Another Fad in Education?

Are we experiencing yet another fad in education?  Streaming to de-streaming back to streaming. Hooked on phonics to whole language.  Letter grades to percentages to levels. Individualized to cooperative learning. New math to new new-math.  One-size-fits-all to differentiated for learning styles recently debunked by none other than Howard Gardner ~ Washington Post, Oct. 16, 2013).  Are we in the midst of another fad?

Experienced teachers are collectively rolling their eyes as the wave of resources, money, professional development, and rhetoric brings its crushing weight down with "integrating educational technology," "critical thinking skills," "problem based learning," "global education," "authentic assessment," and/or "flipped classrooms."

Such "new" approaches to education, and their early adopters, are charged with energy. Those who are blogging, tweeting, connecting, ed-camping, and then reinventing their teaching styles find the process rewarding.  They find each other and build PLCs that transcend distance, grade, and subject. They are reminded why they became teachers and feel empowered.

New teachers graduate from faculties of education armed with iPads and determination. They enter classrooms and quickly become disillusioned by blank stares from students, skill gaps, and standardized tests. Sometimes they are encouraged by colleagues and administrators.  More likely, they find themselves drowning in the divide and trying to do it all: teach the way their more traditional mentors teach and incorporate new approaches. They lack confidence in their pedagogy, and students smell the fear.

Experienced teachers who have ridden other waves are cynical. They stick with what they know, with what they have tried and tested, with what resources they have developed.  They may substitute here and there with a modernized version of an old assessment or lesson - youtube videos instead of VHS tapes or projecting a quiz on the interactive whiteboard instead of handing out dittos. But all-in-all they expect these "new" methods shall also pass and be replaced.  They see no evidence that these methods yield better student results (the evidence is only now being gathered and is still soft). When they do begrudgingly try something "innovative" that someone gave them, it flops - and is deemed a waste of time.

However, just because something is a fad, is trending, is charged with rhetoric, does not mean that it lacks value.  What all fads should have taught us is that there is no panacea for education. Experienced teachers who want students to learn are constantly adjusting their methods, day-to-day, student-to-student, year-to-year. They seek ways to make content relevant and to help students engage.  They respond to a changing world in the best way they can.

The world has changed immensely in recent years.  The proliferation of the internet, mobile devices, and computer tools will not pass in time. It can be a great opportunity for educators to maximize student learning. Yet this world is completely overwhelming even for the best-intentioned educators (including me). Each of us needs a focus that can guide our decision-making, evaluate our effectiveness, and help us determine next steps.

I am not choosing particular tools, methods, or fads to guide me.  I am carefully considering the question "What should I do next to help my students become capable learners in this new world?"

So far, my answers are:
1) Talk to them.
2) Figure out this new world for myself.

What else can I do to help my students become capable learners in this new world?

First EdCamp Experience

On Saturday, January 4, 2014, I attended my first ever EdCamp from the comfort of my own home. EdCamp Home was the epitome of both the medium and the message.  I found myself impressed by the scale and scope of the event and wowed by the organizers who were creatively, fluidly, and miraculously keeping everything on track.

Since this is my first experience with an un-conference, I have no frame of reference for comparison.  For my first session, I joined a GHO on Incorporating Ed-Tech in schools where 1:1 is not available.  I agreed with my gathered colleagues that 1:1 is not a necessity and that Ed-Tech is not the goal, only another tool. I have heard (from blended learning PD) that the ideal ratio is 2:1, where students use tools collaboratively and interdependently. This is hard to believe.  A 1:1 ratio (and the bandwidth to support it): empower each student with 24/7 access to learning supports, provide all teachers with the impetus to develop their own competency and incorporate innovation into lessons, and a multitude of other benefits (See Nine Reasons 1:1 Learning is Revolutionizing Education by Alexy Kudashev).  

Most schools are not there yet.  Many schools (including mine) have out-of-date desktop computer labs, limited ethernet connections, prohibitive wi-fi bandwidth problems, students without internet access at home, and no present means or plans for changing these realities. Does that mean that these students and teachers are relegated to the sidelines and miss out on the endless educational benefits?  No way!

My first EdCamp Home session was much too short to arrive at any meaningful learning.  By the time everyone joined the Hangout, introductions were duly completed, and a few challenges were raised, time for the session was at an end.  No answers, no direction, not even a lead… Yet, when EdCamp Home ended, I registered for Google Classroom Connections, explored Virtual Field Trip options (that ironically require an Ethernet connection), and considered Flipped Classrooms (and in the process discovered the ideas Zack Blois posted on Blended Learning models in non 1:1 environments).

EdCamp Home was not what I expected, but it opened the door to my learning, decision-making, and problem solving. It was the medium and the message for modern learning.  Hmmm… Now I will have to check-out the video from the EdCamp Home session on applying the EdCamp model in a classroom.