connecting with a 21 st century learner practical examples from the classroom
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Connecting with a 21st Century Learner
Practical Examples from the Classroom
Outside of the classroom they are•Continually Connected•Highly social•Analytical•Access to all knowledge•Expect Immediate Feedback
Who is a 21st Century Learner
On non school tasks they use•Communication Skills•Problem Solving •Team Building•Analyse Information Sources•Creative Thinking
Possible Areas for Improvement
• Physical and Regulatory Environment• Preparing Students for the Workplace• Instructional Methods•Making Connections• Student Autonomy
Physical and Regulatory Environment
Traditional Classroom
Traditional Workspace
Contemporary Classrooms
Contemporary Workspaces
Contemporary Classroom ????
School
• Authoritarian Structure• Reduce Individual Autonomy• Reduced Freedoms• Negative Reinforcement• Emphasis on Silence and Order
PrisonMilitary TrainingFactory Floor
Preparing Students for the Workplace
What we tell our studentsGraduate High School, Get a good Job
• Medium levels of Numeracy and Literacy• Manual Skills • Ability to follow instructions• Ability to retain facts
Go to Uni, Get a better Job
• High Levels of Numeracy and written Literacy• Good Knowledge base• Ability to learn from set
curriculum• Note taking• Understand resource materials
However, in 2014 . . . Its just not True
• Graduating High School is not enough
• Graduating university is no guarantee of getting a better job
• Our students know people you have a university degrees and who work in coffee shops
Jobs that no longer exist
• 20th Century Education prepared students for low skilled repetitive jobs• 1990’s automation of low skilled repetitive jobs
• Automation of Automotive Industry
• 2000’s offshoring of low skilled repetitive jobs• Clothing industries
• 21th Century Education prepared students for high skilled repetitive jobs• 2010’s offshoring of high skilled repetitive jobs
• Radiology • Tax Accountancy• Financial • Any Job which is repetitive
Should educators be worried about job automation
If you can be replaced by technology, you should be.
Tim Wilhelmus
Instructional Methods
Blooms TaxonomyCreating
Evaluating
Analysing
Applying
Understanding
Remembering
Low Order Thinking Skills
High Order Thinking Skills
Creating
Evaluating
Analysing
Applying
Understanding
Remembering
Retention Rates
Hear
Read
Audio Visual
Demonstration
Discussion Group
Personally Experience
Teach Others
5%
10%
20%
30%
50%
75%
90%
Coupling Bloom’s Taxonomy with the Learning Pyramid
• Asking students to remember facts from what they have read or heard would be the least effective instructional practice
• Getting students to analyse resources, create content and deliver it to the class, whilst class mates evaluate, all in a collaborative setting would be one of the best instructional practices to adopt
Richard Elmore Professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education
• Ask Grade 7 teachers to keep a copy of everything they asked students to do throughout a school term
• At the end of the term he asked teachers to place items in a box representing one of the six levels of thinking of Blooms Taxonomy
80 to 85% of work that students do in classes today is focused on factual recall and low level procedural thinking.
Richard Elmore
What are our good students good at
• Working individually • Following instructions• Retaining Facts• Taking Tests
What do our students need to be good at
• Knowledge Construction• Group Discussion Skills• Creative Thinking skills
• Teamwork skills
Preparing Students for Jobs that exist
No generation in history had ever been so thoroughly prepared for the Industrial Age as the current generation.
David Warlick
Making Connections
When are our students learning
School based tasks
• In class for 5 hours a day• On task for some percentage of
that• Some students doing homework
after hours• Some students actually learning
after hours
Non-school based tasks
• While their on the bus• While their parents are watching
TV• When they are chatting on
Facebook• When they are playing computer
games
Physical EnvironmentDynamic Learning Spaces
• Background• David Thornburg: Four primordial cross-cultural learning environments • Campfire • Cave• Watering Hole • Mountain Top
•Works for lower elementary classrooms• High School rooms need to be flexible
Dynamic Learning Spaces
- Students and teacher sit is a circle to discuss ideas- Personal Learning Space- Gathering spaces for students to come together- Students present and share ideas to the class
OUR PARAMETERS•Within a standard classroom• Repeatable across the school• Allow for ‘traditional’ chalk and talk setup• Cost effective
OUR PRIORITIES• Flexible desk arrangements• Choice in seating for students• No Teachers desk or chair• No designated front of room
FIRST YEAR
• 24 student desks and chairs• Crescent desks for easy grouping• Couches for alternative seating
SECOND YEAR
• Different height desks• Moveable furniture• Space to lie on the floor
THIRD YEAR• ½ Cost $3250
• Couches• Outdoor furniture
What Worked• Behaviour Management•Motivation• Relaxed Atmosphere
What Didn’t
• Relaxed Atmosphere• Not suited for all teachers• Students won’t leave
To Prepare students for Life
Learners v the Learned
In times of change, it is the learners that will inherit the earth while the learned will find themselves beautifully equipped for a world that no longer exists.
Eric Hoffer
Skills for Success at University
• Knowledge Construction• Group Discussion Skills• Creative Thinking skills• Teamwork skills• Independent study skills
If we are telling students that we are preparing them for university and the workforce then it has to be true
Skills for Success in the Workplace
• Job Outlook , 2013• National Association of Colleges and Employers, USA
• Employability Skills 2000+• Conference Board of Canada
• 21st Century Skills and the Workplace• Gallup with Microsoft Partners in Learning
Oral Communication
Knowledge Construction
Lead
ersh
ipSelf-Regulation
Analytical Skills
Plan and Prioritise
Solve Problems
Verbal CommunicationWork in a Team
Flexibility
Team Work
Collaboration
Problem-Solving
Interpersonal Communication
Skills for Success at University
• Knowledge Construction• Group Discussion Skills• Creative Thinking• Teamwork skills• Independent study skills
If we are telling students that we are preparing them for university and the workforce then it has to be true
Skills for Success in the Workplace
• Knowledge Construction• Group Discussion Skills• Creative Thinking• Teamwork skills• Self Management Skills
Meet students in their world to allow for anytime learning
• Electronic Learning Platforms• Over six years Trinity College tested 9 different electronic learning
platforms• We implemented three, and will soon move to a fourth• All promise the same things• Common point of failure
Why Social Networking in Learning
• Yr 12 Students
• Average time spent with Facebook per night
• Top 30% of Student users
• What do they talk about ????
• Would you talk about school work?
Facebook Student Survey
2 ½ Hours4 Hours
Don’t KnowMaybe
PROPOSAL• Provide content for students where they talk• Curriculum Resources• Expertise• Collaboration
CONCERNS• Student / Teacher communications• Teacher’s social presence• Student’s social presence• Logging / Auditing• Are we just increasing a teachers ‘on-time’
POLICIES• Only available to students in last 2 years of high school• Teachers must create a ‘Professional’ Facebook presence• Teachers cannot ‘Friend’ students• No Teacher/Student chat• Create a Group for each Course• Only students studying a course can join the group• All communication through posts on the group wall
Student Autonomy . . . Works
Remembering
Blooms Taxonomy
Creating
Evaluating
Analysing
Applying
Understanding
Remembering
Creating
Evaluating
Analysing
Understanding
Applying
Low Order Thinking Skills
High Order Thinking Skills
Retention Rates
Hear
Read
Audio Visual
Demonstration
Discussion Group
Personally Experience
Teach Others
5%
10%
20%
30%
50%
75%
90%
• Students are intelligent, creative, analytical and communicative learners• Propose problems which don’t have answers• Try and remove all parameters• DON’T give a suggested or maximum length• Sharing Ideas is Collaboration NOT Cheating• Ensure students can see each others work through the draft and final
stages
Giving students autonomy . . . works
• An every changing curriculum• Students as experts was an absolute necessity• Now we use this knowledge is other courses
What our Game Design Course taught us
• Students as experts is an absolute necessity• For Each Topic• 3 Students each Prepare a presentation
• Students then collaborate, One student chosen to deliver • 3 Students each prepare a class handout
• Students then collaborate, one handout is created• 3 Students Evaluate the presentation and handout
• Students compare evaluations to produce a mark
• 9 Students have researched each topic• 9 Experts in the classroom
Student as Experts
• Started in 2014• Students work on 5 week projects• Students choose groups size and group members• Students choose content, and resources• Students choose project deliverables• Students choose 50% of assessment criteria• Students had to complete project management documentation
Self Organised - Project Based Learning
• A student created an analysis of shot types in men's fashion images• A student created a review of the street art around Perth, including
an interview with a well know street artist• A groups of students created a 3D virtual world of the College …….
Successes