Freedom To Learn

While reading Connectivism, I pondered the process of obtaining knowledge. While I never imagined my students as “empty vessels” waiting for me to dump all my renowned knowledge into them, I wonder what traditional schools would look like if students had more freedom. Students, while not empty vessels, need to be taught certain skills no matter where their life or education leads them. Technology is ever changing and students need to be able to keep up with those changes.

I was discussing with my colleague this week about freedom within boundaries. Many of students struggle with this while others soar with it. The majority of my students want a checklist so that they can say, “Well, I did what it said.” I understand that part of it is cultural, but as someone who is attempting to give them freedom with their learning, it is extremely frustrating.

For example, in Living With New Media, it discusses that “messing around” generally progresses into a more serious place of serious learning. But when? When does this transition take place? What role does messing around have in the classroom or does it even have a place in the classroom? From my stand point, students struggle to make the transition between browsing and chatting to creating. How do I as a teacher help move them through this stage?

As technology is ever changing, an important skill that students need to learn is how to investigate and figure out it works. Last week one of my students said to me, “but you are a teacher you should know everything.” I am so thankful that is not true. Nicholas Provenzano posted the article Paralyzed by Technology and discussed that other teachers should only focus one technology when just beginning. While I completely agree with him and that works for the majority of teachers, that is not my style in teaching or my personality. I tend to dive right in and try something new, see how it works, and decide how much I want to learn about it. As a result, I will often introduce my students to new technology without actually being an expert myself. If I only limited my students to my own knowledge, they might not ever be introduced to technology in my class. I can’t say it would work for everyone, but it works for me. The students utilize each other, the internet, and come to me when they can’t find the answer. Then, I sit down and brainstorm why something isn’t working. If I can’t figure it out, I refer them to someone who can. I’m glad I don’t have all the answers because I love the process of learning something with my students. I want to model for my students that it is OK to try something new and not have all the answers.

A.J. Juliani examines 5 Things Innovative Schools Do Differently. The knowledge from the article seems more like common sense to me. I am completely optimistic that all schools want to be inventive and cutting edge. On the other hand, I know of schools, teachers, and students who are not taking risks, making mistakes, or moving forward. In my opinion, it is a control issue. It is scary to think one is not in control. As teacher in college, it is taught to control the classroom and be in control. I’m not advocating a free for all. If schools want to establish a legacy as innovative, it must begin with the process mentioned in the article. He also created an infograph, A Simple Framework for Innovation in the Classroom, that demonstrates a starting process for the classroom.