Make no mistake, the power of technology is revolutionizing classrooms all over the world, and America is no exception. From unorthodox charter schools to just your average public university lecture, innovative approaches to teaching are being bolstered by radical improvements in technology.
Even in our most basic of K-12 classes, teachers across the nation are adopting technology into their lesson plans. Our fifth graders are using iPads to make research fun, and our high school freshman are using blogging tools to showcase their artistic ventures. No matter what classroom you find yourself in, students everywhere are being connected to the grid. But why? What about technology is so conducive to authentic learning?
The answer you’re looking for is “connectivism”. Deeply rooted in the idea that authentic learning comes about as the result of a massive confluence of diverse backgrounds and opinions, connectivism is a learning theory that could have only been born from the digital era we find ourselves in now. By giving our students digital voices to communicate with their peers, their professors, and professionals in the field, we’re giving them an undeniably potent learning tool that has more potential than any that has come before it. Instead of being insulated in the classroom, a “gated community of learning” of sorts, our students are able to both take from and contribute to the massive exchange of information to be found on the web. Learning is happening in a new and exciting way for these kids, and not just in terms of curriculum.
The great thing about this approach to education is that it’s teaching our kids vital 21st century skills. As found here, these skills are needed to be considered a productive member of society in our highly digitized world: leadership, technology literacy, social-responsibility, and communication… the list goes on. By having our students learn through the utilization of powerful Web 2.0 technologies—web tools like social media, discussion boards, forums, and online courses—we’re killing two birds with one stone! Not only are students learning material in a new, authentic way, we’re instilling in them these necessary 21st century skills that will carry them far into their adult lives. We’re not just changing how we’re learning, but what we’re learning.
Let’s look at those Web 2.0 technologies more in depth now. A simple definition of Web 2.0 is any web site that is inherently dynamic by nature. It accepts user feedback and reacts to said feedback, creating an interactive user experience. The main problem here is that such pages aren’t generally created with education in mind, but teachers are still adopting these tools into the classroom. Why?
Well it turns out that by making learning feel less like learning and more like using Facebook, students suddenly become a lot more interested. Who knew? But the great thing is that not only are we making learning more engaging, but these innovative teachers are making a culture of learning that no longer has a defined boundary. Before classrooms began adopting this connectivist approach, formal learning began and ended in the classroom, our “gated community” as mentioned before. However, as learning is being extended to the web it has become unshackled. Learning no longer has a dedicated “home”, but is now a vast network of continuous conversation.
The adoption of these Web 2.0 technologies is not only blazing the trail forward, but it’s also solving some of education’s oldest problems. Take this study for instance. Twenty or so years ago, researchers tried to figure out what to do about university students becoming passive learners, students that preferred to have education done for them instead of taking an active part. Well it turns out that the education system itself was encouraging such behavior: because professors at the university level predominantly focused on lecture based delivery, by the time students made it to the more engaging upper level classes they were so used to learning passively that they were no longer interested in or willing to engage in active learning.
This problem is being rapidly solved by the adoption of Web 2.0 tools. My CS 211 class had about one-hundred students in it, but by using Piazza and other discussion boards each student was able to get their voice heard. Questions and discussions were brought up during the lecture, making each student feel like their voice had been heard from amongst the crowd. The professor did even more to encourage active participation by giving students who were the first to post about errors in project specifications extra credit. Suddenly it became a race to post first, and discussions about who was right or wrong and why quickly followed suit. With just the adoption of a simple, yet undeniably powerful Web 2.0 tool, a markedly boring class was transformed into something greater.
No matter what school or classroom you go in, you will undoubtedly see how technology has changed the way our students learn. Change isn’t just coming, it’s here, and all we can do is wonder where it will steer our classrooms next.
http://cct.edc.org/publications/integrating-web-20-tools-classroom-changing-culture-learning
http://edglossary.org/21st-century-skills/
http://cgi.stanford.edu/~dept-ctl/tomprof/posting.php?ID=1046
Even in our most basic of K-12 classes, teachers across the nation are adopting technology into their lesson plans. Our fifth graders are using iPads to make research fun, and our high school freshman are using blogging tools to showcase their artistic ventures. No matter what classroom you find yourself in, students everywhere are being connected to the grid. But why? What about technology is so conducive to authentic learning?
The answer you’re looking for is “connectivism”. Deeply rooted in the idea that authentic learning comes about as the result of a massive confluence of diverse backgrounds and opinions, connectivism is a learning theory that could have only been born from the digital era we find ourselves in now. By giving our students digital voices to communicate with their peers, their professors, and professionals in the field, we’re giving them an undeniably potent learning tool that has more potential than any that has come before it. Instead of being insulated in the classroom, a “gated community of learning” of sorts, our students are able to both take from and contribute to the massive exchange of information to be found on the web. Learning is happening in a new and exciting way for these kids, and not just in terms of curriculum.
The great thing about this approach to education is that it’s teaching our kids vital 21st century skills. As found here, these skills are needed to be considered a productive member of society in our highly digitized world: leadership, technology literacy, social-responsibility, and communication… the list goes on. By having our students learn through the utilization of powerful Web 2.0 technologies—web tools like social media, discussion boards, forums, and online courses—we’re killing two birds with one stone! Not only are students learning material in a new, authentic way, we’re instilling in them these necessary 21st century skills that will carry them far into their adult lives. We’re not just changing how we’re learning, but what we’re learning.
Let’s look at those Web 2.0 technologies more in depth now. A simple definition of Web 2.0 is any web site that is inherently dynamic by nature. It accepts user feedback and reacts to said feedback, creating an interactive user experience. The main problem here is that such pages aren’t generally created with education in mind, but teachers are still adopting these tools into the classroom. Why?
Well it turns out that by making learning feel less like learning and more like using Facebook, students suddenly become a lot more interested. Who knew? But the great thing is that not only are we making learning more engaging, but these innovative teachers are making a culture of learning that no longer has a defined boundary. Before classrooms began adopting this connectivist approach, formal learning began and ended in the classroom, our “gated community” as mentioned before. However, as learning is being extended to the web it has become unshackled. Learning no longer has a dedicated “home”, but is now a vast network of continuous conversation.
The adoption of these Web 2.0 technologies is not only blazing the trail forward, but it’s also solving some of education’s oldest problems. Take this study for instance. Twenty or so years ago, researchers tried to figure out what to do about university students becoming passive learners, students that preferred to have education done for them instead of taking an active part. Well it turns out that the education system itself was encouraging such behavior: because professors at the university level predominantly focused on lecture based delivery, by the time students made it to the more engaging upper level classes they were so used to learning passively that they were no longer interested in or willing to engage in active learning.
This problem is being rapidly solved by the adoption of Web 2.0 tools. My CS 211 class had about one-hundred students in it, but by using Piazza and other discussion boards each student was able to get their voice heard. Questions and discussions were brought up during the lecture, making each student feel like their voice had been heard from amongst the crowd. The professor did even more to encourage active participation by giving students who were the first to post about errors in project specifications extra credit. Suddenly it became a race to post first, and discussions about who was right or wrong and why quickly followed suit. With just the adoption of a simple, yet undeniably powerful Web 2.0 tool, a markedly boring class was transformed into something greater.
No matter what school or classroom you go in, you will undoubtedly see how technology has changed the way our students learn. Change isn’t just coming, it’s here, and all we can do is wonder where it will steer our classrooms next.
http://cct.edc.org/publications/integrating-web-20-tools-classroom-changing-culture-learning
http://edglossary.org/21st-century-skills/
http://cgi.stanford.edu/~dept-ctl/tomprof/posting.php?ID=1046