I was listening to CBC the other day and there was a session on the development of mass and personal communication. It got me to thinking about how the exponential development of technology and access to forms of communication has influenced and changed our culture, especially youth culture. It some times astonishes me at how much youth culture has changed even from when I was in school. I remember when we first got computers in our elementary school - what an exciting day for us all! I think that as technology progresses, our modes of communicating change, and the culture around the tech and how we interact with the world changes. Unfortunately I think that the systems that should progress with the culture have fallen behind a little; possibly because we are creatures of habit and more often than not are resistant to change.
What does this mean for the classroom? Well I think that we need to be active in not only staying current with the research and methods and information pertaining to our profession, but we need to actively monitor and attempt to utilize, adapt, and grow along with youth culture and alternative modes of communication. As we have discussed in class on numerous occasions now, the use of cell phones is a bit of a contentious issue in schools. Personally I look forward to utilizing cells in class (provided the school policies don't forbid or restrict this) to enhance learning. The use of educational tools like Top Hat Monocle can be used to keep students engaged, get them using their cell phones and smart phones for educational purposes and distracts them from using them for personal reasons. Something that we have seen in the past few years is that mobile computing tech is developing at an extremely fast pace and I am beginning to see a trend towards augmented realities. I have used the apps, I see people walking down streets using their phones for reality enhancement on a daily basis. Yesterday there was a post done on a blog I frequent on Googles next concept in augmented reality (post HERE (googles augmented reality goggles). If this tech continues to develop and remains affordable and accessible in the same way that cell phone and smart phone tech has as it has grown, I think that it has some wonderful potential for education. Imagine a day when you can take a class on a field trip using augmented reality - the ability to access information relating directly to what you observe and experience could, I think, cause a dramatic shift in the way we think of education.
more on augmented reality or 6th sense tech HERE
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
a post on goal setting and why I think we're doing it wrong.
Proceed with caution These are but ramblings and musings on educational things
I am a big Goal setter. I enjoy the directionality and purpose that goals help to establish and maintain. I have been talking with some friends and fellow teachers-to-be about goals a lot this semester as a curiosity and to uncover other peoples successful methods of not just goal setting, but accountability and attainment. This began because I realized that the way I approach goals differs from the strategies commonly taught in public schools.
I think the biggest difference in the way that I approach goals pertains to attainability as key factor in setting goals. In high-school I remember in CAPP classes "attainability" was emphasized. It is my opinion that this hinders creativity, divergent thinking.
With goal setting it has always been my philosophy that we need to shoot for the stars, but recognize the accomplishment and find satisfaction in landing on the moon. Setting the bar that high is not, in my opinion, a bad thing provided certain understandings and cognitive abilities are in place. Coming from a large family with a plethora of small children constantly running around has contributed greatly to my current view of goals. My nephews and nieces want to grow up to do extraordinary things or be extraordinary people and who am I to tell them that their aspirations are unrealistic or unlikely suggesting that perhaps they set a more reasonable attainable goal? The preconditions of understanding and cognitive ability refers to understanding the differences between those things that you attribute to a good life, and those you attribute to a pleasurable life. (the main difference between the two is commonly related to duration; pleasures are good but short-lived while attributes of a good life are persistent for extended periods of time and contribute to increased quality of life and being over all.
Lets say that Landon, my nephew, wants to live on Mars when he gets older. This is a lofty goal that we assume is unattainable and if brought up in a goal-setting forum would likely be addressed as a flight of fancy and he would be encouraged or told to try again; find something to work towards that you are certain you can do so that you don't get discouraged and give up on it all together. I believe that this may actually reduce Landon's self-efficacy by telling him that there are some things that he will never be able to do, and encourage the setting of pleasurable goals that may or may not lead to a good life. Landon, after begin told that his chances of living on Mars is unrealistic, may change his goal to something directly relevant to his immediate situation. For example: "I want to graduate from high-school". Though his graduating from high-school may end up contributing to his good life, it is a pleasure goal because his reason for setting this goal was to just finish the assignment, or to divert attention away from himself, or because someone has promised him some sort of reward when he graduates. These pleasures (the assignment is done, the teacher/peers focus is elsewhere, I got what I wanted) are temporary and so can not contribute to the enduring concept of a good life. Instead I think that Landon should be taught the differences discussed earlier and be encouraged to examine his lofty goal of some day living on Mars; what is it about living on Mars that appeals to you and why? What parts of this destination contribute to a good life, and which parts contribute to a pleasurable life? Landon then lists some of the things that he things are pleasures (short-lived goods): "I want to see if Mars is really Red. I want to see what the sky looks like from another place. I want to uncover the Martian conspiracy" (this last one is another unattainable goal that could be further investigated in the same way). His list of Good attributes may include "It is something that is new and exciting and I enjoy new experiences. Living on Mars will reduce the stress on Earth caused by over-population and I care about the future of our planet and everyone on it, a colony on Mars will have to have lots of advanced technology and I enjoy learning about and playing with some kinds of technological devices." Though these may seem like pleasures, what Landon has identified are some things that he currently contains in his understanding of what constitutes a "good life"; his idea of a good life appears to be one that includes adventure, compassion for others and environmental awareness, and self-satisfaction through the pursuit of interests and passions. From here these facets of Landon's good life can be further emphasized with goals that relate to his ultimate goal of living on Mars. By looking at each of these, he may discover that some of these things he associates with HIS Good life are also present in investigative journalism or foreign correspondence, he may begin to look at technology trends and do well in a career as an engineer, and he may, surprising us all, end up living on Mars. In this example, Landon has shoot for the stars (or more accurately Mars) but will still have what he has decided is a Good life when he lands on the moon (or becomes an Environmental Technologist investigating the impact of large scale wind farms in Greenland.)
Hopefully some day he'll be able to say "I did it because no one told me I couldn't".
This may be a bit of an extreme example, but I think that we all have dreams or goals that are so big or seemingly unattainable that we immediately dismiss them instead of looking closely at them and figuring out why we have them in the first place; what is their appeal to us and why?
Update:
After writing this post I decided to postpone posting it to do a bit of research on goal setting and came across a few interesting things.
This video by Derek Shivers is brief and provided me with some new information on achievement and goals. It may be that reporting your goals actually increases your chances of NOT reaching them. This is interesting and I think has potentially huge implications for the classroom. How can we increase the chances that our students will achieve the goals that they set for themselves? If we encourage students not to share what their goals are, how can we be sure they are holding themselves accountable? What does this means in terms of assessment?
After watching the video I was looking through some of the comments and one user stated:
"Ah yes, the "do not cast pearls before swine" theory. I wonder what the speaker thinks of masterminding and accountability buddies - a small group of people who encourage each other every step of the way in achieving their goals. You check in with each other periodically to share your progress in achieving your goals." ~Onome Djere March 11, 2012.
more on Masterminding HERE (opens in a new window).
I can see the potential for Mastermind groups in classrooms though I think there still needs to be some level of urgency or accountability in order for the groups to function as they are intended. It could be that groups are required to report to the teacher at regular intervals, or delegation of tasks or support structures within groups. These are all just thoughts that I am continuing to flesh-out and reflect on. If I had more time I would like to look at more of the research to see what it says in relation to what I have been discussing.
What are your thoughts on personal, social, and group goal setting? To what extent do you think goals influence or contribute to learning and the learning environment? Should we encourage focused immediate goal setting that is both "real" and "attainable" or should we deviate from this and allow the setting of lofty and sometimes unattainable or unlikely goals?
The idea of relating goals to things that contribute to a Good life grew out of reading a philosophy text called "6 Myths About the Good Life" and is reflective of my belief that one of the primary functions of classroom learning is to enhance life beyond the classroom in a positive way.
Another update:
I was doing a little more poking around and came across another TED Talk that relates to motivation, Good life practices, and goal attainability. A bit of a rant, but entertaining.
I am a big Goal setter. I enjoy the directionality and purpose that goals help to establish and maintain. I have been talking with some friends and fellow teachers-to-be about goals a lot this semester as a curiosity and to uncover other peoples successful methods of not just goal setting, but accountability and attainment. This began because I realized that the way I approach goals differs from the strategies commonly taught in public schools.
I think the biggest difference in the way that I approach goals pertains to attainability as key factor in setting goals. In high-school I remember in CAPP classes "attainability" was emphasized. It is my opinion that this hinders creativity, divergent thinking.
With goal setting it has always been my philosophy that we need to shoot for the stars, but recognize the accomplishment and find satisfaction in landing on the moon. Setting the bar that high is not, in my opinion, a bad thing provided certain understandings and cognitive abilities are in place. Coming from a large family with a plethora of small children constantly running around has contributed greatly to my current view of goals. My nephews and nieces want to grow up to do extraordinary things or be extraordinary people and who am I to tell them that their aspirations are unrealistic or unlikely suggesting that perhaps they set a more reasonable attainable goal? The preconditions of understanding and cognitive ability refers to understanding the differences between those things that you attribute to a good life, and those you attribute to a pleasurable life. (the main difference between the two is commonly related to duration; pleasures are good but short-lived while attributes of a good life are persistent for extended periods of time and contribute to increased quality of life and being over all.
Lets say that Landon, my nephew, wants to live on Mars when he gets older. This is a lofty goal that we assume is unattainable and if brought up in a goal-setting forum would likely be addressed as a flight of fancy and he would be encouraged or told to try again; find something to work towards that you are certain you can do so that you don't get discouraged and give up on it all together. I believe that this may actually reduce Landon's self-efficacy by telling him that there are some things that he will never be able to do, and encourage the setting of pleasurable goals that may or may not lead to a good life. Landon, after begin told that his chances of living on Mars is unrealistic, may change his goal to something directly relevant to his immediate situation. For example: "I want to graduate from high-school". Though his graduating from high-school may end up contributing to his good life, it is a pleasure goal because his reason for setting this goal was to just finish the assignment, or to divert attention away from himself, or because someone has promised him some sort of reward when he graduates. These pleasures (the assignment is done, the teacher/peers focus is elsewhere, I got what I wanted) are temporary and so can not contribute to the enduring concept of a good life. Instead I think that Landon should be taught the differences discussed earlier and be encouraged to examine his lofty goal of some day living on Mars; what is it about living on Mars that appeals to you and why? What parts of this destination contribute to a good life, and which parts contribute to a pleasurable life? Landon then lists some of the things that he things are pleasures (short-lived goods): "I want to see if Mars is really Red. I want to see what the sky looks like from another place. I want to uncover the Martian conspiracy" (this last one is another unattainable goal that could be further investigated in the same way). His list of Good attributes may include "It is something that is new and exciting and I enjoy new experiences. Living on Mars will reduce the stress on Earth caused by over-population and I care about the future of our planet and everyone on it, a colony on Mars will have to have lots of advanced technology and I enjoy learning about and playing with some kinds of technological devices." Though these may seem like pleasures, what Landon has identified are some things that he currently contains in his understanding of what constitutes a "good life"; his idea of a good life appears to be one that includes adventure, compassion for others and environmental awareness, and self-satisfaction through the pursuit of interests and passions. From here these facets of Landon's good life can be further emphasized with goals that relate to his ultimate goal of living on Mars. By looking at each of these, he may discover that some of these things he associates with HIS Good life are also present in investigative journalism or foreign correspondence, he may begin to look at technology trends and do well in a career as an engineer, and he may, surprising us all, end up living on Mars. In this example, Landon has shoot for the stars (or more accurately Mars) but will still have what he has decided is a Good life when he lands on the moon (or becomes an Environmental Technologist investigating the impact of large scale wind farms in Greenland.)
Hopefully some day he'll be able to say "I did it because no one told me I couldn't".
This may be a bit of an extreme example, but I think that we all have dreams or goals that are so big or seemingly unattainable that we immediately dismiss them instead of looking closely at them and figuring out why we have them in the first place; what is their appeal to us and why?
Update:
After writing this post I decided to postpone posting it to do a bit of research on goal setting and came across a few interesting things.
This video by Derek Shivers is brief and provided me with some new information on achievement and goals. It may be that reporting your goals actually increases your chances of NOT reaching them. This is interesting and I think has potentially huge implications for the classroom. How can we increase the chances that our students will achieve the goals that they set for themselves? If we encourage students not to share what their goals are, how can we be sure they are holding themselves accountable? What does this means in terms of assessment?
After watching the video I was looking through some of the comments and one user stated:
"Ah yes, the "do not cast pearls before swine" theory. I wonder what the speaker thinks of masterminding and accountability buddies - a small group of people who encourage each other every step of the way in achieving their goals. You check in with each other periodically to share your progress in achieving your goals." ~Onome Djere March 11, 2012.
more on Masterminding HERE (opens in a new window).
I can see the potential for Mastermind groups in classrooms though I think there still needs to be some level of urgency or accountability in order for the groups to function as they are intended. It could be that groups are required to report to the teacher at regular intervals, or delegation of tasks or support structures within groups. These are all just thoughts that I am continuing to flesh-out and reflect on. If I had more time I would like to look at more of the research to see what it says in relation to what I have been discussing.
What are your thoughts on personal, social, and group goal setting? To what extent do you think goals influence or contribute to learning and the learning environment? Should we encourage focused immediate goal setting that is both "real" and "attainable" or should we deviate from this and allow the setting of lofty and sometimes unattainable or unlikely goals?
The idea of relating goals to things that contribute to a Good life grew out of reading a philosophy text called "6 Myths About the Good Life" and is reflective of my belief that one of the primary functions of classroom learning is to enhance life beyond the classroom in a positive way.
Another update:
I was doing a little more poking around and came across another TED Talk that relates to motivation, Good life practices, and goal attainability. A bit of a rant, but entertaining.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Tell Me More!
I decided I was going to open this post with a quote so I went to the handy website: quoteland.com and looked at some of the quotes they have under the subject of teaching... what I found was that I have already formed some strong opinions about teaching through my own experiences and that was causing me to immediately look at quotes and judge weather or not I even agreed with them.
"In teaching others we teach ourselves." - proverb
The above I agree with. For me gathering information in a classroom setting is just the beginning my my learning process. The deeper more meaningful learning takes place when I come home and teach a friend or friends, or adjust and teach material at Ourplace Society where I volunteer. It's not often that I actually spend my evenings home alone doing homework. More often than not, regardless of the type of assignment, I try to organize homework and art parties where I can openly discuss my ideas and thoughts with other minds. This is one method that I will likely employ in a classroom setting. Encouraging students to share what they know with their peers (and/or myself) or providing a structured activity in which students take turns being the teacher in small groups. I think that this would result in better retention of information about few topics, than would listening to presentations from each student in the class. This could be especially effective in teaching Image Development and Design Strategies or the Elements and Principles of Art and Design.).
...
"A schoolmaster should have an atmosphere of awe, and walk wonderingly, as if he was amazed at being himself." - Walter Bagehot
"In teaching others we teach ourselves." - proverb
The above I agree with. For me gathering information in a classroom setting is just the beginning my my learning process. The deeper more meaningful learning takes place when I come home and teach a friend or friends, or adjust and teach material at Ourplace Society where I volunteer. It's not often that I actually spend my evenings home alone doing homework. More often than not, regardless of the type of assignment, I try to organize homework and art parties where I can openly discuss my ideas and thoughts with other minds. This is one method that I will likely employ in a classroom setting. Encouraging students to share what they know with their peers (and/or myself) or providing a structured activity in which students take turns being the teacher in small groups. I think that this would result in better retention of information about few topics, than would listening to presentations from each student in the class. This could be especially effective in teaching Image Development and Design Strategies or the Elements and Principles of Art and Design.).
...
"A schoolmaster should have an atmosphere of awe, and walk wonderingly, as if he was amazed at being himself." - Walter Bagehot
Though I am constantly amazed with myself, I think that walking around with an "atmosphere of awe" is an excellent way to establish a formal superiority or otherness from your students. Of course this isn't something I find helpful in a learning environment as it reduces teacher approachability and increases student anxiety. Though I suppose "awe" doesn't need to be negative; it could very well be interpreted as meaning the teacher carries admirable traits that students look for in a mentor which would be excellent if that teacher uses model behaviors consciously and with good intent to help guide the actions of the learners.
As for the development of my personal teaching philosophy; its happening. I feel like these are things that I have been actively thinking about and openly discussing with peers, professors, etc since the beginning of my post secondary education nearly 7 years ago. My ideas and opinions are constantly shifting and changing as I gather more information, consider alternative views, and realize personal biases I possess. I know that my views will be constantly adjusting due to the nature of metacognitive processes and the way schema evolve as we acquire more and more information to support or dispute what we think we know.
House Keeping (based on questions fr. last post)
I think that getting out of the way and letting students learn guided by one of their peers in a teacher or managerial type role is one effective teaching strategy. I do not think that it can be used in all situations. Though Mitra showed in the TED Talk that the method has been used for a variety of topics/subjects, I think that it would not be as effective when dealing with skills based learning. As I discussed above, I would consider using a technique similar to this (employing peer-teachers in learning design strategies) but it may be less helpful when trying to teach techniques for the application of acrylic paint.[I have considered the ever-expanding world of art tutorial videos on sites like UTube as a way to learn media use, and know that it is possible, but I think that students benefit more from instruction outside the digital realm.]
The learning styles research came from Pashler. "Learning Styles: Concepts and Evidence", 2009. and from this UTube video.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Journal Entry 1: Plato, being a detective, and something about memory.
What does it mean to be an effective teacher?
When it comes to teaching I think that "effective" and "good" are interchangeable terms. It is my opinion that to be an effective teacher you have to be a good teacher and to be a good teacher you must be an effective teacher. My background in philosophy has informed my understanding of what an effective teacher is; none have influenced me more so than Plato's Republic. Of course his belief that Art and Music were the ultimate in educational endeavors may have resulted in a bit of a bias, but I do believe that his underlying ideas relating to teaching and learning are worth taking a look at. The core of his philosophy is that everyone is capable of learning regardless of class, status, race, gender, etc. Good teaching and effective teaching is not only inclusive of all students, but also is adaptive to individuals considering regional, cultural and ethnic differences among others. Where Plato looses me is in his proposed system of education - I do not believe that advancement through educational systems should be selective. His model proposes that only students chosen by an elite group should advance onto further studies once they have completed the lower tier of the system.
Effective/good teaching is also paying close attention to the intended purposes of lessons (planned or otherwise) to ensure that they not only meet academic requirements and prepare students for future instructional learning, but also reach beyond the institutional sphere equipping students with tools they can use in other areas of their being. For example, in our technology driven society it is my opinion that teaching students how to locate information is more important than the information itself.
I used to think that being an effective teacher also had some element of acknowledging learner styles and developing lessons that cater to each of the three main styles (visual, audio, kinetic) with the idea that some people learn better in one style than in another. Recently we looked at learner styles in Educational Psychology and the research on learner styles does not support this. We do have the capacity to store memory in any of those three formats, but we don't necessarily learn better or worse using one of the other. In fact we need to use each to learn different types of information. I still think that diversifying lessons keeps them more interesting and engaging for both the student and the teacher, and using multiple instructional methods can only help to enforce recently acquired information. If we have learned anything from the failings of computers it is to back up your data.
When it comes to teaching I think that "effective" and "good" are interchangeable terms. It is my opinion that to be an effective teacher you have to be a good teacher and to be a good teacher you must be an effective teacher. My background in philosophy has informed my understanding of what an effective teacher is; none have influenced me more so than Plato's Republic. Of course his belief that Art and Music were the ultimate in educational endeavors may have resulted in a bit of a bias, but I do believe that his underlying ideas relating to teaching and learning are worth taking a look at. The core of his philosophy is that everyone is capable of learning regardless of class, status, race, gender, etc. Good teaching and effective teaching is not only inclusive of all students, but also is adaptive to individuals considering regional, cultural and ethnic differences among others. Where Plato looses me is in his proposed system of education - I do not believe that advancement through educational systems should be selective. His model proposes that only students chosen by an elite group should advance onto further studies once they have completed the lower tier of the system.
Effective/good teaching is also paying close attention to the intended purposes of lessons (planned or otherwise) to ensure that they not only meet academic requirements and prepare students for future instructional learning, but also reach beyond the institutional sphere equipping students with tools they can use in other areas of their being. For example, in our technology driven society it is my opinion that teaching students how to locate information is more important than the information itself.
I used to think that being an effective teacher also had some element of acknowledging learner styles and developing lessons that cater to each of the three main styles (visual, audio, kinetic) with the idea that some people learn better in one style than in another. Recently we looked at learner styles in Educational Psychology and the research on learner styles does not support this. We do have the capacity to store memory in any of those three formats, but we don't necessarily learn better or worse using one of the other. In fact we need to use each to learn different types of information. I still think that diversifying lessons keeps them more interesting and engaging for both the student and the teacher, and using multiple instructional methods can only help to enforce recently acquired information. If we have learned anything from the failings of computers it is to back up your data.
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