Thomas & Brown (2011) state in classrooms with teachers standing before the group, 'The goal is to transmit information in a public way to the private minds of the students. That's why a student panics when she is called on in class, even if she knows the answer to the question. It's because she is being asked to expose in public what had been until that moment a very private activity.' Aha! That opened the flood gates for me and explained my entire education experience! After reading that I was on a mission to revamp my course into a learning collective through and through.
In realizing how much twitter has opened me up to learning collectives, I immediately turned there for input on changing my course. However, my first search on tweet deck for 'online math' automatically filled in to 'online math pay' which was a conversation of people looking for someone to do their online math homework for them, for PAY! I was completely discouraged as I was convinced my students will so benefit from an collective environment and that this was just what they needed to help them get over their fear of math. Only to be brought back to reality that some of them really don't care to learn and just want to get the pre-requisite out of the way. So how do you get students to engage in a collective? By the very nature of a learning collective participants must be willing and active. Can a true collective then be used within a syllabus constrained by standards? I concluded it would probably have to be used as a support system within the course rather than as the course itself.
In my continued search I came across a Khan Academy lecture on Learning Collectives. I found it extremely difficult to listen to the entirety of the brief 13 minute lecture! I just wanted the info I needed so I could move on and do things myself. I realized this is exactly how my students approach my class, skimming for important bits but mainly navigating by trial and error. An obvious motivator to continue to create support for them between themselves and other learners rather than more instruction from me.
A couple of other resources I found in my quest for improving my class included Sanjoy Mahanjan's overview of an alternative way to teach math that engages children. It lined up well with my thoughts and plans for change.
Also, Jesse Stommel's blog on building an ethical online class stated "Content-expertise does not equal good teaching. The internet already has lots of experts in all manner of things. A good pedagogue, rather, relies on a variable mixture of content-expertise and careful thinking about teaching practices." More proof that my students do not and should not need me solely for content.
The wheels are turning and even after a bump or two am still moving forward. I feel I am headed in the right direction.
Mahanjan, Sanjoy. (October 15, 2013). What's a Better Way to Teach Math. Retrieved from http://tvoparents.tvo.org/video/196129/whats-better-way-teach-math
Khan, Salman. (2013) Collective Learning. Retrieved from http://www.khanacademy.org/science/cosmology-and-astronomy/life-earth-universe/humanity-on-earth-tutorial/v/collective-learning
Stommel, Jesse. (October 1, 2013). How to Build an Ethical Online Course. Retrieved from http://www.hybridpedagogy.com/Journal/files/How_to_Build_an_Ethical_Online_Class.html
Thomas, D. & Brown, J. (2011). A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change.
Your quest and struggle to find an existing learning collective for math made me think... I think the beginning of the solution is to teach our students how to form a learning collective. Then maybe larger collectives will form, or they will be able to find helpful collectives.
ReplyDeleteGood idea, Barbra. Thank you! You're right, especially since my students are not digital natives. Guidance to form a collective, etiquette on use... like planting a seed! Just this week my students seemed to finally get the hang of our class blog, lots of support and help was exchanged. Success. I find the make up of the students makes such a difference. Some semesters they knock it out of the park, especially if there is an experienced blogger in the class. Others it takes some time to get comfortable with the public format.
DeleteI going to work on planting my seed and nurturing so it can bloom into larger collectives.
Do you use Elluminate or anything similar? I wonder if allowing the students to get on themselves in groups - or encouraging them to do so, could be a way of them working together. I know when my students work together - face-to-face of course - they can learn so much more. Can is important though, because it depends on how. If one person is just saying then you..... Next you ..... but not why's or any explanation or questions to make sure the understanding is received, it is just having someone else do your homework.
ReplyDelete