Adding Conscious to Consumption

The Information Diet: A Case for Conscious Consumption, provides an overwhelming amount of factors to consider when teaching students how to use information inside and outside of the classroom. The author uses a food analogy to make the reader consider how using information can be harmful. If we aren’t careful about what we eat, our bodies will suffer the consequences. The same thing can be said about information. In the case of food, multiple agricultural revolutions helped the world grow more food in a manner more efficient and cost effective than ever thought possible. In the case of information, the Internet and the services that come with the Internet (i.e. social media) made information more accessible than ever thought possible. One issue that is a natural consequence of the aforementioned efficiency is the fact that both unhealthy amounts of food and information are easily available to consumers. In fact, it is just as easy to inadvertently consume unhealthy food as it is to passively consume skewed information. Another consequence of this is the rise of postmodernism. Postmodern thinkers suggest that there is no truth in information; the truth is subjective. This is most certainly a factor that plays into the rise of “fake news” and “spin” that we see playing out on the political stage today. While The Information Diet can certainly be a cause for concern, I think that the message should remain optimistic. We now have access to an unprecedented amount of information. We should show our students how to use information and understand it responsibly.

It also seems like there are many possible pitfalls to consider when teaching students how to use information responsibly. In class last week, we were asked to identify twelve of these pitfalls. At their core, the pitfalls prevent students from accepting information from anywhere without verification. They also prevent students from becoming desensitized, and from relying on only one information source.

For my professional practice, I think that there are many lessons to be learned from The Information Diet. The Information Diet demonstrates the need for teaching students about Digital Citizenship. Last but not least, The Information Diet only reinforces the need for the PICKLE; in particular, problem solving and critical thinking skills are required for information using. I also think that there is an important flip side to the questions raised by information using. Teachers should also be asking themselves, “how can I make my students into responsible information producers?” After all, we also want students to be creators, and share information with others. Students also need to be taught to reflect on the entire process of information production and consumption. Above all, students require an increased awareness about the issues that surround our information consumption.

The Common Thread: Students as Designers

While it is the case that none of the design principles are to be understood in isolation, it is easier to see a stronger connection between certain principles. The final design principle, The Students as Designers Principle, has a very close relationship with The Ends Principle. In order to solve problems, students must create solutions. It should be noted that the element of creativity and the ability to design solutions tend to be highly sought after workplace attributes. Additionally, permitting the students to act as creators provides the teacher with some flexibility. Teachers can be open-ended about the end product or the means to reaching the end product. The Students as Designers Principle really brings the Knowledge Principle to fulfillment. When students are creating and designing, it permits them to use specific content in a thoughtful way. They engage in authentic activity, and can really make the content their own. Last but not least, Students as Designers naturally fosters collaboration among students. Truly great designs encourage students to bring their specific strengths to a project and merge those strengths with the strengths of other students. Design and collaboration also seem to go hand in hand.

In class, we focused on a specific product, a video. While creating a video is not the only way to have students creating, it does effectively demonstrate how students can be designers. We were the designers who were required to master a certain content, and figure out how to best communicate that in video form. My group also found that it was necessary to solve many smaller problems along the way so that our message was an accurate portrayal of the content. Our specific solution was a cooking show that included the perfect ingredients (the design principles). I’m interested to see how different groups tackled the problem. We also gained valuable video editing skills. Having a certain level of comfort with simple video editing and production is a hidden skill that will likely be beneficial to me down the road.  

The big takeaway here is that that students need to be given the opportunity to be designers. It can be uncomfortable in the traditional class setting to provide students with that much flexibility over their learning. I think, however, that enabling students to be designers should put much of that anxiety to rest. When students know that they have a problem to solve, they will typically rise to the challenge. Personally, I felt very engaged in the process of designing the video. The final design principle also opens up new, exciting questions. In what ways can we permit students to be designers? How can we find new problems to bring to students? In a way, permitting students to be designers is a common thread that ties everything together.

Educators Can’t Afford to Skip Affordance Analysis

It is all too easy to embrace a new piece of technology that is flashy and seems like it accomplishes a specific goal. It is the case, however, that the newest piece of technology is not always the best option in the well-designed classroom. In class, I was fooled by the Tangrams. I wanted to find a way to make the technology usable in the context that we were provided. Perhaps there is a way to make Tangrams a more enriching component in a well-designed lesson. Given the specific context that we were provided in class, Tangrams ended up being more like a worksheet than a tool that would truly help students get to the PICKLE.  Personally, I know that I like to be open to new technologies and innovations, but it is worth remembering that not every tool is appropriate for every environment. In addition to considering the place of the tool in the design, it is also worth considering some of the practical elements as well. What will it take for students to begin using this tool? Do they need to sign in? Do they require accounts that will need to be managed? What do I need to show them? Will there be any negative impacts in the classroom? The success of any given technology is not guaranteed in the classroom, but affordance analysis can help you to determine what will have the greatest chance of succeeding, and what will truly encourage students to get to the PICKLE.

I make many of the technology purchases for my school, and we are about to embark on a software review. I’m hoping that I can use affordance analysis as we determine which tools we would like to obtain, and the tools that we no longer need to keep. I also hope that I can help other staff members use the affordance analysis process, and see past the surface level of different technology tools. I also want them to see that affordance analysis is about seeing the possibilities. I also hope that I can help my colleagues match the learning goal with the appropriate piece of technology. Affordance analysis goes hand in hand with thoughtfully considering what the consequences of implementing a new technology will be. These are the things that I want my colleagues to consider as we expand our technology program.

Two-Sided Tech

In life, there are always positives and negatives when introducing a new idea. Typically, ideas are transformed into a tangible action when the positives outweigh the negatives. As a lover of Medieval and Early Modern European History, I really enjoyed watching how this concept was illustrated in “The Day that the Universe Changed”. We know that the printing press was one of the major factors that lifted Europe out of the Middle Ages, and into a new era. The printing press, however, was not without its drawbacks. The episode was fairly fixed on the idea of technology bringing about positive change, but historians know that the printing press combined with the Protestant Reformation caused decades of religious conflict in Europe. Similarly, The Victorian Internet unquestionably demonstrates the same point. The telegraph made it easier to communicate across long distances, but it also opened up new possibilities for crime, and it was expensive to build and maintain. This duality (of positives and negatives) is usually the case with technology, and bringing technology into the classroom is no exception. Technology is disruptive. It has the power to change how humans interact with each other. Educators must consider how technology will “disrupt” (whether positive or negative) their classroom(s) before they decide to integrate it into the classroom.

I’ve observed how technology can be both positive and negative in the classroom. Even when introducing new devices, there are immediately positives and negatives. The positive here is that a world of resources are opened to students. The negative is that students now gain access to everything that the internet has to offer. That is a simple example, but it applies to every piece of technology or technology tool in the classroom. While it is the case that students should be given some choice and freedom with a technology tool, educators need to plan for the potentially negative consequences of technology. Districts also have to consider what resources schools need to keep students safe from the dangers of the internet.

Educators typically ask the question, how can I make learning more meaningful? We should continue to ask ourselves this question, but as a subset of this question, we should also be asking ourselves, how can I use technology thoughtfully to transform the learning? What new possibilities are opened up by technology in the classroom? What are the practical considerations of bringing this technology to the classroom? Clearly, technology can also be a positive force in the classroom. Students can access resources from anywhere, they can collaborate, and they express themselves in new ways. Obviously, questions about keeping students on task, and what technology tool works best given the circumstances will be important questions moving forward.

Activity in Action!

Meaningful Learning, Vygotsky and the Fourth Design Principle provide more useful frameworks for teachers to consider when attempting to design meaningful learning. Vygotsky presents educators with the Zone of Proximal Development. The Zone of Proximal Development is basically the stage of development where students acquire a necessary set of tools. It is in this stage that the tools are perfected, and the coaching and modeling undertaken by the teacher begin to fade away. Additionally, students must engage in playful learning and authentic activities to cement their understanding of a certain set of tools. The important takeaway here is that the teacher is responsible for bringing students to the Zone of Proximal Development, and then helping them to reach the other side. The teacher needs to provide authentic activity to make sure that students have passed through the Zone of Proximal Development. The teacher must also diminish his/her involvement over time to ensure that the process is most beneficial for students.

This concept fits in well with the overall idea of a designed classroom. More specifically, Vygotsky and the Fourth Design Principle provide a way of understanding the role of content and student development in the designed classroom. It also provides a guide for teacher action within the classroom. Authentic activities as well as the final product should be the focus of the well designed classroom. Teacher centered activities should be kept to a minimum, and the learner should be able to make some decisions about the pace and flow of the learning. It is also the job of the teacher to identify ways to bring students to the Zone of Proximal Development, and help the students reach the other side.

In my own personal practice, there are several ideas that can instantly implemented. In my role, I need to encourage teachers to embrace a new way of thinking- the design mentality. Specifically, this implies that I am encouraging them to consider incorporating authentic activities, and to think carefully about teacher centered activities that occur in the classroom. As always, there are practical questions when attempting to use a theory like Vygotsky in the classroom environment. There is probably more to learn about strategies to help learners who are struggling to reach the Zone of Proximal Development, and other strategies for helping students who are struggling in the designed classroom.  How should teachers approach learners who are at a differing levels? How can teachers accommodate students who are struggling in the designed classroom? How does a teacher design for a diverse environment? What is the role of differentiated instruction within the classroom design? What if there are learners that have deficiencies in their knowledge? What is the impact of this on a collaborative group effort? This set of questions represents the challenges that teachers face in the classroom, but if experience has served me correctly, I think that the design process will account for these practical issues as well.

The Tools to Make it happen

As we have progressed as a cohort throughout the course of the semester, questions of practicality have been at the forefront of the discussion. There is a good reason for this; most of us (as teachers or IFTs) need to actually take the design principles back to the classroom with us, and weave them in amongst the competing schedules, ideas and requirements that exist in typical schools.  What is increasingly apparent, is that good design can be a part of the larger picture in the classroom. The third design principle is what ties the content to the design. Before the third design principle was revealed to me, I asked some serious questions about the role of traditional class content, and the SOLs. From my first year of teaching (2013-2014), I remember drilling the middle school United States History SOLs into my students because so much emphasis was placed on a teacher’s pass rate. As a first year teacher, it can be difficult to succeed with those expectations. It can also prevent a teacher from considering the larger implications of design. The third design principle can permit a teacher to use the SOLs as tools, with an eye towards the larger design. The role of authentic activity (learning by doing) has also become more apparent as something necessary in the classroom. Students cannot be expected to truly internalize concepts that are drilled into their minds.

The ABCs of Learning also raised an interesting point: students create webs of meaning, rather than learning facts in isolation. Providing students with opportunities to create meaning, and permitting culture to reinforce the learning are the foundations of a well designed classroom. Teachers should consider how they can help students to integrate new concepts with previous concepts, as well as exercise newly acquired tools. The third design principle connects design and content, but similar to the other design principles, this design principle comes with specific implications. In particular, the third design principle mandates instructional diversity. In other words, authentic activity, mechanical tools, and time to apply the tools in a practical setting are required for learners. Above all, the third design principle helps the teacher solve many practical problems while teaching students how to problem solve. What is unique about the design process is that the skills that the teachers teachers use to design for their classrooms are the same skills that teachers want to instill into students. To an extent, teachers get students to the PICKLE by using the PICKLE themselves. All teachers already do this in some form, but may not realize it. The biggest challenge presented by the third design principle is the question of relevance. What are the concepts that can be used as tools? What information isn’t necessarily relevant? What are the mechanical skills needed to achieve this? Are certain concepts better suited to authentic activity? Can “advanced technologies” (I use this term because anything can be considered technology) make a difference?   

Students in a Pickle?

Reflecting on the role of an educator in society can be a truly daunting task. To an extent, society is reliant on educators to provide the citizens of tomorrow with the skills to be productive members of society. The Saber-Tooth Curriculum suggests that this is certainly the case. An inefficient education system yields citizens who are unable to solve the even the most elementary problems. Thus arises the debate, what should be taught in schools? There is, however, an even better way to think about this question. How do we design to ensure that students become productive citizens later? How can learning be linked with daily living? How can society maximize this potential? This past weekend, I attended the Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles (Fly Eagles Fly!) football game and associated tailgate. I was actually consuming a pickle when the following thought crossed my mind: Just as a great sandwich at a needs pickles to maximize its goodness, students need the pickle to maximize their productivity in society.

Clearly, the concept of linking living and learning is not always the highest priority in modern schools. The notion does cause one to ponder the following question: why do we teach what we teach? Do teachers teach specific pieces of content because they are forced to do so? Do teachers have a specific intention in mind when designing for their classrooms? Does the design provide students with something useful for the future? Sometimes, it becomes all too easy to fall into the trap of the elders, and drill students on skills that may or may not serve them in their next year of schooling, or life in general.

This complacency observed in the Saber-Tooth Curriculum should make educators consider if what they are teaching is meeting the needs of their students and of society. Society should not be pushed to the extremes noted in the Saber-Tooth Curriculum. Finding the balance between content and design is an important skill for teachers to master.  There are several concrete examples of finding the balance between content and design that immediately come to mind. Social studies teachers (particularly those who teach U.S. History) typically teach a unit on The Constitution of the United States. Obviously, it isn’t necessary to remember the exact language of every single amendment. While it may be entertaining to remember that the 18th and 21st Amendments cancel each other out, this does not provide students with the opportunity to get the pickle. The Constitution is a living document that we should not expect to memorize; rather, students should learn how to read the document critically. My example of the Constitution presents a perfect opportunity for teachers to help their students each get a pickle. Designing around the Constitution presents opportunities to read critically, gather information, problem solve, and observe how others solved problems. One reason that I love studying the Constitution with students is that students can actually see how the founding fathers solved problems that were prevalent after The American Revolution. When students realize they are engaging with the founding fathers, they generally enjoy the experience more. Also, just as eating a pickle is an enjoyable experience, leading students to the pickle should be an enjoyable experience for all.