In the time that students spend within the four walls of my classroom, there are a number of goals that I set out to accomplish with them. Most importantly, I teach my students to value themselves for who they are. I build meaningful relationships with my students by using honesty, compassion, trust, and empathy. I love to see my students grow, not just as learners but as well rounded thinkers who reflect on their experiences and the world around them. As academics, I push my students to look past the easy or basic answers and create well-rounded responses that reflect on their experiences and intentional thoughts. We reflect together on learning and work as a team to create knowledge that the students show ownership in and can be proud of. Technology is a key component in everything I do to create meaningful experiences and relevant learning for my classroom.
Meaningful Experiences
Thinking back to the many hundreds of worksheets that I filled out during my years as a student in the public education system, I can honestly say that none of them meant anything to me. I've forgotten most of the paper tests and papers I wrote as well. On the other hand, I remember almost every project that I was a part of throughout school. The appropriate use of technology in the classroom can create experiences that will connect students to the content using student projects and learning experiences. Students no longer have to just read about the Great Wall of China, they can visit it through Google Maps and Youtube or walk down the wall using virtual reality.
Another integral part of the meaningful experience is the collaboration between students and collaboration with their instructors. The importance of students learning and reasoning together was first introduced by Lev Vygotsky and is a key component in the social constructivist theory. Technology makes this collaboration easier now than it ever has been. Through the use of e-mail or direct instant messages, students can discuss and work together without being in the same physical space. The use of blogs and micro-blogs (Thoms, 2012) is another fantastic way to create meaningful collaboration in your classroom.
Relevant Learning
In my first few years of teaching, a not uncommon question that would pop up every now and then was, "When will I use this in real life?" In most instances, I was able to justify or explain how this particular skill may come in handy some day. Occasionally I would suggest that this particular skill would be used later on to learn a new and more relevant skill. It always left me wondering if what I was teaching was, in fact, useful or relevant to my students. Briggs (2014) writes; "Relevance is a key component to intrinsically motivating student learning. By establishing both personal and real-world relevance, students are provided with an important opportunity to relate the course subject matter to the world around them, and to assimilate it in accordance with their previously held assumptions and beliefs." As a student of the constructivist theory, I see components of those ideas in Briggs' statement. Personal experience and real-world relevance create connections to the content that stay with the student in a way that a lecture will not.
In the last five years, there has been a dynamic shift in the use of technology in the classroom. Most of the students I see have at least one piece of portable technology in their life and some have access to many. We have Chromebooks available for every student in every classroom. We have access to more information through the world wide web than anyone could possibly learn in a lifetime. As an instructor, I can choose to embrace technology and show students how to use it productively or I can ignore it and watch my lessons become irrelevant.
References
Briggs, S. (2017, March 24). How To Make Learning Relevant To Your Students (And Why It's
Crucial To Their Success). Retrieved August 31, 2018, from
https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/how-to-make-learning-relevant/
Thoms, B. (2012). Integrating Blogging and Microblogging to Foster Learning and Social Interaction
in Online Learning Communities. 2012 45th Hawaii International Conference on System
Sciences. doi:10.1109/hicss.2012.332
One of the things that I love about your post is that you talk about making memories WITH your students. It is also great that you have the ability to team with your students to create the learning together so that it's not just you as the instructor dictating it to the students, they have a vested interest in the goals and ownership of their own learning.
ReplyDeleteReid - Thanks for your comment, I'm always learning new stuff from my students so there is definitely a reciprocal relationship.
DeleteHi Ben,
ReplyDeleteWhat I really love about your vision statement is that you started out by addressing goals you want to have for and with your students that are not solely focused on the use of technology - building relationships, growth both academically and personally...what a great way to show the type of learning environment you create for your students! The last line of your statement perfectly sums up many of my thoughts. While technology has its challenges, it should embraced and utilized otherwise our lessons are irrelevant and probably boring to many out our students. Well done!