If you’ve been hanging around with techies in education you know that there is a dominant view that we don’t tell students which digital tools they need to complete tasks. When assignments are issued students may be told it will culminate with a presentation, blog post, etc but beyond that level of detail very little is prescribed with regard to the medium and format they elect to use. This approach works exceptionally well with digital media because students can put together a Powerpoint, Keynote, Quicktime Movie, Prezi, Voicethread, Mindmap or whatever they feel will best convey the message they have in mind. This open format represents a welcome shift away from the tech days of the past when competencies were scripted out in terms of tool based proficiencies and tech lessons were focused on the “how to’s” of word processing and spreadsheets. In reality the number of new devices and apps that hit the market daily mandate this approach as it is impossible to expect everyone in education to stay on top of the latest and greatest.
Choice of Tools...
This evolution to the point where we no longer prescribe tools makes a lot of sense in terms of authentic learning and assessment. Afterall, all processes of enquiry are driven by the learner including questions related to the format best suited for the product the students have designed. At the same time, there are key stages in design and drafting that benefit from more directive instruction. The dilemma is how to articulate a pedagogically consistent approach to this topic.
As a case in point, over the weekend I was in an EARCOS workshop on Authentic Assessment and Digital Media in the Classroom with Andrew Churches and Kim Cofino. We were working in small teams on a lesson design project that involved three segments. The first task was to develop the lesson design brief. The second task was to develop the assessment rubric. The third task was to create an exemplar of a finished project. To help us get started, Andrew instructed the groups to take a piece of butcher’s paper and some magazines to cut images out of to storyboard the final project we had in mind. While I was more than happy to follow his suggestion, it struck me as inconsistent that when using digital tools we generally don’t instruct the students to use a specific tool but with analog formats we often do.
Thinking this through further, the distinction isn’t analog vs. digital but moreover the stage of the process under consideration. For final projects and finished formats, we don’t want to limit or unnecessarily pigeon-hole students into using certain tools. In terms of exposing students to useful techniques to help manage the process, however, it can be helpful to require students to experiment with (ie. experience) tools like analog storyboarding or digital information management apps such as diigo or evernote. In temporarily prescribing what tools students must use during the process, we expose them to new methods and processes that they haven’t seen before to empower them as learners. While I won’t necessarily prescribe all the process tools I expect students to use, the distinction between process and product is useful for me as an educator – processes can be prescribed while products, generally, shouldn’t be. ~ AC
Posted On: Tuesday, February 7th, 2012
Posted In: COETAIL, Technology
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Comments: 2 Responses
Adam,
I appreciate you asking the question over the weekend and further expanding on it here and in class. I think as an elementary teacher, I want to give students freedom to express themselves but since they don’t have much in their tool box one of my jobs is to prescribe the process and the product at times just so they will learn the necessary skills. Recently our curriculum director asked me if I thought it is necessary to write technology grade level learning targets. We have overarching strands, but the software and hard ware are constantly changing and is it possible to keep up with standards? When we look at technology as a tool, we don’t necessarily have learning standards for pencils, pens and paper so do we need them for technology?
Great reflection on that very interesting moment in our workshop :) I think you should send this post to Andrew :)