Science is all about exploring new concepts; according to this study, having them explore new concepts in groups and as a whole would get them much more interested in seeking the answers. I hope to be in a school that is fairly up to date in terms of technology, so instead of depriving them of these resources and labeling it "cheating" I will give them much more freedom in how they pursue the answer to a question. Everyone learns differently, so it only makes sense to let them follow the learning path that makes the most sense to them rather than trying to herd them all down the same antiquated path.
There were many different implications in his research, very interesting. The grandmother effect was one that stuck with me. Just standing behind the children while they worked, just supporting them in what they are working on. That alone benefited the children. I would prepare my classroom with a certain answer I wanted, but see how all the kids would differ in how they found the answer. To me, it is more along the lines of control chaos. Ask a question and let them work in groups and find out the answer themselves using different types of materials. (Books, Computers, Magazines, etc.)
@ JW: Us math teacher types and you science teacher types are historically quite guilty of wanting to "be the sage" and splatter our knowledge on students. It's very anti-intuitive to create tasks that let the students "pursue" their own learning. (Also difficult to create those learning tasks).
Well, if children are able to learn complex ideas in another language,then the sky is the limit for them and even me as the teacher. I would have to give the students as much wider birth in their learning and allow them to solve the questions and problems on their own. I will also try to find out the topics that interest them and present the lessons based upon their own interests. this might create a problem with following the TEKS that are required for the students to learn. In the past it sometimes seemed easier to just tell or lead the students to the answer, because it would take too long for the students to come up with the answer. I will try to match the students interest to the TEKS and then the children can accomplish the class' goal with their own self directed learning. rote memorization will not be implemented in class. Joel
I think the implications are vast. His research shows that children alone will teach themselves and with a cooperative group they will teach each other and learn with technology they teach themselves and others in their groups more quickly and have better chance at retention. I hope to produce a self organizing system through guiding supporting and using the power of technology to help my students be successful learners.
I will prepare and deliver instruction using many techniques that Mitra mentioned. I think it is important for children to respect who they are so they wont be afraid to make mistakes when learning something new. Mitra talked about how some teachers can be like a machine at moments and thats not a good way to make a connection with students. He mentioned the fact that students want to learn what they are interested in, so I think it is our job to make students be interested in us (Where there is interest from students education can happen). I think positive reinforcement (grandmother effect) in the classroom is also very important. Positive reinforcement allows students to feel comfortable and that will make for a better learing enviroment. Another point that Mitra mentioned was the ability for a teacher to be effective to the point that students will learn on their own outside the classroom. I think as a teacher if you can leave an interest on a student to further their learning outside school means I am succeeding.
@JJ: The word you used that is indicative of the "usual" state of teaching is EASIER. Much instruction is designed and deployed because it's EASIER to craft, it's EASIER to grade, and it's EASIER deploy. Not a lot to do with richer learning.
The focus on relevance in instruction is pleasing to see; slight tweaking of lessons can 'bring it home' MANY times...The nature of collaborative learning is also confirming, since I work w/numerous educators who use the 'prison row' seating arrangements. How enlightening to find that kiddos can and will seek out any route to a solution providing they're aware of the tools and their capabilities. I love the free stealing of stuff; I've taken ideas and strategies from at least 20 teachers to 'mold' my room and class so far. Implications include continued encouragement of engaged collaborative learning, as well as pursuing ANY means of adding relevance, as if to beat'em to the punch on "Why do we have to do this?"
I didn't mention that encouragement can be as important in directing the student's learning. Also through encouragement students will continue to self direct themselves.
@DR: You reference what students are "interested in." In the technical language of us huber-teachers we call that "relevance." That's what the literature calls it. I would push it one more level higher and suggest that what we should keep in mind as we design learning tasks is student-perceived relevance (not just relevance).
Back @ NC: Honestly when I first started last semester I thought that, being a Baptist university, I would be taught how to teach in the same boring, traditional manner that I was primarily forced to endure all the way through high school. I'm very glad to have been pleasantly surprised thus far in learning some pretty radical methods/ideals that I feel better suit me as a teacher and will hopefully make my students' learning experience something they won't forget (pun intended).
I really liked the comment he said, "children will learn to do what they want to learn to do:" because, it is so true in every situation and environment. If it is boring or too easy they will loose intrest and possible develop behavior problems. When he told the student he did not know how to change things on the computer and let them explore it for themselves and learn new techniques to solve problems and have a better understanding for the process. When he said, "if a teacher can be replaced by a machine then it should be," I was kinda shocked but after thinking about it I agreed. I want to make my students understand more than any machine can because of the knowledge I have and the ability to show them care, compassion, and praise. If a child has intrest, education happens, this goes along with what I said before and I believe if the child has not intrest then there is a possiblity that the child will feel like it may be pointless to even try to learn the material. I do not want my students to be able to just google their homework to find the answers because I feel that may lead to a decrease in the desire to try. However, it was very impressing to me that the students were able to learn English through the information on Google. Most children will look at something or stay interested in it until they understand it to some degree. I believe it is important to praise and admire your students, allow students to share ideas, and be able to change groups to gain as much knowledge as possible. The students that participated developed photographic recall, which is amazing and I believe it and have used the techniques and plan on using them in the future as well. I have never heard of the "granny cloud" of Skype, but I want to investigate it more as well as the self organized learning environments, SOLEs. I really am glad that I got introduced to TED talks; because, I feel like there is some very helpful and informative information on them.
@CG: The technology is a great tool by which we can leverage the collective learning propensity of students. Has to be thoughtfully done, though. I've seen many teachers simply use the technology to mimic the traditional delivery. No value added in that approach.
I agree that in many cases the word easy denotes that the students don't have the ability to learn,but really it means that the teacher is not challenging the students.
@WP: One of my mentors says kids take the following approach to learning: "You can't make me. You can't stop me." Interesting dichotomy. Endless possibilities for the wise and deliberate learning task designer. No?
@SP: TED talks are a rich source of my own learning. Regarding your remarks, wouldn't be interesting (and rich) to see is we, as teachers, could completely shift our construct from "deliverer" to that of "learning facilitator"?
Yes and I would like to be a learning facilitator instead of just a deliverer because I would actually be teaching my students how to learn and how they learn instead of just delivering (throwing the information at them).
wade hmmm; at first I thought the "You can't stop me" was the teacher's line. A psychologist serving a brilliant, highly-functioning Autistic student told us this summer about a great strategy: (Student) is standing on desk yelling at teacher. T: "(student), I need you to go ahead and sit down in your desk now. (wait two seconds) .... Or not."
student sits nine times out of ten. yessir, quite an open door, cognitively speaking.
Science is all about exploring new concepts; according to this study, having them explore new concepts in groups and as a whole would get them much more interested in seeking the answers. I hope to be in a school that is fairly up to date in terms of technology, so instead of depriving them of these resources and labeling it "cheating" I will give them much more freedom in how they pursue the answer to a question. Everyone learns differently, so it only makes sense to let them follow the learning path that makes the most sense to them rather than trying to herd them all down the same antiquated path.
ReplyDeleteThere were many different implications in his research, very interesting. The grandmother effect was one that stuck with me. Just standing behind the children while they worked, just supporting them in what they are working on. That alone benefited the children. I would prepare my classroom with a certain answer I wanted, but see how all the kids would differ in how they found the answer. To me, it is more along the lines of control chaos. Ask a question and let them work in groups and find out the answer themselves using different types of materials. (Books, Computers, Magazines, etc.)
ReplyDelete@ JW: Us math teacher types and you science teacher types are historically quite guilty of wanting to "be the sage" and splatter our knowledge on students. It's very anti-intuitive to create tasks that let the students "pursue" their own learning. (Also difficult to create those learning tasks).
ReplyDelete@ NC: Agreed. You never see a grandmother playing that role from behind a desk, lectern, or podium. (At least I haven't seen one do that).
ReplyDeleteWell, if children are able to learn complex ideas in another language,then the sky is the limit for them and even me as the teacher. I would have to give the students as much wider birth in their learning and allow them to solve the questions and problems on their own. I will also try to find out the topics that interest them and present the lessons based upon their own interests. this might create a problem with following the TEKS that are required for the students to learn. In the past it sometimes seemed easier to just tell or lead the students to the answer, because it would take too long for the students to come up with the answer. I will try to match the students interest to the TEKS and then the children can accomplish the class' goal with their own self directed learning. rote memorization will not be implemented in class. Joel
ReplyDeleteI think the implications are vast. His research shows that children alone will teach themselves and with a cooperative group they will teach each other and learn with technology they teach themselves and others in their groups more quickly and have better chance at retention. I hope to produce a self organizing system through guiding supporting and using the power of technology to help my students be successful learners.
ReplyDeleteI will prepare and deliver instruction using many techniques that Mitra mentioned. I think it is important for children to respect who they are so they wont be afraid to make mistakes when learning something new. Mitra talked about how some teachers can be like a machine at moments and thats not a good way to make a connection with students. He mentioned the fact that students want to learn what they are interested in, so I think it is our job to make students be interested in us (Where there is interest from students education can happen). I think positive reinforcement (grandmother effect) in the classroom is also very important. Positive reinforcement allows students to feel comfortable and that will make for a better learing enviroment. Another point that Mitra mentioned was the ability for a teacher to be effective to the point that students will learn on their own outside the classroom. I think as a teacher if you can leave an interest on a student to further their learning outside school means I am succeeding.
ReplyDelete@JJ: The word you used that is indicative of the "usual" state of teaching is EASIER. Much instruction is designed and deployed because it's EASIER to craft, it's EASIER to grade, and it's EASIER deploy. Not a lot to do with richer learning.
ReplyDeletewade
ReplyDeletewow. my first TED talk.
The focus on relevance in instruction is pleasing to see; slight tweaking of lessons can 'bring it home' MANY times...The nature of collaborative learning is also confirming, since I work w/numerous educators who use the 'prison row' seating arrangements. How enlightening to find that kiddos can and will seek out any route to a solution providing they're aware of the tools and their capabilities. I love the free stealing of stuff; I've taken ideas and strategies from at least 20 teachers to 'mold' my room and class so far. Implications include continued encouragement of engaged collaborative learning, as well as pursuing ANY means of adding relevance, as if to beat'em to the punch on "Why do we have to do this?"
I didn't mention that encouragement can be as important in directing the student's learning. Also through encouragement students will continue to self direct themselves.
ReplyDelete@DR: You reference what students are "interested in." In the technical language of us huber-teachers we call that "relevance." That's what the literature calls it. I would push it one more level higher and suggest that what we should keep in mind as we design learning tasks is student-perceived relevance (not just relevance).
ReplyDeleteBack @ NC: Honestly when I first started last semester I thought that, being a Baptist university, I would be taught how to teach in the same boring, traditional manner that I was primarily forced to endure all the way through high school. I'm very glad to have been pleasantly surprised thus far in learning some pretty radical methods/ideals that I feel better suit me as a teacher and will hopefully make my students' learning experience something they won't forget (pun intended).
ReplyDeleteI really liked the comment he said, "children will learn to do what they want to learn to do:" because, it is so true in every situation and environment. If it is boring or too easy they will loose intrest and possible develop behavior problems. When he told the student he did not know how to change things on the computer and let them explore it for themselves and learn new techniques to solve problems and have a better understanding for the process. When he said, "if a teacher can be replaced by a machine then it should be," I was kinda shocked but after thinking about it I agreed. I want to make my students understand more than any machine can because of the knowledge I have and the ability to show them care, compassion, and praise. If a child has intrest, education happens, this goes along with what I said before and I believe if the child has not intrest then there is a possiblity that the child will feel like it may be pointless to even try to learn the material. I do not want my students to be able to just google their homework to find the answers because I feel that may lead to a decrease in the desire to try. However, it was very impressing to me that the students were able to learn English through the information on Google. Most children will look at something or stay interested in it until they understand it to some degree. I believe it is important to praise and admire your students, allow students to share ideas, and be able to change groups to gain as much knowledge as possible. The students that participated developed photographic recall, which is amazing and I believe it and have used the techniques and plan on using them in the future as well. I have never heard of the "granny cloud" of Skype, but I want to investigate it more as well as the self organized learning environments, SOLEs. I really am glad that I got introduced to TED talks; because, I feel like there is some very helpful and informative information on them.
ReplyDeleteSarah
@CG: The technology is a great tool by which we can leverage the collective learning propensity of students. Has to be thoughtfully done, though. I've seen many teachers simply use the technology to mimic the traditional delivery. No value added in that approach.
ReplyDeleteI agree that in many cases the word easy denotes that the students don't have the ability to learn,but really it means that the teacher is not challenging the students.
ReplyDeleteAgreed @Jason... Its nice to know that we are being taught with different ideas and views than the old boring way.
ReplyDelete@WP: One of my mentors says kids take the following approach to learning: "You can't make me. You can't stop me." Interesting dichotomy. Endless possibilities for the wise and deliberate learning task designer. No?
ReplyDelete@SP: TED talks are a rich source of my own learning. Regarding your remarks, wouldn't be interesting (and rich) to see is we, as teachers, could completely shift our construct from "deliverer" to that of "learning facilitator"?
ReplyDeleteSuperb responses, learning compatriots. On to the next prompt.
ReplyDeleteYes and I would like to be a learning facilitator instead of just a deliverer because I would actually be teaching my students how to learn and how they learn instead of just delivering (throwing the information at them).
ReplyDeletesarah
wade
ReplyDeletehmmm; at first I thought the "You can't stop me" was the teacher's line.
A psychologist serving a brilliant, highly-functioning Autistic student told us this summer about a great strategy:
(Student) is standing on desk yelling at teacher.
T: "(student), I need you to go ahead and sit down in your desk now. (wait two seconds) .... Or not."
student sits nine times out of ten.
yessir, quite an open door, cognitively speaking.