Leading view papers – Days 1 to 7

We should look within to build experiences for the deep learner

 

In my recent work with teachers, I have come across an interesting phenomenon, one that strikes at the very heart of our teaching and impacts on the engagement of students. This phenomenon not only impacts teachers but it also impacts, to a lesser degree, our students themselves.

As we all know, a large majority of our students have access to a wide range of technologies, either directly at home or indirectly at friends’ places, school or other locations.

The technology they use range from mobile phones to internet-connected PCs, to gaming platforms and iPods. Our students use these tools without the conditioned responses that have been developed into most adults. They are not hesitant in exploring; they are willingly try new things and use prior knowledge to help develop and scaffold new knowledge. At times, they are very impatient and unwilling to persevere if things are too difficult. Students use technological devices as tools to serve their purposes and meet their needs.

We all know this simple fact through observation and experience. Yet, in our quest to engage our students, we have overlooked a very simple component.

When was the last time you sat down with your students and asked them about how they used technology and actively listened without talking and interruptions? When did you sit down and simply observe their use of technology and how they navigate and move through the various programs and interfaces?

If you are like most teachers I have observed and spoken to, then the answer would be ‘No’.

So, why is this ‘No’ important? We ask ourselves about the developing world that our students inhabit and it is a world that is generally self-directed and self-managed. For the first time in our current western educational structure, our students can teach us and we can learn something from them about technology. If we listen, we will hear about simple, yet amazing, steps a child may have taken to complete a task or activity. We do not ask our students to explain their world and, as a consequence, we miss the ability to think outside the box and come up with learning activities around what our students already do with technology outside of their educational programs. Our students are engaged and undertaking meaningful experiences for themselves: we have just not picked up on it.

If, as teachers, we can take the time to talk with our students and listen to the ideas, skills and knowledge they have with technology, we might find the key to planning an interesting and engaging lesson based on their interests. We may even ask our students to develop a learning task themselves, based on technology that builds and reinforces a learning experience.

Here’s a simple challenge. Ask your students about what they most like to do on the internet (or on the PC or playing a game) and how they learnt how to do it. You might be surprised.

Then ask yourself the question: ‘If you were at school today, what would you like to be doing?’

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mr Tony Richards has had a long and varied involvement with ICT in education. He has worked across a large range of environments, including time as a primary classroom teacher, technology advisor, network manager and developer, executive officer with ICTEV, new media specialist with the Australian Children’s Television Foundation and, until recently, as Director of Information Technology with Northern Territory DEET.

Mr Richards now runs his own company ITmadeSimple.com, providing knowledge and skills to students, teachers, school leadership teams and school communities. He has worked on some truly innovative online communication programs and activities, including the development of the Kahootz program and leading online collaborative projects, including Interactive Distance Learning (IDL).

Mr Richards brings his experiences and skills to help support the development of knowledge and capacity of those using ICT in education. See website: www.itmadesimple.com and blog: itmadesimple.typepad.com

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