Question 2: Using Research to Transform Practice

“Learners may be actively engaged with the technology but they may not be actively engaged with the material in critically meaningful ways.” As educators, how do we move from “hands-on” to “minds-on” when using technology in schools?

 

An outline at the bottom of this page highlights ideas and suggestions for the integration of computer technology that is minds-on.

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Elizabeth

We need to get students asking the questions, not just answering them. Inquiry based learning supports this -providing opportunities for students to wonder, formulate questions, retrieve and evaluate information to form new understandings. As students use technology to retreive, organize and present information, they need to be critical thinkers. I also think when we have students collaborate using tools like wikis, they must think critically about what they will say, how they can support what they say and how they will best present their information. In both of these situations, students are asking the questions, not just simply answering them.

In topic 1 we read Donham's (2007) "graduating students who are not only learned but also learners." By a teacher positioning a student to question, or the student naturally questioning due to the liberating use of computer technology as Subramaniam suggests, then students are more inclined to inquiry, curiosity and asking significant and meaningful questions directly related to their learning (Donham). arlene

 

Simon

By getting students to ask questions and not simply answering the questions of the teacher the students are taking more responsibility for their own learning. They then become active learners and begin to construct their own knowledge. What you, Elizabeth, mentioned is a good example of "mediation as a mutual investment" - both teacher and student must be active partners.

 

Linda

I agree that we need to get students to ask questions themselves and promote "curious classroom" cultures. In fact, I think it's a primary obligation of teachers to do so. I would suggest that even very young children are able to cultivate good questioning skills, when provided with opportunity, good modeling, and guidance. Even basic activities, like sentence starters such as "I wonder....", "What would happen if...." can plant the seeds for questioning minds. One concrete example of sponsoring curiosity: We (teachers) use potato prints to create little green leprachaun footprints around the classroom the night before St. Patrick's Day. When the students come in the next day, we brainstorm ideas about the footprints - their origin (did the leprachaun come up through the drainpipes or through the window or through the ductwork?), their purpose (if the footprints are far apart, does that mean he was moving quickly or slowly? If the footprints lead to the bookshelf, was the leprachaun a bookworm? Did he leave some gold anywhere?), leprachaun characteristics, St. Patrick's Day traditions and their origins, etc. Another concrete example of a way to promote questioning/curiosity: Gift wrap a box (nice Christmas idea) then have the class speculate about its contents and how they might go about determining what's in the box. The idea of promoting questioning/curiosity can be extended for almost any grade level, in any subject.

At his website Growing Up Digital, Don Tapscott identifies one Impression of N-Gen Personality as curiosity. He says the "new shift in control from the broadcast world to the interactive world . . . elicits intensely heightened curiosity. Subramaniam discussed one of liberating uses of technology as being interactive, using it to immerse students so that they come to an understanding of concepts or how concepts relate, rather than being told by the teacher. A short exploration at the beginning of a lesson by students or the teacher modelling can then lead to a thoughtful discussion of what is happening as the tool is used to convey information to transform it into knowledge and understanding. arlene

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Simon

One of my colleague had leprachaun footprints in her classroom too - the kids were so excited, an excellent hook.

Linda, I agree asking the right question is very important when guiding students towards critical thinking and developing their curiosity. There is a book titled: Asking the right question : the essence of teaching by Selma Wassermann. It looks at the art of asking the right questions and how this can promote thoughtful examination. I attached the short book below:

 

12.pdf

 

Val

Thank you Simon for leading me to Asking the Right Questions, I would like to pursue that text further. Thanks for the pdf on it. As Jenn mentioned earlier, we as a class should create a wiki with all our favourite teaching resources. I had agreed to do that but I was just thinking with Jess's great wiki on wiki's perhaps it would be easiest for all if we just created an extra page on that wiki with our favourite resources. Asking the Right Questions is a wonderful resources, as I am finding despite lessons on critical thinking, students (at least in elementary) still tend to believe in all that is written or posted on the web. I look forward to reading more and leading students toward becoming more student centered, critical thinkers than perhaps they are today.

Ronda

When educational tasks are designed to be more than scavenger hunts or trivial pursuits for information, we can challenge students to think more critically. In Asselin's research, she found that teachers generally felt fairly comfortable using technology with their students as part of the research process. However, the teachers did not provide attention to the critical dimensions of information literacy: plagiarism, examining info for bias, and evaluating web sites. To me, this appears that teachers were using technology for "hands-on" tasks such as retrieving information, but not for "minds-on" engagement. This points to more emphasis needed on other phases of the inquiry process.

Ronda, your discussion led me to wonder:Is hands-on use of technology a stepping stone towards minds-on integration of technology? Did we or do we all start with domesticating uses of technology before using it more critically? Is it a product of when we began using technology?

 

Hi Arlene - from my experience, I do see that "hands-on" is a stepping stone to "minds-on." It has definitely been that way for me! Depending on the technology being used, perhaps we only require a short period of time to adapt and feel comfortable with how the technology works, then we can progress to think about other things. The more complicated the technology, the longer we may need to allow for raising the comfort level, before the critical thinking tasks can be fully met.

 

 

Val

I like the terminology minds-on. I think there is a progression from hands-on to minds-on through inquiry based learning. Wow Linda can I come into your school for the leprachaun print challenge? What a lovely learning opportunity. Yes getting even our youngest learners to be able to question, discover and ponder is a goal we all strive for. Some great critical thinking and inquiry based learning lesson plans can be found on CyberSmart. Our grade one teacher is implementing them after spring break. One part in teaching with technology is how to use the tool but a key part to its success is how to critically think to make the tool a useful learning opportunity.

Subramaniam reminds us of this as well. Rather than focusing on the tool we must make use of technology in ways where the students and their teachers who are using it are the focus and not the technology. arlene

 

Katie

I have found that modelling the inquiry process can be quite effective. I always encourage discussion and questioning with my students and I find the best teaching moments happen when I am learning as well. When we come across a question or problem that we don't know the answer to, I will model the research process and we will go to the computer (or library) and find the answer. We usually end up with more questions and the students are hooked and seem to be with me, wanting to know more. They are interested in finding out the answer and when they do, they want to know more!

Katie, you said "the best teaching moments happen when I am learning as well." This exemplifies the mutual investment that both you and your students are engaged in and you are modelling and generating enthusiasm at the same time and demonstrating life-long learning.

 

Stephanie

One of the things I observe is the number of group projects that are assigned in Social Studies and English classes. Thus the high school library is frequently a fairly noisy place as groups work on projects. Both their class teacher and I circulate and assist with this process. What I observe is students practicing life skills, workplace skills---hopefully developing lifelong learner reflexes!

I see them:

*gather and select information (Research and Evaluation)

• express their ideas coherently to one another, (Communicate)

*listen and understand what another is saying (Comprehend)

*decide together how to present their ideas together(Collaborate)

 

They use technology in the research, in writing up their ideas/findings, communicating with each other at home (I watch my own daughter do a fair bit of communicating through Facebook and Instant Messaging). They also are quite comfortable making movies and using the technology for images and presentation.Finally, I notice that many teachers still require students to use at least one book reference---sometimes this improves the quality of what they find--but sometimes it doesn't! Evaluation of information is such a significant skill to develop--especially in these days when we (okay, I really am thinking of myself here) often feel like we're drowning in the volumes available.

 

A final comment on the information literacy skills Ronda mentioned. One master English teacher I’ve spoken to about plagiarism shared with me her strategy of creating essay questions that are so fresh and innovative there are no on-line essays out there to copy. She manages to create questions that require the students to express their own ideas--definitely creating an inquiry atmosphere and modelling the fact that our own personal responses to works of literature are important steps we make in understanding our place in the world.

 

Val

Steph I like the assignment from your English teacher. Our grade 7 teacher follows a similar English structure. Her latest was in literacy circles where a lot of collaboration needed to take place, focusing on character development and their own ideas, backed up with quotes from the book. She too, requires at least 3 book references and 3 internet references. I am enjoying watching the development, excitement and commitment to this inquiry based learning.

 

Cindy

The movement from 'hands-on' to 'minds-on' is critical in the growth and development of our students' understanding and effective utilization of technology. As Elizabeth said, teachers need to encourage students to question and seek answers that enhance and deepen their knowledge through inquiry and discovery. Students need to develop good habits of research, by developing the skills to seek information and solve problems. Through collaboration, with wikis and blogs for example, they learn to share responsibility for aquiring new knowledge and understanding with their classmates. Students need to learn to value new experiences and view them as an opportunity to inquire and learn. Teachers need to create opportunities for students to become involved in learning that is authentic. We need to model attitudes that support inquiry, and support the acquisition of new knowledge and support lifelong learning. Teachers need to critically examine their traditional role as the deliverer of knowledge and embrace their new role as facilitator and guide. According to Subramaniam, teachers provide guidance and together with the students and with computer technology, they move towards a destination of fulfilling lesson objectives. Technology is a tool that supports the learning process as students seek new knowledge and understanding and needs to be utilized effectively. Students should be actively engaged in constructing their understanding of technology. We need to use technology to enhance and extend the classroom experience and foster inquiry.

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Elisa

Can the lesson exist without the technology to engage the learner? If it can't I don't think it will allow for minds-on integration. If the learning isn't engaging and the use of technology is present then the experience becomes about the technology rather than the learning. the technology needs to remain being the tool to support the experience and maybe make it easier, faster, and the word we use lot in my classroom, pretty.

Hi Elisa, I can't help but go back to one of the examples in the Subramaniam article where the teacher used a CD-ROM to show the movement of the ovum and the sperm, how the ovum is fertilized and how the embryo is formed. This could be conveyed as images in a textbook, however, I believe that if students were to see it happening, it would be a whole different story. I think an engaging, minds-on discussion would occur after viewing this segment. It's more difficult to ask questions when you you are unable to visualize what is happening, or you are only viewing it in a flat image. Coupled with that is the fact that our students today are so visual. I could have asked my students about movie trailers, however, having them view one and then having them coming up with their own questions was much more powerful as they owned the conversation and its direction. To answer your question, can the lesson exist without the technology to engage the learner? Absolutely. But, can the lesson be taken to a level that wasn't possible before without the technology. I think the same is true as well. You're right, the technology is just a tool. If we are able to do something better without the technology then it is not necessary. arlene

 

John

It is really interesting to read the posts and note that a research project does not automatically translate into a "minds-on" experience. I would very much agree that modeling our questioning and valuing a diversity of thought are helpful. It is useful to show students the difference between a shallow question (short answer, done) and a deep question (leads to many other questions, has multiple perspectives). It really takes patience and all of the teachers working together to develop good questioning skills. The same goes for critical thinking skills. Ideally, a staff can plan out when to introduce specific skills over the various grades. Teachers probably need to know the technology well enough to make it look kind of easy and not draw attention away from the ideas themselves.

 

I think that teachers need to be aware of when students are ready to move toward a more independent, student centered phase of a unit. There is a certain amount of background information needed before students can formulate meaningful questions. Teachers have to measure out their energy as well. Giving the students the support they need as they dig deep takes time and patience.

 

Katie

John, I think that you hit on the number one area of concern for teachers- epecially secondary teachers- time.  Many of the teachers that I spoke to feel they don't have the time to allow students to delve deeply into a "minds-on" inquiry process.  Some are also not comfortable enough with technology to use it at all in their classroom and feel that there will be too much time wasted.  One example I can think of is an English teacher in my school who came down to see me and was a bit ticked off at me because I encouraged a group of her students to do a Power Point presentation!  There were problems with the laptop and there was 10 minutes of wasted time in her class!  Never mind the students had one of the most organized and attention-grabbing presentations- she was more concerned with the amount of time rather than the quality of the learning (and product).  I understand that the pressure to teach content is great, but how do we convince these "time" conscious teachers to give a bit up for some real "minds on" learning?  It is very frustrating! 

 

 

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Ideas for Minds-On Integration of Technology in Class

1. asking questions - cultivate good questioning skills from a young age, getting even our youngest learners to question, discover and ponder is a goal

• opportunity
• modelling
• guidance
• sentence starters
  • I wonder . . .
  • What would happen if . . .

1. inquiry based learning

• formulate questions
• retrieve, evaluate
• form new understandings
• retrieve
• organize
• present
• critical thinking

1. collaboration (eg. wiki) and critical thinking about

• what they say
• how they support it
• how new understanding is best presented

1. attention to critical dimensions of information literacy

• plagarism
• examining for bias
• evaluating websites

1. attention to all phases of inquiry and not simply research process
2. promote curious classroom cultures
3. online resources

• CyberSmart

1. two parts

• how to use the tool
• how to critically think to make the tool a useful learning opportunity

1. collaboration & process

• gather and select information (Research and Evaluation)
• express their ideas coherently to one another, (Communicate)
• listen and understand what another is saying (Comprehend)
• decide together how to present their ideas together (Collaborate)

1. evaluate information
2. present - writing, images, movies
3. communication - online and off
4. fresh and innovative quesitons that require students to express their own ideas
5. web 2.0 tools - having students use the tools such blogs, wikis, podcasts, flickr, YouTube, social bookmarking to explore, discover, present, reflect, share, communicate, collaborate etc.