Quick Links to Course Experiences (Lessons): 01  02  03  04  05  06  07  08  09  10  11  12  13  14

How do we truly believe that children learn best? Are we practicing what we believe about learning in our schools? How can technology help align our beliefs about learning to our educational practices?

As educators, our own philosophy of education has been largely shaped by our personal educational experiences. We have been schooled very well in the traditional model of education in America. In this experience, I'm going to ask you to step outside tradition, and examine what we do - thinking in terms of "what we can do to make learning meaningful and productive for every student."
I've always felt some education traditions we adhere to get in the way of real learning - the kind that sticks - the kind that is meaningful and relevant. Particularly so in the past couple decades. So much emphasis has been placed on marching students through core content, followed by high stakes testing and assessment. As a teacher, some questions I've asked myself are...
  • Why do we pull kids out of the real world at five years old to try to prepare them for a life within it? 
  • Why do we group students by their age, and not some other way?​
  • Why do we separate and silo knowledge into disconnected curriculum bits? Real life crosses all boundaries.
  • Why do we assess students with A, B, C, D, and F? What are the reasons we even have grades? What justification do we have for labeling someone as a failure, instead of working with them until they were successful? Instead, what should the purposes of assessment be that would benefit both the student and the system of education? Are there better ways to accomplish these purposes?
  • Why do bureaucrats, administrators, and teachers get to pick what students learn, rather than the students pick what's of interest to them? Shouldn't students have some voice in what they want to learn?
  • Why do we place more value on certain subjects, and less on others? For example, STEM tops the list currently, and arts and humanities have taken a back seat.
  • What skills do students really need to have in order to be successful in our current society?  Are we teaching those?  
Technology is moving so fast that some have said, "We are trying to prepare them for jobs that don't exist yet, using tools that haven't been invented yet."  We see arguments happening now, like, "Should we teach spelling (handwriting, basic math facts, etc.) anymore?  We have technology in our pockets that do that for us." (I'm not taking a side here - just sharing the current arguments.)
As educators, our philosophy of education has been largely shaped by our personal education experiences. We have been schooled very well in the traditional model of education in America. Can we step outside tradition, and examine what we do in terms of what we can do to make learning meaningful and productive for every student?
​​​This week,  please experience, and examine your deepest feelings about teaching and learning. We want to expose you to voices that are espousing what must occur to make education better - for both students and teachers. How do we really believe we learn best? Are schools structured to incorporate these beliefs? If not, what can we do to change that? 

Over the course of the semester, we want you to examine your philosophy of education. That will become the foundation for how you teach. We want to encourage you to climb out of some of the traditional practices of our education system and evaluate their value - in your own life, and in the lives of your students.

We realize that the system forces some of those structures  upon us (I call them "boxes"), and they can only be changed from higher up the administrative ladder.  And, if that is the case, can we work more effectively within those boxes until the bigger changes occur? 

As your instructors, we are in some boxes ourselves. For example, we are required to give you a grade for this course. But you will not be competing for a grade with your peers. We will clearly define what is needed to achieve the grade you desire to receive.
After working through this week's experience, add your voice! ​You'll be participating in two class discussions this week. You'll have the opportunity to introduce yourself to the rest of the class. In a separate discussion, you'll share your thoughts and take-aways for sections 1A, 1B, 1C.

We encourage you to take time to research your thoughts on what you'll see and learn this week. Step outside your own box. Why? Think about and synthesize what you'll learn this week into something of real value to you! These same ideas changed the way we teach and work with students. Our goal is to have you shape your own philosophy about teaching and learning. We want you to become a master educator - one your students will remember through their lives as a life-changing, positive experience. And in particular, we want you to learn how technology can assist you with that.
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We hope this first experience will set the stage for the rest of our team efforts this semester. We really look forward to working with you. We are excited about the ideas you'll bring to the course, and the strategies and tools you'll share with us!
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Let's begin this experience by watching the two videos about High Tech High School. As you watch, pause the video and record notes about thoughts and ideas that impressed you. It's quite different, I believe, than what you experienced in high school. What are the big ideas about learning you were able to glean from these? 
Meet High Tech High School...
  • Seriously consider what the purpose of education should be in our current technology era, and think about your own philosophy of teaching and learning! Share your ideas with the us, and respond to other class members' comments and ideas.
  • Consider, discuss and share the characteristics of a great teacher, and how technology can assist a teacher in better accomplishing those characteristics.
  • Research, read, and think about the purposes of using technology in teaching, and discuss ways that are effective or not effective.
  • Section 1A: How do students learn best? Are we doing those things?
  • Section 1B: How is technology changing the education process? What are the possibilities? When is it appropriate to use?
  • Section 1C: The Standards for the International Society for Technology in Education
  • Section 1D: Setting up your AggieMail account if you haven't already. Or, what to do if you forgot how to access it!
Use Module "Week 1 - What voices are saying about 21st century education!" in Canvas. Be sure to look through the assigned discussions and their scoring rubrics!
About our class discussions In Canvas: The discussions are our class conversations - our own community of educators.  The rules for our discussions:

  1. The purpose of our discussions is to promote a free exchange of ideas, resources, to make friends, increase our online personal network, and get answers to questions.
  2. Please, no put downs, no nasty comments, jibes, or rude remarks. It's certainly OK to disagree, and you should explain why you disagree - but we do it with civility and kindness. We are a team. We work as a team to make this course experience an awesome one! We're in this together to help each other as professionals, not to tear each other down!
  3. Please participate in a timely manner! We need your voice! I think it's critical that I not be the only voice you hear in this course! Between us all there is a wealth of talent, experience, and knowledge! Let's work together as a group to learn together, and share ideas and resources with each other.
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  • NOTE: If you've not participated in Canvas discussions before, and need assistance learning how to do that, we've provided Canvas video tutorials in the Resources section of this site.  Watch the student videos, particularly the one titled "Participate in a Discussion." They will teach you everything you need to know to work in Canvas.  You can get to Canvas at My.USU.edu.  You will need your A# and strong password to log in.  If you have trouble logging in - please call the USU Help Desk (435-797-4357).
Video: Helps for working in Canvas and particularly the class discussions (7:42)
Video: How I will provide feedback to you on your assignments and discussions! (1:25) Here I describe how I add feedback comments to the scoring rubrics.
Material on this website - other than curated internet videos and resources linked to within - are copyright 2018 by Nathan M. Smith Jr. - ​Updated June 7, 2018