Changing the Learning Environment, Part 1
Ryan Bretag’s March post** …Aren’t Good Enough, really hit on something I have been struggling with myself. In my responsive post I listed some questions I am focusing on and will discuss with anyone who will listen. Here are my thoughts on my first questions.
How do we get teachers/administrators to use and see the value of these tools for themselves and their students? (In my opinion Hurdle #1)
First let me preface that the educators who ‘get it’ sign up for classes, workshops and ask for individual support. Honestly these are not the people I am trying to reach.
So here are the results of a little unofficial – mini experiment I conducted.
Last fall (2006) I tried to offer some workshops on media creation and storytelling. I had a low turn out. So that spring (2007) I offered workshops on Recording your Family History. I had a great turn out. I had teachers bring in family photos, showed them how to scan. We then looked at how to import the photos into an application and add voice. I played one I made with my mom and I talking about old family photos over coffee, I added the photos to match the conversation. The teachers were hooked, they saw this as valuable. They felt it would be a great summer project to get the whole family involved.
Well it it just under a year since those workshops and all but one of those teachers has now completed a digital story project in their classes. Three of them signed up for a fall course, that is a more intensive look at using technology to reach all students. Others have attended smaller workshops. So now as spring approaches I am getting ready to do a re-run of those classes. I deem them a success. Teachers who need to attend content/standard based workshops do not wish to attend additional technology workshop. But to learn something for fun and family seems to have been a hit. And though it took a year they took the skills they learned and developed over the summer and incorporate them in the classroom on their own with no prodding by me. Isn’t that the goal? Now I need to come up with more ‘sneaky’ workshops to get the skills out there.
** Ryan has just written another post related to this one. It is a must read.
4 thoughts on “Changing the Learning Environment, Part 1”
Sneaky…and an excellent way to get them there! All they need is to play with it and they will see the positives for the classroom.
Thanks for sharing your sneaky idea!
I had a similar experience last fall. I put my summer vacation photos on Photostory3 and then put it on a continuous run in the teacher’s room one day. Several people were interested in learning more. So I did a workshop for a few people. I know one of them used it for a family gathering recently. Now I’m waiting to see if she’ll use it in the classroom. I agree that getting teachers to see uses in their own life for new technologies is a good way to get them to try things out. I’m thinking about a workshop in June for teachers that are parents/grandparents of elementary aged children and showing some fun sites they could do over the summer with their children with the same hope they’ll then see how to use it in their classroom as well.
Isn’t this how it’s supposed to be – make the learning “real world?” When any student makes a connection with the learning, they are often more motivated to pick up on what you are teaching. Just like students, you make the project real – they bought into it and the result was great.
Good luck on future workshops.