As per Course,
"Read:Effective Use of Technology
http://www.ontariodirectors.ca/CODE_Advisories/Downloads/CODE%20Advisory%20No%203%20WEB.pdf
The Design of Learning Environments
https://www.nap.edu/read/9853/chapter/10#134
Watch:
EduGAINS – About 21st Century Learning in Ontario (peruse the site)
http://www.edugains.ca/newsite/21stCenturyLearning/about_learning_in_ontario.html
The conditions of learning support teachers because it helps to meet the needs of teachers, by designing professional development that aims to meet the individual needs of teachers. So, teachers can make more connections to their professional and personal lives. Thus, engaging teachers in more active, goal-oriented and relative work. It also supports teachers in providing them with challenging, but achievable goals. Providing educators with an environment where the bar is set high, where teachers know their colleagues believe in them and where teachers themselves, are scaffolded to develop and refine their practice, then educators will see their potential to make a difference and be confident that they can be excellent educators. Knowing about the conditions of learning also supports teachers because it gives teachers the time they need to reach developmental milestones in their career, and respects the fact that teachers learn differently and come with a variety and array of experiences and individual personalities. In addition, knowing these conditions supports teachers because it also acknowledges that people construct new knowledge by building on their current knowledge, and uses a constructivist lens, to recognize that the learner does the learning and the facilitator, assists and guides the students. This works for both students, and teachers engaging in professional development.
Why is knowing about the conditions for learning important? How does the conditions of learning support teachers? What are ideal conditions of learning for teachers and students? How can technology support the 21st century learners?
Review and comment on two other postings by your colleagues."
As per discussion,
"The easy answer is that knowing is the key to doing. What that means is essentially, if a teacher can understand where the students are beginning, then getting to the end is that much easier. In order to know where the students are though teachers need to be aware that students do not just pick up and start where the content is supposed to begin in all cases. As an ENG4U teacher, its a prime example of being classically 'too learner centered' in which there sometimes need to be extra time spent on two introduction units that in reality are the two least interesting to teach, but most important to students as they are the most fundamentally important to the goals of the course.
One needs to understand that not every student enrolled in ENG4U had made it that far based on writing skills alone. Even then, say their writing skills are to thank for making it that far, that does not speak to the other abilities/or lack thereof that the student may have/not have. When beginning ENG4U (high stakes mandatory English Literature course for university bound student), it is extremely important to spend a unit to develop essay mechanics and another in literary theory. These are not necessarily mandatory pieces of content to be taught, however if a teacher wants to prepare their students for the next stage (a little more than just being a critical thinker), its a good route. Being at an international school there is a lot of competition between schools and programs. One should consider not only what students will study abroad but where universities are expecting students to be. This is important for a number of reasons (student retention, customer satisfaction, personal awareness and most importantly the future success in the pursuit of subject areas within this discipline).
With all that being said there is an experience of turning the material into more learner centered at the cost of content. There is value in going completely learner centered and paying very little mind to what is expected to be taught, but that was all before the competition for students became a reality. The BC curriculum uses something similar to the framework presented in the documents of this focus area. In BC there are three core competencies that are broken down into competencies that area to be utilized alongside the curricular competencies (in Ontario we call them specific expectations). The core competencies are not to be used for mark but as effective reflection in the classroom (completely separated from any sort of formative, diagnostic or summative activity). There have been rubrics that include the core competencies, maybe that was a grey area not completely understood. The point of it all was to do exactly what is being talked about here. The fostering of the competencies that will build the character framework of a twenty-first century learner. The details can be found in the link here,
https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/competencies#unpacking
https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/competencies
This rhetoric started longer ago than I can actually recall as a professional, but the moment earliest in my career that I remember this idea of the 21st century learner (in application, not the theory of a classroom learning environment) was in a PLC experience describing the importance of incorporating a "makerspace". This idea of makerspace actually segues into this idea of technology as a tool for learning and delivery of lessons/content/experience.
It is not a secret that students learn better by doing, that is why a lot of us can't wait to get out of classroom theory in teachers college and move into our practicums. The article by Edugains discussed the needs of the 21st century learner and states that professionals believe that technology has massive impacts on the learning that takes place. This is all very true, at the turn of technological age in education the overhead which usually results in shut eye and watching pens fly across the page, is now a PPT that at the time elicited attention and helped organize key ideas. Later, it was the PPT that systematically made learning yet again, basically "record taking" as Dewey describes it. This is because it lost its novelty, and with it came the routine application of the PPT. This happens with everything accessible, LMS, Online Quizzes and even videos. As much as students enjoy watching videos, it is a point in human society that one can now be highly critical over the inputs throughout a day without little consequence. Everything is recorded and with that notion, it can also be accessed at later times. I have notes from university that I revisit once in awhile to see what goodies I can try to implement into my class. At the time of taking these notes, it was pretty much-over my head, but I figured 'Hey, exams will arrive-might as well have something to study'. I didn't. I had my notes though and can yet still access them where I now find myself thinking "WOW! This is amazing stuff, why didn't I pay more attention?" In reality, I wasn't connected enough with the content at the point to grasp what was going on, but the main idea here is, due to technology I was able to literally shut it off (the content from that particular class) for nearly a decade-come back to it and in the end, it was quite inconsequential on a grand scheme.
Technology does impact the learning environment, on what level is a different story than what this article is talking about though. I think the future of technology in the classroom is going to basically be what myblueprint.com is. No, not inconsequential and purchased. I mean, a portfolio collection going back to the earliest studies that one can recall and reflect on in which is used as rich experience to determine content readiness. Students are already doing this, but teachers are having difficulty finding a way to have students access this rich experience in a way that they can complete the diagnostics/use as starting points for conversations. It does not mean one needs to make sure that by grade 2 they have already written an acrostic poem, but that is a good and rich experience that one can bring to the table. Show and tells, artifact hunts. These types of reflections are crucial to a learning environment in terms of learner centered and eventually (not today, or tomorrow, maybe not even within this decade), there will be a system that is eventually created to pool these rich experiences together for students and allow them to join learner pods. These learner pods will be learner groups designated to pool together different types of learners/with similar or contrasted interests that will in turn develop learners in one way or another through project based solution simulations. Ya, I know, sounds like some Ender's Game meets The Giver-I'm currently developing Brave New World resources and this sort of rhetoric is something always on my mind-the future of education/the "perfectly imperfect model". A lot of teachers will complain that students are too far apart in abilities for them to move through their content effectively-I know-been there-but then one comes to terms with the reality of the situation, when in one's life has one ever been in a room doing a job/completing a task with those who are 'the same'-never, literally never happened. and with that, the learner centered learning can occur because it is in that empathy that 'Its clear you don't like working with your classmate Johnny because of his hygiene, but I think if you can work with him you have proven to yourself you can work with anyone.' No I don't condone saying that but its a clear example. In that statement though a teacher needs to make a point of providing supports to help that student work with Johnny, not just leave them to ignore Johnny, do the assignment by themselves and then Johnny shows up empty handed saying, 'I didn't know what to do.' "
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