Are we a community of learners or are we a classroom of students?
Tonight I started my first class toward my continuing administration license program. I decided to take a class on technology and instruction. I'm fascinated by both, so it only seems appropriate that I would take a class that talks about both subject matters. What I didn't realize is that everything I had been doing today would come together in a swirling pool of thought inside my head.
Here's what I mean by that: today over lunch, I spent some time reading an article on differentiating instruction. It was a fascinating article and one that I hope to connect to this blog at some point as soon as I learn how to do that. For now, you'll have to trust me that it was fascinating. If you aren't familiar with differentiating instruction, you should look into it. Look into universally designed instruction while you are at it. Both will re-think how you look at education. I start thinking about how we should look at education, which leads me to:
Are we a community of learners or are we a classroom of students?
If you work in education, you know the answer to this question for most (notice I didn't say all) of our kids already. That saddens me.
So, I go to class this evening and we start talking about technology and the use of it in education and we watch a couple of videos, one of which is sirkenrobinson from the TED website (Again, I'll post it here when I can figure out how that works). If you haven't seen this, you should watch it. While it is true that most people like to talk down on education today, there are good things happening out there as well, it just might be different from what you grew up with when you were a child going to school. For example: Are you wearing a watch? Chances are, if you are under the age of 25, you aren't and if you are over 25 you probably are. Why is that? Have you thought about it before? Young kids today don't need to wear a watch. Truth is you don't either, but you are so accustomed to wearing one that you do it anyways. It's all about what you know. (That particular analogy isn't mine by the way---watch the sirkenrobinson video, I just liked it so I borrowed it)
I guess what I am trying to say is: I think we can do it better. We must do it better. Let's get started.........because if not us, then who?
Kristi--Love your thinking and enthusiasm on this topic. I think you're right about your quote on community of learners...sadly, there are too many with whom I work who feel the latter. But the mold has to be broken at some point. The thing technology does is it lives in kids, it grows out of their natural curiosity--which is the best way to learn anyway. Yes, we need a structure via standards for now, but there may be different ways and differentiation may help point that way. Glad to have you join us this semester!!
ReplyDeleteKristi,
ReplyDeleteAlways thinking about how we can use the information that we gather to enhance what we are doing not only in our work life but personal lives as well. Love the analagies.
Pat
Kristi,
ReplyDeletei really like the focus on community. I think social networking is a way to engage more kids into joining the learning community. It seems as if once we get past adult judgements, and often district filters and the need to control technology we will find that the power of online communities will greatly enhance learning communities.
Michael
Kristi,
ReplyDeleteI love that quote about a community of learners. It empowers students and changes the equation from teacher centered to learner centered. I look forward to reading your future posts!
Ken
I agree! I know social networking is the wave of the future in education -- I just hope educators get on the bandwagon soon!
ReplyDeleteAnd when they do get on the bandwagon, I hope they are thoughtful in their pre-planning and guiding we offer to students. I see a lot of negative examples of social media... we are smart people, so how are we combating this?
ReplyDelete