- I believe that as educators we need to help students learn how to access information and develop skills that will be useful to them in their future.
- I think that learning is more a 24/7 thing now than it has ever been before.
- I believe that memorizing facts does not equal learning.
- I don’t believe that we need to ‘dumb down’ our curriculum or our expectations in order to inspire students to learn in our classes - we do need to challenge them differently. Deep engagement in learning goes beyond fun.
- I believe that technology can be used to inspire students to learn, but it is the pedagogy behind the use of technology that is important, not the gadget/app/site/game itself.
- I don’t believe that using technology to do the same things that teachers have done forever without electronic devices is a good use of the technology. (But it may be a start...)
Feel free to share one or more of your beliefs about technology's place in education in the comment section.
Hi Lisa,
ReplyDeleteYou're starting some really good conversation here on your blog, thank you! It never ceases to amaze me how we, educators with some similar beliefs, are finding each other on Twitter and elsewhere. I love that!
In addition to what you've said about not dumbing down our curriculum I think that with the 'deep' engagement that you mention students often achieve more than the curriculum dictates. Our goal as teachers, in my humble opinion, is to find that which inspires the student to do that deeper learning. Then, because I am confident that all rich learning has transferable benefits, I can rest assured that some part of that will last longer than the test. Ultimately that is my goal - learning that lasts. Better yet if the student is asked to reflect upon it themselves and can identify the more meaningful learning for them.
Thoughts?
The 7 commandments of digital ed! Love it, and (coming from a devout skeptic myself), there is no reason why you can't ask hard questions instead of jumping on a Jobsian gee-wiz bandwagon.
ReplyDeleteWhen Ed becomes little more than a marketing tool for a company/app, we be-little our profession.
The 'fun happy learning' thing sticks in my craw too. We are not there to amuse them, do they think we're clowns? Here to amuse them? Engagement happens when the learning is contextual and meaningful, not when it distracts them from narcissistic navel gazing on Facebook by offering shallow, easy, meaningless access to flashy but empty information.
The biggest problem I've had, and continue to have, with digital pedagogy is re-culturing students to see the internet as more than a toy; the idea that technology is something other than a self-serving distraction, that it can actually be used to increase your productivity and enhance understanding, is foreign to the majority of students I deal with in high school.
Using a blog as a way of exercising frustrating, asking hard questions and questions assumptions is the main reason I do it. http://temkblog.blogspot.com/
Enjoy the catharsis, and don't be afraid to dig into this! There tends to be a big divide between the tech-evangelists and the Luddites, with few people trying to survive in the vacuum between them.
Thanks for saying it so succinctly, Lisa! I totally agree. I wonder if you'd blog further about your ideas about: 1) the walled garden approach to edtech, 2) BYOD/BYOT, and 3)What are those survival skills necessary for the future. I think you'll find that your blog extends quickly beyond the walls you're used to. In return, I hope your community becomes richer and inspirational. Namaste, yo.
ReplyDeleteGreat first post, Lisa!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your points, but I am confused by your comment, "I think that learning is more a 24/7 thing now than it has ever been before." Why is learning more 24/7 now, but not previously?
I love your point that memorizing facts does not equal learning. I care more about students synthesizing, contextualizing and challenging facts than simply knowing them.