Over the last several weeks I have been doing a lot of reading about educational theory. If you have been following my blog, you’ll note that I have discussed the benefits of behaviourist, constructionist and social learning theories. Before I embarked on rediscovering what theorists like Skinner, Bruner and Piaget had to say, I considered my own personal educational theory to be somewhat eclectic: I took a pinch of behaviourism and a pinch of constructionism and so on. This is my Pinch Theory!
Weeks later, and with even more research under my belt, I still maintain this is a good way to practice the art of teaching. However I have also gained a better vision of how to ensure the majority of instruction takes a student-centred approach. So much of what we do can slip into a teacher-centred approach when we’re tired or feeling the pressure of the curriculum.
I think teachers need to engage in regular conversations with their peers about instructional and learning theories and to not lose sight of research. Sure we have all read about these theories when we earned our B.Ed. degrees, but how many of us (be honest here) actually consider the impact of these theories on our practice? When we teach in a bubble, we do not teach well. Our lessons should be based on research as much as they are based on curriculum.
The one constant that remains in my perspective on teaching, is the integration of technology into students’ education. Regardless of students’ ages, there is always room for technology. Of course this is a requirement of Alberta Education, but it is also something that is personally important. I’m a nerd at heart and wish very much to provide my students with some of the same technical skills that I have enjoyed. I know so many young adults (30ish is young to me!) who do not know how to use a computer, never mind know how to use one to create valuable products.
It is almost criminal to think we are sending students into their post-school world with little to no effective technology skills. Sure kids know how to use a lot of pieces of technology, but are they given the opportunity to apply those tools in productive, meaningful settings in school? How can we expect them to compete globally if they have not been given the tools to succeed in their new world?
If you read my blog bio, you would have read that I am not currently teaching in a k-12 classroom. When next I do, the first place I’ll make changes is within my own practice. Here are two of the things I would love the opportunity to change in a class of my own:
1. Change the focus of technology from teacher-centred to student-centred focus.
How many of you have Smartboards (for example) in your classroom? I had one the last time I taught. How many of you use your Smartboard primarily as an instructional tool? I admit I did. I tried to give students a chance to use the Smartboard every day, but honestly, it seemed like more work than I had time for.
But why do we limit ourselves and our students this way? I think a Smartboard (for example) is a great way to share information with students (Orey considers this an instructional approach), but they can be so much more. The next time I have an opportunity to use a Smartboard, I really want to be the one in the class who uses it the least. I think students should have the greatest opportunity to use all technological tools to create their own learning. Dr. Michael Orey considers this a learner’s approach to using technology, but really shouldn’t that just be common sense? How else will our students graduate with meaningful, productive, useful tech skills? I’m not just talking about Smartboards here either. I’m talking about any form of web-application or software they might use.
There are literally hundreds of possibilities when it comes to software and web-based applications Personally, I think Smartboards are the least effective ways to allocate tech dollars. If a school wants to invest in an interactive white board, I think something like Promethean’s Multi-Input Interactive Whiteboard makes more sense. Check out the demo below or click this link to the YouTube Video.
If a school is going to invest in an interactive whiteboard, I think it’s just good budgeting and responsible support for students to purchase something that allows for some sort of physical, collaborative effort. This takes the use of the interactive whiteboard one step closer to being a student-centred tool because it simultaneously accepts multi-user input. It’s very cool.
2. Another change I would invoke in my teaching practice is to advocate for the free and varied use of technology in the classroom. In my previous blog post, “Technology Rich Collaborative Classrooms: Big Bad Wolf or Harbinger of Opportunity?”, I spoke about the misconceived evils of allowing students access to technology. Too many administrators are still reluctant to open the firewalls to allow the use of many web 2.0 tools. I realize quality control measures must be in place to maintain the integrity of a network. But really, do network integrity and FREE web 2.0 tools for creativity HAVE to be mutually exclusive?
I have been doing a lot of surfing (aka avoiding client work and practicing procrastination in its purest form) and found a number of incredibly cool web 2.0 tools. I thought I’d share them with you here.
Web Site Builders:
Something I have always wanted to do is have my students create a web site to organize materials they have created for a project. A web site allows students to incorporate video, audio, hyperlinks and documents all in one aesthetically pleasing and fun place. It’s like one-stop shopping for their peers to view what they have created. Not only will this help students gain a better understanding of the connections among the varied pieces of their projects, but it creates an unending venue for students to create and share their creations. Once they begin their web sites, they can continue to build and change them as long as they are students and beyond.
Webs.com This is a free, easy to use web site building tool, but there are ads. As long as you choose the option to create a site for educational purposes, you can rest easy knowing your students will not be exposed to suggestive advertisements. Although I design web sites, I like to use this one for student content because I don’t have to spend time designing pages.
Kafafa.com This is another web site building tool without ads. Keep in mind this site includes life updates as you edit. This means if you start building and have to come back to it later, your unfinished web site will be live.
Creativity:
Kids need multiple avenues to express their creativity. I recently listened attended an event where Sir Ken Robinson was the keynote speaker. I had the pleasure of meeting him and chatting with him afterwards at the Central Alberta Teachers’ Convention in Red Deer, AB on February 10th. “Creativity should be a fundamental of education, not a supplement” he said to me.
How true! Education is forever cutting the arts programs, but those programs do not have to be the only media for creativity! When students are provided an opportunity to employ their natural sense of creativity in any subject area, they flourish and expand their own horizons. This supports and enhances their learning because they use their new-found knowledge through their creative process.
MyOats Remember Hasbro’s Spirograph? Well MyOats is nothing like that!
Actually, kind of is because it mirrors your input in multiple locations around a central focal point. It is super cool and would fit in really well with symmetry and mathematics. It’s a super cool tool to create some really beautiful designs too!
Aviary This is a browser-based graphics editor. It doesn’t allow you to save the image to your hard drive, but it will allow you to publish it or save it online so you can continue working on it later.
These are only a few of the tools that I have come across lately. There are countless more and I look forward to seeing any that others have found.
