The messages of these articles spoke very strongly to me, especially from "A Rich Seam." Having received my primary and secondary education primarily in the 1990s, the methodology used was the classic one of the teacher lecturing and the students taking notes. However, when I began teaching in the late 2000s and early 2010s, not only was technology heavily involved in every aspect, but the students often showed me new methods of learning that they had learned from one another or found on the Internet.
A lot of this came to a head when I began teaching at a university in Korea in 2012. I entered a department that was stagnant and only existed due to Korean law mandating ESL education for all university students. We were required to simply teach from the textbook, give homework assignments, two exams, and that was it. As each instructor in the office had anywhere from 200-400 students per week, it was beyond impossible to grade paper homework assignments. I thus researched a method of delivery for homework that could be done online, graded automatically, and be easily reproduced with minimal effort. I found the learning management system Moodle (similar in concept to Canvas and Blackboard). I was fortunate enough to be supervised by an extremely forward-thinking instructor and surrounded by eager and forward-thinking colleagues. There was a core group of "innovators" in our office that enthusiastically embraced this new model, and we acted as "opinion leaders" who were able to easily sway most of our colleagues to adopt the new technology. While it began simply as an easier way to grade homework, our embrace of technology gave way to online exams, MOOCs, technology-based classroom activities, and student collaboration projects that went far beyond what we were doing before. We were even recognized by the local government for our efforts and for improving the English testing scores of our university's students.
I believe that what we did, and what I am eager to continue doing when I re-enter the field of instruction, was to introduce students to higher levels of Bloom's taxonomy. In Korea the default method used by most teachers and professors is to simply provide knowledge and have the students memorize it. There is absolutely nothing beyond this step. We found that by engaging our students and having them teach one another and show practical applications for English language knowledge in the real world, they were far more willing not only to learn, but to work to maintain their knowledge. There is no doubt that the technology involved played a crucial role. Students created videos, used message boards, took photographs, and much more, depending on which area they showed the greatest amount of strength.
It appears as though both of our own educational experiences were very similar along with the changes to that system when we entered the teaching profession. Like you, my first teaching experience was still based strongly in the traditional lecture, homework, and test methodology due to it being a small rural school with little technology available. It was a bit of a shock when I began teaching at my second school which was much more technology centered. I too was on a team with the purpose of developing new and innovative teaching techniques utilizing technology. I have further developed that as I have continued teaching at JSU where innovation is highly encouraged.
ReplyDeleteI wish you the best of luck as you continue your instructional journey. It sounds like you have some great ideas for your future students.