Week 6 Reflection on the Videos

There are many things to think about, talk about, and be worried about as we review this week’s materials. For example, can we empower students through the right infrastructure, the right culture, and/or the right processes? Should we start with outcomes first, or should that now change to meet new learners and the types of engagement/experience we want for them? How do we connect the real world to the other real world? Should we actually be worried about big brother and privacy as we try to engage 21st century learners in a connected environment? Is the cloud the right way to go as we begin to embrace ubiquitous learning? Are there ethical and legal implications of this new embrace to connectivity?

Image CC from US magazine

My #itdml class had three videos we were required to watch.  Each of the videos discussed real-life problems I see in our school systems today.  For example, in the Connected Learning: Real World Engagement video discussed how schools are asking the wrong questions.  As a school system we are being defined by our test scores and therefore teachers have to cover a certain amount of curriculum.  Rather than engaging the students, teachers rush to get through the material so they do not fall behind.  By doing this, it seems as though we have lost sight of what school is.  Creativity sharing, developing, and analyzing are all a part of the Common Core State Standards yet do we provide our students opportunities to do these things?   As teachers and a school we quickly become defined by our outcomes.  Nothing seems to matter but reaching certain standards and materials.  The video suggests we should be asking, "What is the experience we want the student to have"?  This questions therefore harness engagement.  Students soon are not embarrassed by failures but rather feel comfortable enough to come back and correct it.  There is a necessary need to know.  Each student will then have a desire and a want to know.  So how do you create a need to know question?  How can you get your students excited to find out the answer and questions items they do not know so they can find the answer?  These are all emotional questions.  In order to be a need to know it must be an emotional connection first. The video questioned, how do you design a fracture problem to become a need to know lesson for a nine year old? The answer is by developing a meaningful connection so the nine year old wants to know the information rather than has to know. Like anything else we do in our lives, learning comes easier to things we find enjoyment out of.  I think about when my eight year old is required to read a Chapter book and reflect on it.  It is a struggle to get her to read sometimes; however, it is in contrast very difficult to pull her away from a gymnastic biography of Gabby Douglas.  Although the Gabby Douglas book is longer with a smaller text, she still loves to read it.  Her enjoyment adds to her learning.  Now she understands gymnastic terms and language which seems foreign to me!

The second video, Internships Offer Meaningful Real-World Learning is about a student who is involved in an internship program to check water quality in his hometown.  Internships provide students with new ways to not only meet new people but also do things they might not normally do in school.  Based on the student’s interest, the internship connects them with the community.  Students can then work in a real-life, hands on experience.  This video posed the question, what is school? In this "school", hands on programs with real-life professionals is a must do and not an option to read in a book.  Internships provide students with an individual learning plan. The students are usually in the community about two days a week to learn in the real world.  After all, what are real world academics when they aren't being used in the real world?  In this case, Noah was able to not only learn various different skills in the internship, it also provided him with a purposeful connection in the community. I believe internships allow students to take control of their own education.  It allows students to actively view problems that matter around the community and creativity collaborate with professional’s ways to enhance and change it.

The last video, RSA-Animate-Re-Imagining Work said 71% of people are disengaged at work.  To me, that number seems really high.  Why could this be?  The video suggests technology could be a problem as well as the environment we work in.  Technology allows information to become public and therefore could cause problems.  But the true question is how can we innovate our ideas and harness creativity?  A cubical provides a workplace isolation.  If they are taken away, more people will talk to each other.  But what happens with the "big brother" and the feeling of always be "watched".  People and even my students tend to comfort themselves and design their own workplace with headphones. Ultimately, the flexibility of the workplace is encouraged.  Although scary for most companies, flexibility and workers taking control of how they work is suggested as a necessary element in the workplace.  

Image CC by www.wikipedia.com

Being a teacher, this is a scary scene.  I fear many things when students are able to use the tools in front of them and use them with how they feel they need to.  I believe one major problem with this is many teachers, bosses, and "big brothers" feel without the proper guidance and training work might not be done.  I have been trying to relinquish some of the control in my classroom.  Some of my classes do better with this then other classes.  I do see a sense of fear in my students when I tell them to be creative.  Is this because I have told them all along what they will be doing?  Or is this the typical behavior of a student in the 21st century?  Does our school allow for creative thinking or are we too focused on curriculum, topics and deadlines?  Since I have first stepped back, my students do not flinch as much as they used to.  They still are struggling with being creative but I think it takes times.  I decided to ask my students one day what types of games they played as kids.  Were they out in the backyard developing games and if so what were the games.  Most of my students said they were never outside developing games.  Instead they were working.  Working to pay bills for their family.  If they weren't working they were playing video games.  This made me think of the video clip from "Grown Ups".  In the video, two children were confused when their dad asked them to play outside rather than sit inside and play video games. So how can we break this cycle? Where does it start?