Education | doug woods

Posts Tagged ‘Education’

Flipping Textbooks

Monday, January 30th, 2012

: Image by Amin Tabrizi via Flickr

The other day, I got quite depressed by watching a discussion on Twitter about textbooks. Not, you will notice, ebooks or even etextbooks but good old fashioned hardbacked or paperbacked textbooks; the sort we used to use when I was at school (and I’m talking about as a pupil not as a teacher). Does education find it really hard to let go of the past or does it just go around in cycles?

Even though I didn’t agree with almost anything I saw on that discussion, it did make me think about textbooks and the relative advantages and disadvantages of them.

Information

There is usually much more information in a textbook than on, say, a website. This is a big advantage in favour of textbooks. At one time it was claimed that CD roms would replace textbooks, but CDs and even DVDs just never seemed to hold as much information upon a topic as did the average textbook. Sure, the CD or DVD had the advantage that it could contain animation, video, photographs and interactive quizzes, all of which might be more difficult, if not impossible, in a textbook but in terms of actual amount of information, the textbook wins.

A disadvantage of the textbook is that it could soon go out of date or become inaccurate as things changed, whereas a website could be easily changed to keep it up to date and relevant.

Relevance and Appropriateness

One of the good things about textbooks is that you could have a textbook written on a subject for young pupils, have another textbook written on the same subject for older pupils and others written for adult learners. You rarely seem to find this, though, for websites or CD roms, though there are some for young pupils, most websites appear to be aimed at an almost ‘ageless’ audience. You used also to get textbooks that progressed in series with the learners; so you’d have book 1, book 2, or book 3 or beginner, intermediate, advanced … you rarely seem to get such progression in digital media.

Critical Thinking

Perhaps the biggest disadvantage of a textbook is that a class or school often only use one, so it had only one source of information which was also presented in only one way. By using the web, a school could have access to several different sources which could present different viewpoints on the same topic. The web could therefore better allow for the development of critical thinking in the learner whereas in the days of textbooks, the learner just assumed the textbook was correct and presented the only view. However, this critical thinking could only go so far because websites and other digital media rarely present as much information, upon which to be critical, as textbooks.

Engaging

This is a tricky one as I’m sure we can all think back to any textbooks we used to learn in school and I daresay ‘engaging’ is not a term we would immediately apply to them. TV looks much more engaging, CDroms look much more engaging, the web looks much more engaging, .. at least they did when they first came out, do these media still look as engaging as they once did?

So it seems that textbooks had some advantages over modern digital media but also some drawbacks. So should they be used or barred in 21^st century learning?

Why Can’t Textbooks Be Free? (forbes.com)
Borders Launches Online Textbook Marketplace (webpronews.com)
Textbook Sales (shalampax.com)
Are all textbooks created equal? (computinged.wordpress.com)
Free textbooks from Curriki (teleread.com)

Possibly Related Posts:

Tags: Education, textbooks, Twitter
Posted in Classroom Technology | 2 Comments »

Lesson Plans or Learning Plans?

Monday, January 23rd, 2012

: Image via Wikipedia

In a previous post I mentioned the opportunity I had to observe a group of teachers doing team planning. As well as the observations I noted in that post, there was a further observation that I want to talk about in this post. It appeared to me that most of the teachers taking part in the team planning exercise were essentially still creating what I’d regard as an old style lesson plan. That is to say, it was to be a lesson that was to be delivered by the teacher and the planning focused more on what the teacher was going to do or what the teacher was going to get the pupils to do and what resources would be needed. The lesson, while not always a straightforward ‘sage on the stage’ approach, was certainly one that emphasised teacher direction or teacher facilitation, focused more on the teaching rather than the learning or the learner.

This type of planning was very familiar and would have been easily recognisable to a teacher 10, 20, even 30 years ago, it was only the resources available which were different; the approaches were much the same. This led me to wonder how might we change lesson planning to be more reflective of modern learning approaches?

It seems to me that the plan could be less about the structure of the lesson and more about the learning. I know they are called ‘lesson’ plans and in the past they have tended to describe the content of the lesson. Nowadays, though learning doesn’t just take place in the lesson; it can extend into the home and via out of school activities. There are also a wide range of informal learning opportunities which a learner can bring to contribute to their learning. So there is no need now for our planning to be restricted to a traditional lesson structure.

I know some people will argue, quite correctly, that we have always given homework to learners, where appropriate, to supplement their learning in school. However, the concept of ‘homework’ is quite dated now. It would be wrong, perhaps, to continue to think in terms of schoolwork and homework. It would be better to think simply in terms of ‘learning’ and what formal learning that takes place at home is an integral part of the ‘school’ work that takes place also in school.

So instead of presenting the learners with schoolwork in a lesson and then giving them homework to be done afterwards at home, a teacher would present learners with, say, an area or topic for study. A lesson or a series of lessons would be made available for the learners to study this in school, supported by the teacher, a range of resources and the face to face guidance of the teacher. In addition to these school sessions, a learner would be required to continue or extend their studies outside lessons, bringing in any experiences, resources available to them together with outcomes from any informal learning they may feel is relevant.

So Learning Plans would contain more than just plans for a lesson, they would seek to set out a number and range of ways in which learners could explore a subject area. Each of these ways would be designed to ensure the learner encounters particular objectives. Each of the ways could incorporate a different learning style, so as to appeal to different learners. There could even be discussion between teacher and learner as to what particular types of activities they would like the chance to explore.

In a way, I guess you could see a learning plan a bit like a treasure map but with different routes to the treasure, or maybe even several different treasure locations.

Developing independent young learners through learning how to learn (slideshare.net)
Diverse Children’s Learning Styles And Activities (brighthub.com)
Creating and Using a Learning Styles Chart (brighthub.com)
Lesson Plans Integrating Differentiation (brighthub.com)
Designing Informal Learning (elearningstuff.wordpress.com)
Learning Score, a lesson-planning tool. [Review] (dougbelshaw.com)

Possibly Related Posts:

Tags: Education, Educators, K through 12, Learning, Learning styles, Lesson, Lesson plan, Teacher
Posted in Transforming Learning | 2 Comments »

Do Learning Styles Really Exist?

Monday, January 16th, 2012

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Do learning styles exist? Let me answer that by saying, most definitely ‘yes’. In saying that, though, I do realise that I appear to be swimming against the tide of opinion. Over the last few years, it seems, more academics have been coming out to try to dismiss the notion of ‘learning styles’. However, when I read or listen to their arguments, it more often appears that their arguments are not against ‘learning styles’ but against one particular theory of learning styles and how it can be used, or misused, in education.

In some way, I guess the study of learning styles is a bit like the study of the universe. It is clear that we do not yet understand the universe fully and we have many different theories to try to explain it. Just because we don’t like one theory, we cannot dismiss the universe. The same is true of learning styles; just because existing theories may be wrong does not mean that learning styles do not exist.

The problem seems to be that when people talk or think about ‘learning styles’, they are refering to one theory; the VAK theory which categorises learning styles according to a person’s dominant sensory mode (Visual, Auditory or Kinaesthetic). This, however, is not the only theory of learning styles nor the original. It is probably, the most well known, however, because it is simple and easy to apply. Being simple and easy, of course, does not mean it is correct.

Now let’s consider a question. As a teacher, do you believe that all and each of your pupils learn in the same way, at the same time, at the same speed and have the same ability to retain, recall and apply their learning? Okay, that’s a rhetorical question, only a few inexperienced teachers would answer ‘yes’ to that, yet, by rejecting ‘learning styles’, that is what teachers are being asked to believe.

So in some ways, rejecting the idea of ‘learning styles’ might be seen as a regressive step for it would mean that teachers need not be concerned about differentiation, about providing a range of resources or adopting a variety of teaching approaches. Teaching could be reduced to its lowest level, take no heed of differing learner needs and any learner who fails to learn or keep up could simply be considered ‘thick’, inattentive or both. I know that sounds a bit extreme but this actually reflects a viewpoint I have heard from some opponents of learning styles.

So I think we can accept that people do not all learn the same way and that rejecting ‘learning styles’ wholesale would lead to a regressive approach to education that few would desire. On the other hand, the VAK model of learning style categorizes learners into very broad categories and very easily leads to learners being ‘labelled’ according to their supposed ‘style’, V A or K. It is this ‘labelling’ of learners that I find objectionable, experience as a teacher has shown me that broad labelling of pupils is almost always wrong and often objectionable.

For me, learning styles is not about labelling, it is about understanding. It is about understanding how, maybe why, learners learn. As a teacher, by understanding how learners in my classes learn, I am better able to select or create learning resources and experiences for them. I am also able to avoid teaching approaches that are not likely to produce effective learning for the learners.

It is my belief that learning styles are far more complex than any simple model can explain and that each person has their own preferred styles. Moreover, it is likely that one’s learning style changes and develops with time and experience. As an educationalist, what I believe we need is not another theory of learning styles but a tool that records how each pupil learns best.

Learning Styles and their Importance (youreducationisalwaysyours.wordpress.com)
More Left Brain / Right Brain Nonsense (theness.com)
An Investigation into the Learning Styles and Self-Regulated Learning Strategies for Computer Science Students (downes.ca)

Possibly Related Posts:

Tags: Education, Learning styles, Learning Theories
Posted in education | 32 Comments »

Mr Gove’s Challenge to Us All

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

Image via Wikipedia

In his announcement at BETT 2012, the education secretary, Mr Gove, effectively removed ICT as a subject from the curriculum of English schools to be replaced, in effect, by ‘Computing’. This announcement, and indeed during the months leading up to the announcement, has seen much debate and some degree of schism among educationalists, who have either been in favour of a move toward teaching computer science or who have been defensive of good ICT teaching where it has existed. Of course, other educationalists have been sat on the side bemused by the debate, feeling, perhaps, that it doesn’t affect them.

The reality is that the announcement does affect all of us in education, particularly if we wish to keep the good elements of ICT and promote best teaching of computing. This I feel is the challenge to us all as a result of Mr Gove’s announcement; how can we keep the good elements of ICT and implement effective teaching of computing plus, of course, how to keep both developing in the future.

This is unlikely to be brought about by pro and anti ICT teachers arguing with each other. It is surely time to come together and create something new. That ‘something’ needs to be not restricted to a new ‘subject’ teaching but to be more truly cross-curricular and bring non-ICT teachers into the debate.

Digital literacy campaign – Michael Gove speech and live Q&A (guardian.co.uk)
You: Michael Gove to scrap ‘boring’ IT lessons (guardian.co.uk)
Gove proposes ‘wiki curriculum’ (guardian.co.uk)
National News: Gove brands ICT curriculum ‘a mess’ (coventrytelegraph.net)
Computer science reboot (guardian.co.uk)
Michael Gove: ‘IT lessons are boring’ (telegraph.co.uk)
Michael Gove brands ICT curriculum ‘a mess’ (independent.co.uk)
Kids should be making software, not just using it – Gove (go.theregister.com)
Michael Gove admits schools should teach computer science (guardian.co.uk)

Possibly Related Posts:

Tags: Computing, Education, ICT, Michael Gove
Posted in BETT, education, Uncategorized | 5 Comments »

Iris_Connect at Balby Carr

Monday, January 2nd, 2012

Balby11 300x168 Iris Connect at Balby Carr

The other day, I was invited up to Balby Car School for part of their Professional Learning Day. My interest was principally upon seeing how the school was using Iris_Connect, an innovative system for self-reflection, observation and professional development that the school had recently implemented.

Iris_Connect, for those of you not familiar with the system, is a service which supports teachers to implement reflective practice for the purpose of reviewing and improving their teaching. Using Iris, teachers can observe their own lessons or invite a colleague to observe a lesson and also add comments based upon the observation. This can be done in real time or by use of recordings. By being able to view recorded sessions, the system fress up schools from needing to arrange for observer(s) to be free at the same time as the teacher delivers the session. The flexibility of the Iris_Connect system is one of its benefits in schools along with potential cost savings.

At Balby Carr, the initiative was being led by Matthew and Lisa, two very enthusiatic teachers. They had been using the system for a while themselves and had clearly been seeing the benefits of it, they had also got a number of other staff to use the system, they too had very positive experiences of it. The Professional Learning Day was the opportunity for Matthew and Lisa to introduce the system to the wider staff and to allow them to have some experience of it. For the day, a few staff had pre-recorded lessons so that other staff could see how easy it was to observe and add comments about the lessons. The system itself is easy to use and staff were impressed that comments they made were timne-linked and so could be clearly asociated with specific points or incidencies within the lesson.

After some workgroup sessions, the staff were invited to submit their comments about Iris_Connect and how it might be used in the school. These comments were divided into ‘hot’ and ‘not’. It was very refreshing to see that the overwhelming majority of comments were in the ‘hot’ category and nearly all the ‘not’ were not really negative points but were people expressing worries or anxieties, almost all of which could be easily addressed. So overall it was a very positive ‘thumbs up’ for the Iris_Connect system.

I stated earlier on that Iris_Connect can be used for self relection or observation by others. Matthew and Lisa, very rightly in my opinion, emphasised to staff that it is probably best to start with self-observation. This is important to my mind because Iris_Connect is primarily about reflective practice; the ability of teachers to observe their own lessons or their own practice, to observe and acknowledge what went right as well as anything that may have gone wrong, with a view to strengthening their skills and improving their teaching.

I think it is also important to start with self-observation because Iris_Connect is seen primarily as a tool for teachers to use. It is important, therefore, that teachers feel comfortable in using it, feel that they own whatever product or benefit that comes from using it and feel at liberty to use the system in support of their own professional development. It is also often true that when a person first starts to use a system such as Iris_Connect to observe their own practice, they are likely to be critical of their performance; this is human nature and it is usually things we may not like that we observe first, it is only when we become used to such a system that we can start to effectively use it to observe our positive practices.

In all, I had a great and positive day at Balby Carr and I am grateful to the staff at the school for allowing me to share in their professionalism.

Reflecting on Reflection (whiteboardblog.co.uk)
Iris Connect – lesson observation with video (whiteboardblog.co.uk)
Reflective Practice and Teacher Development

If you would like to know more about Iris Connect, their website is www.irisconnect.co.uk

Possibly Related Posts:

Tags: Balby Carr, Balby Carr Community Sports College, Education, Iris Connect, K through 12, Observation, Professional development, Reflective practice, Teacher
Posted in Training INSET and CPD | No Comments »

What Matters Most in Educational Technology

Monday, December 26th, 2011

: Image by Nick J Adams via Flickr

What Matters Most in Educational Technology

What matters most in educational technology is not so much how you, the teacher, use technology but how you, as a teacher, enable and allow your learners to use technology.

Discuss

Syllabus – Educational Technology and the Adult Learner ed366 (davecormier.com)
Designing India’s Future Classrooms (isteconnects.org)
A Commercial Approach to Promoting Educational Technology (ictineducation.org)
Technology Hurdles In Canadian Education (isteconnects.org)
Constructing Education for the Future (ictineducation.org)

What Matters Most in Educational Technology

Possibly Related Posts:

Tags: Education, Educational technology, Instructional Technology, Technology
Posted in Classroom Technology | 3 Comments »

The Push and Pull Models of Education

Monday, December 19th, 2011

photo credit: squant

I think it would be fair to say that most of the education delivered to pupils in schools during the last couple of centuries has followed a ‘push’ model of delivery. That is to say that what is taught to pupils and the way(s) in which it is taught has been determined by a central body, usually the school, the teacher, perhaps the local authority or district or the central government.

That is not to say that there have not been elements of a ‘pull’ method of delivery; where the learner has the decision what they want to learn and, maybe, how they want to learn it. Such a system, though, has probably only been evident in Higher Education, where potential students have had the opportunity to decide which institution they wish to attend and base that decision upon which subject(s) are offered by the institutions.

It would be quite foolish to suggest that 20th century education was all ‘push’ and that 21st century education will be all ‘pull’ in design and delivery. Nevertheless, I do feel we shall see more of the ‘pull’ style entering our school systems in the coming years. I feel that schools would be foolish not to prepare for this; failing to do so will only lead to a reduction in enrolment numbers and the possible closure of schools.

So, to allow for a ‘pull’ system in which learners choose what they wish to learn, where and when they wish to learn and the method of learning, schools need to become adaptable and technology will be an important tool in this. Delivery of learning will not merely be in the classrooms but also via online and mobile delivery. It is quite possible that learners will no longer be enrolled only in one institution but will be able to join a number of institutions to study different subjects. Distance learning and non-timebased learning will become much more important.

Schools should also consider that they can now use technology to attract distance learners from other countries, well beyond their traditional locality or catchment areas. In order to do this, the technology needs to be in place and staff have to be prepared fully to utilise it.

So, if I say that there is likely to be more ‘pull’ in the delivery of education in the 21st Century, what implications does that have for teachers? Well, it does suggest that teachers will need to become more savvy in their use of technology, it may also mean that they have to present their subject in new ways to help make themselves stand out from other teachers. Rather than the use of technology, though, or the choice of pedagogy, perhaps the biggest hurdle for current teachers would be the idea of marketing themselves and their approach to potential learners.

We have already started to see the emergence of ‘super teachers’ in some parts of the world, though this may just be one ‘extreme’ form of marketing for teachers. We see certain ‘star’ teachers presenting their lessons on websites such as educator.com or thinkwell.com . Again, many teachers may feel uncomfortable with this type of approach but, I feel, this could be the future direction. Even Sal Khan of Khan Academy has become well known as an educator and, to the best of my knowledge, he is not a fully qualified teacher.

Possibly Related Posts:

Tags: Education, eLearning, Learning, Salman Khan, Technology
Posted in elearning | 2 Comments »

Posts Tagged ‘Education’

Flipping Textbooks

Lesson Plans or Learning Plans?

Do Learning Styles Really Exist?

Mr Gove’s Challenge to Us All

Iris_Connect at Balby Carr

What Matters Most in Educational Technology

The Push and Pull Models of Education

Contact me

Follow us on Twitter

Doug Woods

Posts Tagged ‘Education’

Flipping Textbooks

Related articles by Zemanta

Lesson Plans or Learning Plans?

Related articles by Zemanta

Do Learning Styles Really Exist?

Related articles

Mr Gove’s Challenge to Us All

Related articles

Iris_Connect at Balby Carr

Related articles

What Matters Most in Educational Technology

Related articles by Zemanta

The Push and Pull Models of Education

Contact me

Follow us on Twitter

Doug Woods