A Rose by Any Other Name…

Humans are natural explorers. We are driven to go from crawling to walking because of the need to explore. In younger children the challenge for parents is to find the right balance between allowing them to freely explore their world and keep them safe. We also have to factor in social norms. Small children explore through touch so how do we keep the shopkeeper from grimacing and yet still let our children explore their surroundings and the products within the shop?

As children grow older, the balance changes. Now teachers struggle with trying to balance a child’s natural curiosity and need to explore with things like state standards, standardized testing and grade-level requirements. The drop-out rate in the United States has been steadily on the rise—an indicator that we are regressing rather than evolving. Could this stifling of our natural desire to explore be a part of the problem? If we have a young person fascinated with music, songwriting, poetry and the creative expression available through those means, what happens when we make that person sit through hours of algebra and chemistry? What happens to their spirit? Their motivation? Are they likely to want to stay in that environment?

The opposite holds true. There are students passionate about math and science who are asked to sit through hours of writing, reading and art.

The answer is not to throw everything away, we want our young adults to have a general understanding of the world around them and there is much to learn about science through the study of art. However, what we may want to do is to encourage more choice and flexibility in our K-12 education system. Many people, if they make it through high school, flourish in college often times because they get to pick their major—they finally get to spend their time studying what they are interested in. Could we get more kids into college if we introduced that concept earlier?

Fortunately there are options available and they are growing all of the time. The charter school system in the United States is robust and growing. Organizations are evaluating the need to improve public education. (See the Center on Reinventing Public Education http://www.crpe.org.) The advent of distance learning programs give students the ability to expand their curriculum with courses not offered at their home schools. And finally, educating parents and counselors on the need to honor and encourage the individual gifts of each person will go a long way in providing learners with the support they need to flourish.

After all, we wouldn’t even think to force the daisy into the shape of the rose.

Classroom Engagement

I know I keep harping on brain research but it is a topic that fascinates me. One of the key elements of having information “stick” in a learner’s brain is the level of engagement the learner has in the learning process. As I work with teachers, the motto that I usually share with them is, “whoever does the work does the learning.” What I mean by that is if a teacher does all of the research in preparation for a class, the teacher does most of the learning. Whereas if a teacher assigns the topic research to the learners, then the learners are actively participating in the learning process.

So what are some innovative ways to engage students?

Learner-generated content. User-generated content is a big buzz-word these days, especially with the explosion of web applications like YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/) and MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/) . Young learners love the opportunity to create their own content. Encourage learners to participate in the subject matter by recording videos on a handheld camcorder, or voice recordings on their cell phones. Traditional media works too. Provide them with information on how to use paints, pencils, cameras, and clay to explain or represent information.

Role playing. Get your students up and moving. Have them role play historical events. Have them interview each other playing specific roles in government, industry, history, or future. You could invite a student to come back from the year 2030 and let the class know what the world is like!

Imagination. Albert Einstein was quoted as saying “Imagination is more important than Knowledge.” http://thinkexist.com/quotes/albert_einstein/ and another favorite: “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” Ask your students topic-related questions that will get their imaginations working. Remember, if the brain is engaged in the process, learning is more likely to “stick.” Here are some sample questions:

• If the world were flat, what changes would we have to make?
• If dolphins (input any animal) ran the world instead of humans, what would our world be like?
• If children made all of the rules, what would our homes, schools, communities be like?
• What would it be like if we had eyes in the back of our heads (input any biological different)?
• What if we could fly?

There are an unlimited number of questions you can ask to get their imaginations going!

Use the comment field to ask for suggestions to get your students engaged on a specific topic!

Social Video on TV

Video conferencing has made its way into the halls of education. We have several tools available now that are specifically designed and marketed to education. The top three vendors include Wimba, Elluminate, and Adobe Connect. All three offer features and tools specific to the needs of educators.

So why use video conferencing in an educational setting? There are several scenarios where it makes sound pedagogical sense:

• When there are students at a distance who would benefit from interacting synchronously with a teacher or classmates
• When travel is too costly or time consuming
• When there is a large, disperse audience.

So what does the future of video conferencing hold for us? I foresee a day when video calling replaces telephone calls. Office phones and cell phones will automatically incorporate a video component. Today in the U.S. you can experiment if you have two AT&T customers with Video Share (www.wireless.att.com/source/videoshareflash) capabilities and in other parts of the world video conferencing is common-place on cell phones.

There will also be systems within the home—probably television-based. The television, however, may not be what we know as a television today. It will serve more as a monitor for viewing movies, watching live broadcasts, taking classes, and playing games. I have started a company, Acadium, Inc., (www.acadium.com) that is researching the technology necessary to reach people in their homes, using their televisions and global networks.

The networks available to us are evolving everyday and I believe we’ll continue to see faster speeds and more options. These networks, whether they are supported by fiber, cell towers, or satellites will open the door to a wide range of options for education. The webcam connected to the laptop will one day sit in the hall of fame with the Commodore computer as we grab our remote, select a station, and sit down in the living with a cup of coffee to begin class.

Use the comment field to share your ideas on the future of video conferencing,

Visual Aids | Evolved

Educational practices from the past consisted of large groups of learners, all in one room learning a single topic. At any give minute some of the learners were fully engaged, others were half listening and still others were off in a completely different world thinking about friends, the parity scheduled for Saturday night or the argument they had that morning.

So how do we address this disparity in attentiveness? One way is to bring everyone into the conversation with a common focal point. In many classrooms today that is done with a two-dimensional projected image on the screen also referred to as PowerPoint. What if the focal point were something more real—more three dimensional? What if every classroom became more of a lab environment? If we could engage learners with something from their actual experience we would trigger that part of the brain that says “pay attention, this is real, this is important.”

It will take some creativity on the part of teachers but brain research indicates that we can do a lot better job of engaging learners and transferring knowledge if we pay attention to how the brain works. A book by John Medina, Brain Rules (www.brainrules.net) provides twelve brain functions that, if given consideration, could change the way we teach and learn and work. The principle of survival reinforces the brain’s need to analyze the environment and decide what is important and what is not.

We are three dimensional beings and we are “wired” to pay attention to a three dimensional world. So what would that look like in a classroom? The sciences are easy—we already do dissections and lab experiments, but what about the social sciences and language oriented topics? What about math?
Maria Montessori recognized the importance of “physical” learning. Children learn math in a Montessori classroom with colored beads, abacus-like tools and other manipulatives. What if teachers brought in dice when studying statistics? Or models for exploring algebra?

Here are some other examples of how to turn a classroom into a living 3-D learning environment — one worthy of our learners’ attention.

• In a political science class, bring actual flags and accouterments that represent a population.
• Bring a theatre environment into language arts where learners can get out of their seats and act out what they are learning.
• Have available actual spheres, cubes, and cones that learners can touch while learning geometry.
• In discussions and debates, have a physical object like a gavel that is passed from speaker to speaker.

Use physical metaphors in the social sciences. When talking about change, have learners step over a line or through a doorway to symbolize the transition.

Every day that a teacher walks into a classroom, he or she simply needs to ask—“What is available to me that is physical in nature that will bring a sense of the real world to my classroom?” The more we can get our learners to touch, feel, and visualize something from the real world that is associated with our topic, the more likely their brains will identify the information as being important and something to remember.
Use the comment tool to provide additional ideas. Or, post a classroom topic and the community can assist in determining how to enhance the discussion with an evolved visual aid. I would love to hear from you!

Choice in Education

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could take your favorite classes from your favorite instructors? What if you could get the best economics instructor from the top economics school and then combine that class with the top physics instructor in the country? The Internet has made it possible for consumers to get exactly what they want, now we are making it possible for learners to “shop” for the classes they desire.

I have been peering into my crystal ball for a few years now and watching a future where college students would be able to create their own degree, pulling the best courses from the best schools and the best teachers. Well, now we are finally starting to see just how a system like that might work. There is a new consortium out of the midwest—Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance or GP IDEA (www.gpidea.org). There are currently 11 universities involved. A student selects one of the universities as a “home” school and then they can take classes for credit from any of the other 10 schools.

I support this idea. Maria Montessori, founder of the Montessori teaching tradition, coined the phrase “follow the child.” What she meant by this statement was what many are saying today with phrases such as “follow your bliss” or “follow your heart.” By allowing learners to create and design their own programs of study from a wide range of courses and teachers we are allowing them to follow their passions. We are honoring the unique gifts of each student and letting them express their interests. People perform better when they are doing what they enjoy—they perform better in school, at work, and find more joy in life.

Take a few minutes and remember your favorite teacher and then imagine the impact he or she could have had if given the opportunity to reach more students! What if they could reach outside the walls of your school and share their expertise and enthusiasm with others around the country or even around the world.

I encourage your comments and please share other projects that empower choice in education.

Welcome

There is a future where education leaves the traditional concept of rubber stamping each child with a "complete" stamp at the end of 12th grade and moves to one where we maximize human potential by celebrating and supporting the unique passions and gifts of each individual.

Rather than appearing out of no where, this transformation will appear in small steps—a teacher here, a new technology there, until one day we wake up and all children love learning, find their inspirations, and share their joy and passion with the world.

I want to document those small steps here and open up a conversation about what's working.

Join me!

Rebecca