Learning as a Conversation
In the Elluminate chat with David Warlick last Monday, he says that
Technology is no panacea, blogging is no panacea. [...]
There is nothing about blogging, Wikis, nothing about these new applications that will magically make the kids smarter. [...]
What will make them magically lifelong learners and powerful learners is conversation.
It is engaging them in the world that they are learning about, engaging them in conversation with each other about what they are learning . That is what blogs are expecially good at. Rather then the student sitting there being the receiver of content passively at their desk. They are learning content, being exposed to conversation and then they have an opportunity to reflect and to report on their perspectives on what they have learned and what they think. And they report on it in a way that is not just for the teacher. It is not just one converstaion that is going in one direction, one straight line, but it is a conversation that is going out there and being read by an audience.
Learning has changed in the classroom. The role of the teacher has changed. The style of teaching and a new style of learning has changed. Those were some comments from the fireside chat.
I see all these points and am very excited, why then am I being pulled down by the negativity of the overwhelming task to “convince” others that education has to change. Teachers have to change or we are leaving the kids unprepared. But many teachers don’t want to change. They don’t want to put in the extra hours and effort to learn something new or even to look at it. How frustrating… Parents have to change to allow their children to explore fields, that they are uncomfortable with even scared of, since they are mostly unfamiliar with the playing field.
Today we had “Generation Celebration (kind of a Grandparents day) at our school. In the spur of the moment , I gave a few sixth graders an iRiver (built-in microphone) and send them off to interview grandparents and to ask them about their experience at the school. No other instructions. These kids were pumped. They took their job very serious and came back with some great “conversation”. One student (11 years old) while already walking away and was still talking to himself “That was so cool and sooo much better than having to write things down”.
Learning as a result of conversation…. What a concept!
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October 22nd, 2006 at 1:18 am
Yes, yes! Authentic learning is conversation! I think you are on EXACTLY the right track in giving “digital natives” tools like digital audio recorders and asking them to take on the role of the roving reporter. Sharing these types of conversations is what we need MORE OF to change perceptions about the sorts of teaching and learning experiences our students need in schools today.
I was intrigued by your quotation of David’s preso, and I find myself perhaps disagreeing with him a bit. I do agree there is no “silver bullet” or panacea to education’s challenges, but I do think there is something VERY MAGICAL about web 2.0 tools that connect our students with a global audience. That idea of a global and authentic audience is the closest thing to a “special sauce” for education that I’ve ever seen or experienced. It may not motivate all learners, but it does motivate many.