Computers and the Internet can’t “fix” education. But that doesn’t mean they don’t carry hefty potential to engage students – particularly boys – in the 21st Century classroom.
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Does technology hurt or help kids in the classroom? If the educational conference “Miami Device” has anything to say about it, the answer lies solidly in the “help” column.
Last week, I attended the two-day conference, held in sunny and unseasonably hot south Florida. (Many thanks here to host Felix Jacomino, for letting me crash the innovation party) Going in, my general thought was that the distraction of school tech use often outweighs the benefits. Many years of teaching secondary English taught me that teenagers + Internet = lots of social media and web surfing, not much actual work.
But the impressive lineup of presenters featured at “Miami Device” has me convinced that technology can be a powerful force for learning. And what’s more, a particularly potent tool for educating boys.
Here are the top takeaways on how teachers can harness technology to help 21st century students achieve their academic potential.
1.Exceptional learning comes down to one thing: relationship.
Keynote speaker George Couros stated what every MOOC enthusiast seems oblivious to – the biggest motivation for students to focus in and commit to learn is almost always their relationship with the teacher. Another keynote presentation by Derek Muller included a related string of historic mantras on “revolutionizing” education. Thomas Edison believed moving pictures would “revolutionize” learning. The same claim was bandied about when radio and television became widely accessible. These novel contraptions would eliminate the need for tangible teachers, and usher in a brave, new generation of digital learning.
Thomas Edison believed moving pictures would “revolutionize” education…and usher in a brave, new world without any need for tangible teachers.
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Cue the Internet true believers, who see iPads and laptops as the panacea to our current educational woes.
Fact: the human connections between and amongst teachers and students are the most important element in any school. Tana Ruder, another “Miami Device” presenter who works in technology instruction for teachers, put it this way: “It doesn’t matter the tech tool; without great relationships, learning opportunities are missed.”
With that in mind…
2. Gamify: Using the language and play of online gaming to engage students
In Sheryl Dwyer’s excellent seminar “Don’t Grade… Gamify,” she brought the example of her own resource classroom to demonstrate how moving from letter “grades” to the lingo of gaming helped her students – and parents – better understand and invest in their learning. From awarding “XP”s for activities (Experience Points) to borrowing terms like “LevelUp” to connote mastery of skill sets, Dwyer showed the superior descriptive quality of gaming language to “traditional” grading symbols (read: checks, minuses, etc).
Dwyer also referenced Jane McGonigal, an online game designer whose TED talk should be watched immediately. McGonigal highlights some of the skills devoted gamers are mastering, notably what she terms “Blissful Productivity,” in which gamers learn that “we’re actually happier working hard than we are relaxing or hanging out… We are optimized as human beings to do hard, meaningful work.” Hear, hear, McGonigal.
Gamers are involved in story arcs that have consequences beyond themselves. Yes, it is imaginary. But that doesn’t wholly diminish the real emotional connections involved.
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McGonigal argues that a final skill gamers master is that of “Epic Meaning.” They are involved in story arcs that have consequences beyond themselves. Yes, it is imaginary. But that doesn’t wholly diminish the real emotional connection gamers have with the “work” to which they commit. Gaming promotes an understanding of interconnectedness with other players. So much so, that the 2nd largest online Wiki – 2nd only to Wikipedia – is WoWWiki, the World of Warcraft encyclopedia.
That’s a whole lot of invested, engaged individuals working together towards mastering a set of goals. And it sounds uncannily akin to what we want from collaboration in the classroom.
3. Technology can engage and excite male students
Boys underperform their female counterparts at every level, K12 through graduate school. I spoke with educational podcaster and blogger Adam Jones about this deficit, and how incorporating technology into our learning environments might help equalize the disparity. (You can listen to the podcast episode here).
Jones teaches at Proctor Academy in New Hampshire, and also heads up their Mountain Classroom, which entails a three-week cross-country camping trip. During our conversation, Jones pointed out that a possible reason for the underperformance of boys in the classroom is their (generally speaking) greater aversion to vulnerability.
When a student speaks up in class, he is volunteering himself for judgment and scrutiny. This may be a more frightening prospect for boys.
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When a student speaks up in class, he is volunteering himself for judgment and scrutiny. This may be a more frightening prospect for boys, especially since it entails the possibility of being wrong, or failing. But such is the necessary and inescapable reality of growth. To put it in Jones’s words, “A part of learning is failure.”
The ways technology can help with this problem are manifold. Blogging discussions make it easier for many boys to offer thoughts and reactions. The screen works as a buffer, or baby step, towards being comfortable with public sharing. Film and video give boys the power to create, to be funny and imaginative.
In short, technology can be a force that engages otherwise disinterested or underperforming students. It can be a powerful mode to connect and grow young minds and hearts.
But without real and meaningful relationships in the classroom, technology is powerless to improve learning.
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Photo: Courtesy of Felix Jacomino, originally posted here