It has been my experience that we all use terms such as learning, education and schooling. We assume we agree on their meaning but I do not think we truly have a shared understanding of these terms. There are also terms and phrases I wish would not be bantered about such as ‘21st Century Learning’. Does that mean we learn differently in this century than in previous ones? To me learning takes place in the mind. How we create understanding,…
If you have been reading this blog for any length of time then you know my views on schooling, education, learning are changing. More and more I am finding schooling interfering with learning, not for everyone all the time but, often enough that I am not sure we know what we are doing and why. The article User Generated Learning caught my attention. Though for the most part I agree with the progression I am not sure I agree that…
I am a big proponent of deep reflective thinking. I believe critical thinking is essential to learning. My process for this has always been to read, think, read, converse, think again and then write. That is not happening lately I can’t seem to focus long enough on any part of the process. Back in December I wrote about removing digital clutter to help me focus that did not help much, I find I have even less of an ability to…
I have this thing about words. Words have meaning and though these meanings change over time, words are essential in conveying ideas. I also tend to approach information from the perspective of a scientist looking over data and evidence. In a recent workshop (for non- educators) Critical Thinking and the Development of a Theory, we explored how theories change over time with new technologies, information and experiences. We looked over several theories from plate tectonics to climate change. Those conversations have…
Pre- Reading My thoughts below are inspired by the following: Cast your NETS by Andrew Vicars Really? Its my Job to Teach Technology? by Jeff Utecht. My Thoughts I am a tech integration specialist, my title says my job is to integrate technology, presumably that means in the classroom. But I tend to think of myself more as an instructional or learning coach. It has never been about the tools, but about the learning. As educators I have always viewed …
My guess is we all had a teacher who required us to take notes a particular way. I remember one teacher who made us take two column notes. I did not like having to fold my pages and frankly I have trouble reading my own handwriting, this method was not for me. I appreciated knowing there are different strategies for taking notes, organizing and maximizing workflow but ultimately the choice should be mine. I feel the same way about all…
Earlier this week I spent a good chunk of time in a waiting room at Children’s Hospital Boston. The patients ranged in age from infants to the early 20’s. One thing was common for all the school/college age children, everyone was doing homework and every parent, myself included, was trying to get their child to focus on schoolwork. I heard echoes of the following: “Please just get your homework done, I don’t need another call” “You are missing lots of…