Socrates Today

Socrates was a master of educational dialogue.  His goal was to inspire his students to think for themselves.  So, instead of lecturing them he questioned them.  I have always liked this taxonomy of education, both as a student and an educator.  I believe it encourages students' problem solving skills and creativity.  It is amazing to me that the methodologies of this Greek philosopher born in 399 B.C. continue to be so applicable to the participatory culture of education today!

A participatory culture is a culture with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing one’s creations, and some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices. A participatory culture is also one in which members believe their contributions matter, and feel some degree of social connection with one another (at the least they care what other people think about what they have created).

                                     Clinton,K. et al., (n.d.). Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture:
                                          Media Education for the 21st Century.  Retrieved from:
                                          http://goo.gl/qS1yG      

Socratic questioning serves multiple purposes in education.  It motivates students to clarify concepts, identify assumptions, define rationales, seek evidence, consider implications and understand the merits of inquiry.  

Students today desire a personalized, interactive, problem based, flexible, and collaborative education.  This requires educators to become content and learning facilitators. Instead of just transferring knowledge to the learners, teachers today must assist the learner to find the answers.  eLearning and mLearning offer the perfect venue for such instruction.  Learners have ubiquitous access to information, allowing them to independently seek and critically think.  Students can create representations of their work using unlimited types of media and presentation tools.  The timelessness offered in digital learning allows users to take time to reflect on their learning, concretely embedding it into their practice.  Online pupils can collaborate with peers, questioning one another and increasing their perspectives and viewpoints exponentially.   They can share their scholarship world wide, gaining valuable and virtually limitless feedback.  What Socrates began as a one on one tutoring method can now be used with an infinite number of learners.  I wonder if he ever imagined his teaching method would still be of so much value in the 21st century??

The Analogy of Water

 

 We live on a blue planet, where water comprises 70% of the surface.  Water is the universal solvent.  Water is the key to life, vital to all organisms.  Water is the ultimate example of adaptation, able to take on  whatever shape its environment calls for, able to exist in three different states (solid, liquid or gas).  Water is a renewable resource, able to redistribute itself to where it is needed over time.  It possess unique hydrogen bonds that make it cohesive, evidenced by its surface tension.


Online educators should be "water like".  These teachers, whose skills are essential to their learners, need to be highly adaptable, ever present, bonded to their purpose, capable of dissolving student obstacles to learning and able to disseminate their vital merit where needed. This is good management of the educational experience.  Good online educators recognize the need to develop the three types of presence - social, cognitive and teaching.  Good online educators are flexible, able to go with the flow.  :-)  [pun intended]  They are devoted to their mission - to help their students develop the skills needed for success in the 21st century, including the 4 Cs - critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity.  They not only assess their learners' readiness for learning but also the students' acquirement of skills and knowledge.  In doing so they can intervene to help remove any barriers. Good online educators are able to assess and predict where they are needed.  Maybe even more importantly, they can appreciate where they are not needed.  I am learning to be "water like".  I have much more to learn and experience, but I am quickly building the framework on which to hang my new skills.  I will never look at teaching, or for that matter water, the same!

Learning the 4 C's

 
It is quite obvious to educators of the 21st century that learning the 3 Rs (reading, writing and arithmetic) alone is no longer sufficient.  Learners need to expand their skills to match the requirements of tomorrow's workplace. They need to learn the 4 Cs - Critical thinking, Communication, Collaboration and Creativity.

This week I felt a bit like a fish out of water.  It became quite clear, that I must learn much more about the 4 Cs before I can teach them!

So, I have learned to think critically and problem solve.  For example, did you know in the top left hand corner of some laptops' touch pads there is a small pinpoint light?  If you tap the touch pad there the light comes on and you have disabled your touch pad.  Just saying, this could happen accidentally. That's right no pointer mobility at all!  Now I suppose a Net Set learner could have figured out the problem within seconds.  But, I am a digital immigrant hampered by the fact that I only read directions when all else fails.  I never even contemplated the purpose of that small "hole" - hmmm, a manufacturing oddity?  Well, it took me almost an hour to discover that if you tap the silly light twice again the light goes out and your touch pad is again enabled!  Check problem solving off the list.

Then there is communication and collaboration.  This week I "hung out" on Google +.  It took a couple attempts (like, now I would read the directions but I can't find any; is it instinctual to everyone else?), but eventually I was successful.  Our group easily breezed through task lists that would have taken many emails to create.  We were able to reassure each other.  We inspired one another. Rhett even popped in to say hi!  I now can appreciate the art of the science!  Check connecting and contributing off the list.

Finally there is creativity.  I have never considered myself to be a right brained person.  My world is for the most part logical, orderly and predictable.  I am not an inventor.  I am a consumer of the inventions.  So creativity is a bit of a stretch.  However, through this class I am learning to create using technology.  I blog.  I hangout as a princess (check out Google effects next time you hangout).  I screen share.  I edit, link and embed.  I create.  Check original construction off the list.

So, I feel pretty good about my progress.  Not that I'm proficient with the 4 Cs at all.  But I know what they are.  I have experienced them.  I may still be out of the water, but I am fearless now.  I feel like a ninja educator!

Personalized Education

I think this kitten looks overwhelmed.  The world is new to him.  He is alert and attentive...and okay, maybe a bit timid and fearful. There is so much to learn!  Where should he start?  Initially "Mama knows best."  But, as he grows more independent and confident he develops his own learning goals, cognitive and learning styles.  His overall objective is like that of every other feline in town...to catch the bird.  However, he is an excellent climber and wants to explore the active, climb the tree approach, as opposed to the stalk and spring approach.  He desires a personalized education.

Education needs to be personalized.  Yes, there is basic knowledge that needs to be conveyed to all students.  Students can share broad overall educational goals.  However, that does not mean that the learning can not be at least co-planned with the student.  In nursing education, for example, the students must learn specific content in order to pass the National Council Licensure Examination and practice safely.  Yet, allowing the students to explore specific interests, collaborate, order content, select media that accentuates their learning and individualize their approach can allow them to go above and beyond the requirements.  Personalized education better prepares students for the workplace by facilitating their critical thinking skills and developing their own lifelong learning strategies.

Online education excels at allowing students the academic freedom to create their own learning program within the umbrella of the course requirements.  Of particular note, is the ability of the student to overcome any unique obstacles to learning.   Say, the student is unable to attend a F2F class due to illness or disability; or perhaps is a strong visual learner but has weaker auditory skills, is a slow processor, needs additional resources...guiding the personalization of a student's education gives the student the ability to improve the educational experience and meet his specific needs.  Personalized education can even motivate underachievers by making them a greater stakeholder in their own learning. 

What if the computer could recognize the student's interests, motivation, strength's and weaknesses?  This continual assessment could aid the personalization of the student's learning.  The machine would provide immediate and individualized feedback.  Frustrations in learning would be limited while the ability to excel would be unlimited.  The role of technology in the personalization of education requires more research and data mining, but it is obvious that learning in the 21st century will be dramatically different from the traditional didactic experiences of the past and that it needs to be personalized.

Retrieved from http://www.cra.org/ccc/docs/groe/GROE%20Roadmap%20for%20Education%20Technology%20Final%20Report.pdf

If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow.

                                         John Dewey, Democracy and Education, New York: Macmillan Company, 1944, p. 167.