Active Learning and Technology Blog Deux

Active Learning and Technology: Blog 2

The article “Active Learning and Technology: Designing Change for Faculty, Students, and Institutions” hit home in a lot of ways. It discusses single- and double-loop learning which was something I was doing, but didn’t know a label had been placed on it. The National Research Council broke change down into three categories: learning contemporary skills (single-looping), advancing foundational concepts (single-looping), and finally the skill area of adapting intellectual capabilities (double-looping). The majority of teachers I work with are at the single-loop stage which is day to day tech usage such as emailing, common knowledge of programs that they use all the time and seeing the advantages and disadvantages of using electronic media in their classrooms. The article goes on to say how change can take place in the 21st century classroom, teacher and student.

In order to have change in our schools we have to have change agents, people who are not afraid of change. I’ve taken team building workshops and there are always two main categories of teachers in schools, those who want to change and are not afraid of change and the others are called “boulders”, those who won’t change no matter what. The question is how we get the “boulders” to accept change and bring technology into the 21st century classroom. I asked myself what motivated me to want to change and use technology for problem solving and critical thinking in my lessons at school. I like change and enjoy learning new strategies. Intrinsic gratification comes to mind. Some teachers don’t want to change because they don’t want to do one more thing because of the demands of the day to day classroom. The first step is you have to want to change.

How can I get others to change? They didn’t Rome in a day! Baby steps, that’s the key. Small steps of introducing technology into your lessons are a large part of getting teachers to buy into change. Some teachers that don’t want to change by using technology is because the fear factor, their just not risk takers. Incorporating small workshops for teachers before or after school really does benefit not only the teachers but also their facilitator. I like conducting workshops with just two people in a group. That way they are gearing their learning to what they want to know at the level they are working at. They need a solid foundation in the technology if they want to try using in the classroom. A small setting always works better. Also, who is in the training with them makes a difference. After they are comfortable and working at a designated skill level, the next step would be move to their curriculum area. Modeling and sharing would be the next step. Teachers always complain we never have time to share ideas or observe other teachers in the day to day classroom setting. Teachers having the time to talk about what they do in their classrooms and how easy it is or how it would be to use technology or even visit a teacher using different medias for a similar lesson they both teach would be an enormous help. Set small goals for planning. An example could be change one lesson in a unit to incorporate a technology media. The facilitator of the training could set up a support buddy, or support group for teachers wanting to change. Another key component of helping teacher change would be to reflect back to see how it worked this year and what would they change for next year. Teachers teaching teachers and sharing what they did in the classroom works. I believe the key is small changes over a period of time with a support network built into the training sessions. We need to get the teachers out of their comfort zone.
Students are basically the same as teachers. They have to buy into the 21st century classroom rather than the traditional classroom. Students, teachers and parents are use to the “stuff and dump” syndrome that the article addresses in the traditional classroom. They have the same fears and anxieties that the teachers have. They don’t like being out of their comfort zone. Change needs to be slow when it comes to the standardized testing that students are use to. They need to be brought slowly along for them to succeed in performance based testing. They need to move from the passive learner to the active learner.

Research shows that “active learning is one of the most important and beneficial components of the learning process.” Active learners are able to understand difficult material, adapt to difficult problem solving tasks, and relate the task to real life situations. Active learners retain what they have learned and have the skills necessary to achieve problem solving and higher level thinking skills needed in the 21st century. You’re never too old to learn new tricks!