, when asked if what she was reading made sense, challenged Ms. Keene by stating "None a y'all ever say what make sense mean!" (Keene, 3) Needless to say, even this reading comprehension expert was floored and undertook an in-depth examination of thinking as it relates to reading. As a teacher of all subjects, I am curious about how my students think during our lessons, and I have had the opportunity to learn more strategies for helping students develop deeper understanding.
In one course of my master's program, Learning Math with Technology (CEP805), we discussed Instrumental understanding, which is deeper than simple knowledge and comes from a deep examination of thinking. This thinking comes from the experience, and talking is a BIG part of the experience. Prior to this class, I was differentiating instruction in my math class using small group centers with choices of activities. I thought it was going very well compared to my previous model of whole-class instruction, but I still felt that something was missing to connect it all together for everyone. I soon discovered, as we explored the Principles and Standards of School Mathematics, that I really needed to spend more time discussing mathematical ideas with students.
This can be difficult, as we all feel pressure to get "through" the math curriculum for the year. However, I looked at valuable evidence in several instances that shows that it is much more important to engage students in quality discussion and to let them make their own discoveries of mathematics principles rather than give them the procedures and have them apply them. This shift in lessons from "this is how you do this" to "what do you think?" opened up many discussions in my classroom, and I am amazed at the misconceptions that came out of these discussions. Without the talking about our thinking, students could retain their misconceptions for years. I came to more firmly believe over the course of this semester that my role of facilitating, rather than a role of disseminating information, is key. By encouraging thinking and discussion, the teacher holds all students accountable for learning and having a personal investment in their own understanding. From my own experience, I know how satisfying that "aha" moment of understanding can be, and I am learning to ask the right questions to help students come to this moment during lessons in our classroom.
In one course of my master's program, Learning Math with Technology (CEP805), we discussed Instrumental understanding, which is deeper than simple knowledge and comes from a deep examination of thinking. This thinking comes from the experience, and talking is a BIG part of the experience. Prior to this class, I was differentiating instruction in my math class using small group centers with choices of activities. I thought it was going very well compared to my previous model of whole-class instruction, but I still felt that something was missing to connect it all together for everyone. I soon discovered, as we explored the Principles and Standards of School Mathematics, that I really needed to spend more time discussing mathematical ideas with students.
This can be difficult, as we all feel pressure to get "through" the math curriculum for the year. However, I looked at valuable evidence in several instances that shows that it is much more important to engage students in quality discussion and to let them make their own discoveries of mathematics principles rather than give them the procedures and have them apply them. This shift in lessons from "this is how you do this" to "what do you think?" opened up many discussions in my classroom, and I am amazed at the misconceptions that came out of these discussions. Without the talking about our thinking, students could retain their misconceptions for years. I came to more firmly believe over the course of this semester that my role of facilitating, rather than a role of disseminating information, is key. By encouraging thinking and discussion, the teacher holds all students accountable for learning and having a personal investment in their own understanding. From my own experience, I know how satisfying that "aha" moment of understanding can be, and I am learning to ask the right questions to help students come to this moment during lessons in our classroom.
Critical Thinking: Building our Understanding with Questions
During another course, Teaching and Learning Across the Curriculum (CEP816), we further examined how teachers can support the development of critical thinking. We read the book The World is Open, in which Curtis J. Bonk quotes Yochai Benkley, who asserts that "ideal citizens...are no longer constrained to occupy the role of mere readers, viewers, and listeners. They can be, instead, participants in a conversation." This is a shift from the idea of students as consumers of knowledge that is shared by a book or a teacher. To become ideal citizens, we must think critically about the information given to us and how it applies to our current understandings.
Critical thinking doesn't come naturally to everyone, and I have found that it takes multiple experiences with being asked to dig deeper into their thinking for students to become comfortable with it. An example is when my partner teacher and I decided to take an inquiry approach to teaching personal narrative, giving the students 3 days of writer's workshop time to dig into books and find elements of personal narrative that they could emulate in their own writing. We asked questions such as "What do you notice? How did the author show you she was sad? Why do you think the illustrator created the picture this way? and Why do you think the author wrote this book?" Talk about tough! I could see over the course of the three days that they were just starting to get comfortable with what we were asking of them. They eventually came to understand the language of discussing personal narrative enough to be conversant about it with their own writing as we conferred during subsequent writer's workshops. I noticed that it was important that the discussion didn't end with the exploration and that it applied to their own writing. There are many times that I call on a student in class, only to have them say "I forgot" or not be able to clearly explain their idea. In 2010, I listened to The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman and one of the skills he lists as critical for our times is explaining. Friedman asserts that the great explainers can make a business out of explaining it to the rest of us! This is just one reason that asking students to think deeper must become a habit! This makes their learning their own, more deeply ingrained in their schema. This inquiry process is an essential building block for critical thinking in education.
Critical thinking doesn't come naturally to everyone, and I have found that it takes multiple experiences with being asked to dig deeper into their thinking for students to become comfortable with it. An example is when my partner teacher and I decided to take an inquiry approach to teaching personal narrative, giving the students 3 days of writer's workshop time to dig into books and find elements of personal narrative that they could emulate in their own writing. We asked questions such as "What do you notice? How did the author show you she was sad? Why do you think the illustrator created the picture this way? and Why do you think the author wrote this book?" Talk about tough! I could see over the course of the three days that they were just starting to get comfortable with what we were asking of them. They eventually came to understand the language of discussing personal narrative enough to be conversant about it with their own writing as we conferred during subsequent writer's workshops. I noticed that it was important that the discussion didn't end with the exploration and that it applied to their own writing. There are many times that I call on a student in class, only to have them say "I forgot" or not be able to clearly explain their idea. In 2010, I listened to The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman and one of the skills he lists as critical for our times is explaining. Friedman asserts that the great explainers can make a business out of explaining it to the rest of us! This is just one reason that asking students to think deeper must become a habit! This makes their learning their own, more deeply ingrained in their schema. This inquiry process is an essential building block for critical thinking in education.
Image Credit: visualblooms.wikispaces.com
Finding time in the packed curriculum to integrate critical thinking is important, but a task that many teachers find daunting. One image I have found helpful is the updated version of Blooms Taxonomy, revised to reflect the age of Web 2.0. I have used this excellent visual myself to help generate project ideas for use with my students.
What I like about this visual is that it makes opportunities for integration apparent. If I have students create a Prezi, Voicethread, or Wiki, they are reaching the creating level of the taxonomy, but as the arrows indicate the reciprocal relationship of the higher levels and the lower levels, it still honors the need to teach for understanding and remembering. These technologies are best when applied to a content area - an important benefit. The basic skills and information can be applied using the web tools to give assignments a stronger purpose.
What I like about this visual is that it makes opportunities for integration apparent. If I have students create a Prezi, Voicethread, or Wiki, they are reaching the creating level of the taxonomy, but as the arrows indicate the reciprocal relationship of the higher levels and the lower levels, it still honors the need to teach for understanding and remembering. These technologies are best when applied to a content area - an important benefit. The basic skills and information can be applied using the web tools to give assignments a stronger purpose.
To Create
(c) Jessica Steffel
To reach the higher levels of the taxonomy, teachers and students sometimes need to go beyond their comfort zone. If ever a course challenged me beyond my own level of comfort, it was one that I took with Punya Mishra, of Michigan State University, on Creativity in Teaching and Learning (CEP818). As a literal thinker, just reading the assigned book, Sparks of Genius, was eye-opening for me. This book describes the 13 thinking tools of creativity. I learned to look at the familiar with unfamiliar eyes, to take a new look at things I see and do every day. I learned to question more and accept less. In fact, I even learned to understand abstract art, at least to some degree! (I can at least appreciate it now, rather than simply turn up my nose to it when I don't understand it.) I learned to take my camera in public, to observe the world around me less passively, and to appreciate creativity in my own students. It is a challenge, but I find myself searching for the creative outlet in my students, asking "Am I making the arts the fourth R in education in my own setting? Am I approaching my lessons as universal process ideas?" I don’t want to be a teacher who half-understands thinking and therefore half-understands teaching. I want to be fostering this sense of creativity and supporting their thinking.
Are schools, in the traditional setting, actually killing creativity? This is a fascinating assertion by Sir Ken Robinson, who has spoken about changing educational paradigms. In that discussion, he quoted a study noted in the book Breakpoint and Beyond, highlighting a longitudinal study that found that in Kindergarten, 98% of students score at genius level in divergent thinking (the ability to see multiple answers to a problem), yet that skill deteriorated as they followed those students through school. As they were educated, they became LESS creative! In Sparks of Genius, the authors suggest that "education based solely on separate disciplines and public languages leaves out huge chunks of the creative process." We cannot continue to compartmentalize knowledge into different disciplines, which is why, as Punya Mishra demonstrated in our Creativity class, I now include writing in my math curriculum and we write poetry in science. Because bringing in the creative process puts the intuition and emotion back into education, and demonstrates deeper understanding than a traditional assessment.
Are schools, in the traditional setting, actually killing creativity? This is a fascinating assertion by Sir Ken Robinson, who has spoken about changing educational paradigms. In that discussion, he quoted a study noted in the book Breakpoint and Beyond, highlighting a longitudinal study that found that in Kindergarten, 98% of students score at genius level in divergent thinking (the ability to see multiple answers to a problem), yet that skill deteriorated as they followed those students through school. As they were educated, they became LESS creative! In Sparks of Genius, the authors suggest that "education based solely on separate disciplines and public languages leaves out huge chunks of the creative process." We cannot continue to compartmentalize knowledge into different disciplines, which is why, as Punya Mishra demonstrated in our Creativity class, I now include writing in my math curriculum and we write poetry in science. Because bringing in the creative process puts the intuition and emotion back into education, and demonstrates deeper understanding than a traditional assessment.
To Collaborate
(c) Jessica Steffel
Listening to The World Is Flat definitely gave me a new sense of global collaboration. This is the reality of the economy, so I question more than ever the traditional bodies-in-chairs assessments of knowledge. To improve understanding, collaboration is an essential building block.
One of my most amazing experiences over the last few years was actually 3 courses integrated together into a summer session, also taught by Punya MIshra. It was an exemplar model of integration as it coordinated the goals of 3 different courses with very different objectives (Learning, Leadership, and Research - CEP 800, 815, 822). Projects hit multiple goals from multiple courses, making the best use of our time. We began with two weeks of face to face time, and this time required a great deal of collaboration to put all the pieces together. With such a short time, there was no way one person in the team could emerge as the boss! There was so much to accomplish that we all had to play a big part in the assignments in order to complete them. We learned to give and to let others give, too. In fact, I would say this was one of the most intense and difficult collaborations I have ever been a part of. There were times I found team discussions to be frustrating as we worked to come to a similar enough understanding to start on a project. Looking back, however, my most important lesson is that I could actually feel my thinking changing just from participating in those discussions. Many times, the discussion is where the learning happens.
Collaboration doesn't always look the same. Some collaborations result in one team project (such as creating a video), while other projects require individuals to submit a part of the project (such as a wiki) and still others require individuals to provide feedback on others' work. Quality collaboration requires that students feel a connection to each other and see the value in working together. Punya and his teaching assistants definitely understood that and took time out for team building activities, such as sending us out to visit together and take pictures of each other to help build those connections.
One of my most amazing experiences over the last few years was actually 3 courses integrated together into a summer session, also taught by Punya MIshra. It was an exemplar model of integration as it coordinated the goals of 3 different courses with very different objectives (Learning, Leadership, and Research - CEP 800, 815, 822). Projects hit multiple goals from multiple courses, making the best use of our time. We began with two weeks of face to face time, and this time required a great deal of collaboration to put all the pieces together. With such a short time, there was no way one person in the team could emerge as the boss! There was so much to accomplish that we all had to play a big part in the assignments in order to complete them. We learned to give and to let others give, too. In fact, I would say this was one of the most intense and difficult collaborations I have ever been a part of. There were times I found team discussions to be frustrating as we worked to come to a similar enough understanding to start on a project. Looking back, however, my most important lesson is that I could actually feel my thinking changing just from participating in those discussions. Many times, the discussion is where the learning happens.
Collaboration doesn't always look the same. Some collaborations result in one team project (such as creating a video), while other projects require individuals to submit a part of the project (such as a wiki) and still others require individuals to provide feedback on others' work. Quality collaboration requires that students feel a connection to each other and see the value in working together. Punya and his teaching assistants definitely understood that and took time out for team building activities, such as sending us out to visit together and take pictures of each other to help build those connections.
To Communicate
(c) Jessica Steffel
If we are connecting students together, they have to be proficient in sharing their ideas. For the last year and a half, I have modeled doing this by using Twitter to tweet from the classroom to let parents in on what we're doing. It's been a great way to share our classroom with our families. I plan to have my students do this next year - to be more involved in the recording of events in the classroom. They can compose the tweets, take the pictures, and learn the skill of sharing online with others, another essential building block of learning for the future.
Web 2.0 has brought new opportunities for communicating ideas. From videoconferencing to blogs to social networking, we can connect with the ideas of others using these technologies by talking about our work and sharing ideas digitally. This has gotten me excited to blog with my students, which we did, and they loved. Their favorite part of the entire process was leaving comments for and receiving comments from their friends online! We are going to invite the parents into the conversation next year, giving them accounts to write back and forth with the students. I think this will bring a new element of communication with families...sort of an updated version of journaling back and forth with the parents.
For the ages I teach (4-7), I think communicating with other students in our classroom and our families is excellent. At this age, they are still psychologically very self-centered, and their literacy skills are improving through these activities. However, I would like to branch out and communicate with others outside of our classroom. I once taught a writing lesson via Skype when I was home for the day, and it was so much fun! Students are so curious about the world around them that I know they would be excited to skype local community members or family members to connect with our science and social studies units.
Imagine the world of communication by the time my current students graduate high school in 2022 and 2023. Building their communication skills, both interpersonally and digitally, will only benefit them in the long run. As Curtis Bonk writes in The World is Open, "the power of an idea or creative product no longer resides in silos of individual departments, schools, or school districts." Ideas and creative products now travel the world faster than we even comprehend.
Web 2.0 has brought new opportunities for communicating ideas. From videoconferencing to blogs to social networking, we can connect with the ideas of others using these technologies by talking about our work and sharing ideas digitally. This has gotten me excited to blog with my students, which we did, and they loved. Their favorite part of the entire process was leaving comments for and receiving comments from their friends online! We are going to invite the parents into the conversation next year, giving them accounts to write back and forth with the students. I think this will bring a new element of communication with families...sort of an updated version of journaling back and forth with the parents.
For the ages I teach (4-7), I think communicating with other students in our classroom and our families is excellent. At this age, they are still psychologically very self-centered, and their literacy skills are improving through these activities. However, I would like to branch out and communicate with others outside of our classroom. I once taught a writing lesson via Skype when I was home for the day, and it was so much fun! Students are so curious about the world around them that I know they would be excited to skype local community members or family members to connect with our science and social studies units.
Imagine the world of communication by the time my current students graduate high school in 2022 and 2023. Building their communication skills, both interpersonally and digitally, will only benefit them in the long run. As Curtis Bonk writes in The World is Open, "the power of an idea or creative product no longer resides in silos of individual departments, schools, or school districts." Ideas and creative products now travel the world faster than we even comprehend.
The World of K-1
My sphere of influence is largely in my own classroom, and I have built my classroom of NOW based on my current understanding of learning practices and available technologies. I have always had a solid foundation for teaching literacy and mathematics. There are some ideals I have held since first beginning teaching, such as believing that all children can learn and that there is something to appreciate in every student.
One way I reach all students is to provide choice in learning. While I have often done this in the past using choices from different books or different papers, a new example is that at the listening center, I now use iPod touches with interactive books loaded on them. This is different than a traditional listening center, which requires students to listen to the book of the teacher's choice. The educational goal is to improve fluency based on listening to fluent reading, but the new technology allows students choice in their practice (in an easy way for a teacher to manage). I also have several math games on the iPod touches so that when students rotate during math centers, they can choose a good-fit game for them based on what they need to practice. In addition, I have several apps for specific skills for my special needs and intervention students, so even when they are working on their goals, it is in a fun and motivating way that doesn't single them out.
This is just one example of the ways that choice in learning can be presented in an early elementary classroom. It isn't important that everyone read the same book; it is important that students feel empowered over their learning and accomplish the objective in a way that satisfies their sense of ownership. You may have seen the video from Intel called The Museum of Me, which highlights the way that our social networking activity creates a sort of museum about our lives. This makes me consider the idea of The School of Me, which other writers in the field of education have alluded to as well. Rather than standardizing the curriculum even more, a school of ME seeks to let a student inquire in the direction of their interest, or at least demonstrate their learning using a medium of their own choosing. Take a research project for a history class, for example. The research skills can be applied to students' choice of topics and the final demonstration of their learning can reflect their own strengths in ways of sharing knowledge in a manner that reflects their own creative strengths.
One way I reach all students is to provide choice in learning. While I have often done this in the past using choices from different books or different papers, a new example is that at the listening center, I now use iPod touches with interactive books loaded on them. This is different than a traditional listening center, which requires students to listen to the book of the teacher's choice. The educational goal is to improve fluency based on listening to fluent reading, but the new technology allows students choice in their practice (in an easy way for a teacher to manage). I also have several math games on the iPod touches so that when students rotate during math centers, they can choose a good-fit game for them based on what they need to practice. In addition, I have several apps for specific skills for my special needs and intervention students, so even when they are working on their goals, it is in a fun and motivating way that doesn't single them out.
This is just one example of the ways that choice in learning can be presented in an early elementary classroom. It isn't important that everyone read the same book; it is important that students feel empowered over their learning and accomplish the objective in a way that satisfies their sense of ownership. You may have seen the video from Intel called The Museum of Me, which highlights the way that our social networking activity creates a sort of museum about our lives. This makes me consider the idea of The School of Me, which other writers in the field of education have alluded to as well. Rather than standardizing the curriculum even more, a school of ME seeks to let a student inquire in the direction of their interest, or at least demonstrate their learning using a medium of their own choosing. Take a research project for a history class, for example. The research skills can be applied to students' choice of topics and the final demonstration of their learning can reflect their own strengths in ways of sharing knowledge in a manner that reflects their own creative strengths.
In addition to building more choice into my curriculum, I have also built more collaboration into our learning time. In using blogs for the first time this year with my first graders, I found that they had to learn a lot of skills, technically speaking, in order to successfully post the way I was hoping. But, at the advice of ISTE presenter Boni Hamilton, I sometimes pair students up on the computers even when there are enough for everyone...to encourage them to learn to work together and build their collaboration and citizenship skills in addition to the core content learning goals. I firmly believe in the "I teach and I master" part of the famous Chinese proverb, so the fact that they can assist each other builds their own technological fluency and frees me up from running tech interference so that my discussions with students can be focused on the core content and their understandings.
Supporting Teachers
I think it is amazing that the world of education has so much potential. But with these massive shifts in thinking and technology, it is intimidating to many teachers. Change is difficult. As a professional leader in my school, I always hope to help teachers feel more comfortable using technology themselves, and therefore with their students. Over the past two years, some initiatives I have supported include a required online presence for each teacher. In this day and age of QR codes appearing on products for easy access to the web presence of just about anything, today's generation expects you to have a web presence.
I have also sought to make teachers more comfortable with this participatory version of the web - Web 2.0. There are so many tools that no one will ever know them all. Teachers need to make a shift from being the expert in the room to learning alongside the students, and to know that it is ok not to know how to do it because someone will figure it out. With some basic understanding of something like a Wiki, a teacher can retool a class to make use of the new technologies and the students will run with it!
Building the classroom of the future starts with teachers. In the proverbial trenches, teachers must have a solid understanding of learning and become proficient in net technologies, essentially showing their own digital citizenship. This must come before they can harness the tech for student use. Students' lives outside school are filled with instant access to the knowledge they seek and so many ways to reach their creative potential. It is time to bring the devices into school and harness their power for learning.