Educational researchers Scott Garbiner, Cary Aplin, and Gitanjali Ponnappa-Brenner (2007) contrast engineering instruction for well-defined and measurable outcomes with designing instruction for sociocultural environments. Those who engineer instruction seek plans that lead students to meet goals (alternatively they select prescribed instruction plans that are intended to produce the desired outcome), and if the goal is Read More
The question “What does it look like when technology is being used effectively in classrooms?” arises often… it has been treated in previous posts on this blog. Here is another version of my answer that is being repurposed for this blog. Effective “Sreeentime” In recent years, it has become clear to me that there are Read More
208: Does #edtech Benefit Students? “Our students need computers, and teachers need to use them.” This idea is expressed by politicians, school leaders, business leaders, community members, technologists, and various other stakeholders. We hear the rhetoric loud and clear, but the critical educator wants an answer to the questions, “Does using computers make a difference? Read More
Several years ago, some colleagues created a brochure for faculty in which they described five active learning strategies. These can be used in any classroom to engage students with any content. The work is still available on their website: http://mwcc.edu/wp-content/uploads/blogs.dir/47/files/2012/09/MC081-02_Active-Learning-Strategies.pdf
“Just what does ‘good’ technology-rich teaching and learning look like?” This question has focused my attention as I recently returned to the field. There is little doubt that classroom are now filled with digital devices. For the first decades of digital teaching and learning, we yearned for the funds to make sure every students had Read More
When working and learning in classrooms in which the educator attempts to make the tasks authentic (or as authentic as is reasonable given the constraints that limit any classroom), the students will be engaged in active learning. They will be interacting with others as they work with and create information in a manner that is Read More
Since computers were first introduced to classrooms, educators have explored various methods for using computers to access, process, and create information. Computer literacy, an instructional model built on the assumption that one who knew the parts and functions of components could create useful products was discredited as was the extensive use of drill-and-practice software in Read More
As I have been thinking about learning… and teaching… and how the two are not positively associated in the manner we often plan, I have been focusing on several assumptions that I make about learning which are not always shared with others: Motivation to learning is a multifaceted endeavor. Learners are driven to arrive in Read More
Whereas the effects of instruction are generally understood to be determined by measuring learners’ ability to answer questions in a testing situation after the instruction has concluded, the outcomes of authentic learning (Herrington, Reeves, Oliver, 2014) are generally understood to be demonstrated in products and performances. Artifacts of those products and performances (along with learners’ Read More
Many teachers have deep personal and emotional commitment to their own education and the practices that marked their entry into the profession and their own teaching. Their understanding of purpose is grounded in these experiences, so teachers who have autonomy may reject the vision and purpose and pathways to change even if they are clearly Read More