Reinventing Education
Posted by anastasia on 04-20-2007
I was speaking with someone yesterday who is working on a large scale campaign related to transforming education as we know it. Then I saw this article on Wired today about "student-centered and collaborative learning" using social networking software called Elgg. In "Growing Up Digital," which was written way back in 1999, Don Tapscott talked a lot about needing this paradigm shift in education…yes, 1999. But like any radical change, there has been lots of resistance in primary and secondary education. It makes sense that universities would be more open and embracing of this type of change. Anyhow, how cool does this sound?
"Elgg represents a shift from aging, top-down classroom technologies like Blackboard to what e-learning practitioners call personal learning environments — mashup spaces comprising del.icio.us feeds, blog posts, podcast widgets — whatever resources students need to document, consume or communicate their learning across disciplines."
There are several reasons I think high school teachers would be resistant to implementing the Elgg model - here are just a few:
- Many of them don't know what a mashup space, del.icio.us feeds, blog posts, podcast widgets are, and would be embarrassed to admit it or ask.
- Many teachers are afraid of allowing the ability for students to connect to outside material/content that they can't approve or control and for students to write or publish something that is public to the world. If they post or link to something inappropriate, they fear they will incur the wrath of parents. Also, a lot of schools already filter or block a lot of students would want to add to their "mashup spaces."
- Many teachers are struggling to teach the fundamentals (reading, writing, math) and need to teach to the tests in order for their schools to retain funding. They don't see how blogs or podcasts might help with this.
The Wired article makes an important point - "Elgg's creators say the collaborative, conversational exchanges in which today's students have become so fluent outside class are the best way to deliver learning inside it."
The challenge for teachers is to find ways of adopting and integrating technology students are fluent with outside of class inside the class room in ways that are educational and help them accomplish their core teaching objectives (vs. just make class less boring). All of this got me thinking again about a post I did a long time ago where I suggested that the big tech companies join together and create "bootcamps" for every public school teacher in this country. Instead of just giving them more free versions of Power Point, immerse teachers in the technology their students are fluent with and explain how young people use it and why they love it. Here's a sample "teacher bootcamp" schedule:
Let's get social. Teachers learn how social networking got its start, tour the most popular sites with teens and create profiles on MySpace and Facebook. Teachers or librarians who have used social networking successfully in an educational capacity come in and present case studies.
Teens & their iPods, a love story. Every teacher gets an iPod. They tour the sites where teens download music for free and then go to iTunes and get to create their own playlist. Teachers who have integrated iPods into the classroom successfully present case studies.
Blog it! Teachers are given a virtual tour of the most popular blogging sites/software with teens. Every teacher sets up a blog, learns how to link and upload photos, comments on each other's blogs. Teachers who have used blogs successfully in class present case studies.
Game on. Teachers are given a virtual tour of the most popular video games and online games with teens - including virtual worlds. Case studies then given on how educational games or educational activities in some virtual worlds are helping teens.
You get the drift. The idea would be immerse teachers, let them play with the technology in the same way kids do, then have the trailblazing teachers show them how these technologies can be used in ways that are educational. I think every teacher at bootcamp should also have a teen partner who does all of this stuff with them — and ideally who can be a TA (and help with tech support) when teachers go back to the class room, hopefully armed with more than just free software.
April 20th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
I love this…in theory. My experience is that many, many teachers have yet to embrace "1.0" technology. (And god forbid there's a paper jam.) And, many districts cannot afford proper tech support, nor do they provide training. And your comment about teaching the basics/teaching to the standards for testing is spot on. There would have to be a clear connection between 2.0 technologies and improving test scores.
April 20th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
I hear you — and I know it's true. I think folks like the Gates Foundation and the Lucas Foundation should have labs figuring out ways 2.0 technology can help with the basics/fundamentals. I also think the private sector has the money to fund these boot camps. And maybe teachers can enlist their teen partners in helping with tech support — forming a classroom teach support team…We can dream can't we?
April 21st, 2007 at 1:55 am
You've probably listened as I know you subscribed but our last MediaSnackers podcast was with the principal of the Science Leadership Academy in Philly (http://www.mediasnackers.com/report/2007/April/16/330/) doing all of the above and more :-)
DK
April 21st, 2007 at 1:35 pm
These changes are happening — albeit slowly — within individual classrooms, and, as DK mentioned, in schools like SLA where you have leaders capable of articulating the pedagogical context for specific pieces of software. There has also been some very interesting educational reform in Indiana (discussed recently by Tom Hoffman and Steve Hargadon in their blogs) — the work in SLA and in Indiana shows some of what can happen under the right circumstances.
WRT the technology, there are a raft of options out there, and the most effective solutions will match the technology with the learning goals, the instructional staff, the students, and the available support. In addition to Elgg, there is great work occurring with Moodle, Mediawiki, Wordpress, Wordpress MU, Mediawiki, and DrupalEd — all of these apps allow learners to connect with one another, and many of these apps include social networking. When used in conjunction with a learning environment balancing freedom and support, any of these tools can help people learn more effectively.
April 21st, 2007 at 1:58 pm
Hi Bill/DK. I know it's happening in small pockets and slowly. I guess I just wonder why it can't happen on a very large scale with public school teachers? There are millions being spent on educational foundations, think tanks and by private companies donating software and equipment. I don't think it would be that crazy to coordinate an in-service day or two across the country or rolling in-service trainings across the country that are required for every public school teacher. Anyhow, I applaud the work you both are doing, I write about pockets of innovation in Totally Wired and support all of the trailblazing educators out there. It just frustrates me that in a country so rich in resources (and well, just so rich), that these bootcamps can't roll out in a more comprehensive way.
April 26th, 2007 at 8:22 am
I work in a public secondary school and many of your points of analysis regarding teachers' resistance to this sort of change are accurate. A few I would argue are somewhat simplistic, slightly reductionist, or based on an imaginary world where teachers are able to freely do what they believe is pedagogically best for students. Saying that, I heartily concur that the teacher bootcamp model is a good one. Teachers need to experience how a certain method helps students learn. They need the brain research-based information along with the information that provides an answer to the "how to do it in a 50 minute class period" problem.
Forgive me if any of the following sounds like a rant or like a naysayer. That's not my aim. However, these are my views based on working in and around schools for a decade. The use of technology in schools (the Internet, various softwares, your basic PC, video edting, etc.) has become de riguer but is not quickly approaching 2.0 in many districts. There is no doubt in my mind that an increased use of social networking technologies in the school environment will enhance student learning, but those advocating this change must face these challenges:
1. The Feds. Schools are now defined by an educational environment charged by No Child Left Behind and built upon federal mandates that place "the test score" as the sole motivation for teachers teaching and for students learning. You want to speak to schools? Speak about test scores and how to positively impact them. Get to know acronymns like AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress.) If you don't know, teachers won't listen to you. You'll be seen as an outsider, a daydreamer, just another consultant pulling down a big paycheck but blissfully ignorant of the reality in the classroom.
2. Curriculum demands. Related to the above, teachers must adhere to an ever-growing menu of curriculum content that is required teaching. This means that each year the curriculum becomes more and more packed with content and this leaves less and less room for exploration and process. The idea of social networking is built upon the premise of exploration and discovery. That is education at its best. What must be recognized is the antithetical force present that says "teach this, teach that, teach it all, teach it now!" It overwhelms teachers and has the unfortunate effect of watering down the educational experience. How can 2.0 positively impact this phenomenon?
3. Technology funding and training. Only a minority of schools understand how to budget for technology. There are PLENTY of teachers who can learn new software quickly and figure out how to apply it. (There is a genearl societal bias that teachers are shall we say "less bright" because they are…well, teachers. It's such an old tired prejudice. I digress.) One of the problems: Schools have a VERY difficult time creating a scheme to keep up-to-date working technology in the classrooms year after year. Many reasons exist for this. One of the big ones happens to be money.
4. Did I say funding? Point 3 is intimately tied to how schools are funded. Can anyone say property taxes? The issue of funding will always be paramount especially when talking about infrastructures that need constant renewal (computers, Internet access, etc.)
5. Internet Lockdown. These initiatives MUST be conversant with the current climate contributing to the practice of Internet filtering in schools and libraries. As I write this posting, a group of legislators in my state of Illinois are trying to make it a crime of perjury if a librarian uses library computers to access the Internet unfiltered, even if for their own use or for that of adult patrons, let alone teens. I'm sure other states are attempting to pass equally backwards-thinking laws. The Internet is filtered in most districts. As an example and I'm sure this is no surprise, the idea of accessing MySpace would be considered heresy in most districts. Other social networking sites and programs will encounter the same prejudice that surrounds any online environment where child predators may be lurking. Accessing and creating "objectionable" content is NOT an issue solely of educators' tastes, local "community standards," an overzealous and misguided sense of propriety or an implicit criticism of wayward youth culture. It's all about macro legal issues that are being pedaled by powerful national interest groups, and currently we are experiencing a flurry of reactionary law-making across this country.
6. Respect the teacher. (Sound of grinding axe in the background.) It may be a tired request to ask for a little respect, but it's a serious issue. American culture seemingly has an obsession with denigrating public schools and the teachers who work there, yet forever living out those fond memories of days of yore when we were influenced by gifted and compassionate educators, coaches and others. Not all teachers are competent. Neither are all CEOs. Neither are all U.S. presidents. But why are teachers so reviled? Have we truly earned this low degree of respect or is it part of a larger cultural load of strange contradictory baggage? Teachers have developed their own set of coping mechanisms to deal with the unfair assessments of this so-called "easy access" and apparently sub-par profession, and we're doing alright. But, a word of wisdom for "hi-tech" industry entreprenuers, professional futurists, Web 2.0 visionaries and others who want to impact public education, find your allies who are in the classroom trenches everyday. Don't spend one second of your time alluding to teachers who don't get it. You'll send the wrong message loud and clear and you'll hamstring yourself and your great plans in the process. And, most importantly, if you want to see changes happen beyond individual classrooms, make sure you have the principal at your bootcamps too.