This video production from some forward thinking teachers in Ohio reminds me of a presentation I saw last year at a technology conference.
The keynote speaker asked: "Why don't kids demand more homework? Why aren't they begging for more homework?"
He noted that kids will go home and dedicate hours of their unstructured, free time to playing video games, chatting online, uploading and sharing videos, listening to their iPods, blogging, texting friends, and pursuing their curiosities on the Internet.
Yet when these highly motivated learners return to school, just about all of these activities are taken away because they are deemed distractions or inappropriate to the curriculum.
These tools and resources that occupy so much of their time at home are the favorite toys in this century's digital playground. Young people, elementary school aged and older, are devoting hours upon hours of their free time in this playground, finding their speaking/writing voice, exchanging ideas with a global audience, collaborating with peers, analyzing and synthesizing information from multiple sources, developing effective presentation skills, and educating themselves in order to refine tastes and pursue personal interests. All before dinner time.
Looking for a powerful and sustainable source of energy? Look no further than the kids in the classroom. Motivated learners can energize the learning day and drive the curriculum to places educators probably couldn't anticipate. Places where the "aha" moments are replaced with souped up "holy crap!" moments. This is where we need to be. This is maximum fuel efficiency.
The world has changed considerably in the last thirty years and so have learners. The learning day and the school day are no longer synonymous. When kids express an interest in something, they have the capability to find a teacher from anywhere in the world, any time of the day. Teaching practices that thrived in the 70s and 80s (and earlier) are not equally effective with today's learners.
Each day educators must ask: Are we getting the most out of our kids? Are we making them ants-in-the-pants ready for the next intellectual challenge? Are we settling for a captive audience or shooting for the captivated audience? We should be shooting for captivated every time. Why else would a teacher take the job?
1 comment:
With the right amount of guidance and supervision, our children can follow their natural curiosity and their love of technology to learn and create in ways never imagined. The potential is limitless. We are so fortunate that our children have you, Mr. Tomizawa, and many other teachers who integrate technology so that it is not just something to study, but a tool to help them learn about everything else. This blurs the borders of the classroom and has the potential to give a whole new meaning to learning and to homework.
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