21st Century Learning and Teaching

Some of the recurring themes of my conference presentations and blog posts include: Schools are doing Education 1.0; talking about doing Education 2.0; when they should be planning Education 3.0 We...

Learn more:

https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2015/07/19/learning-path-for-professional-21st-century-learning-by-ict-practice/

Jackie GERSTEIN: I absolutely love planning lessons from scratch.  I just got a job teaching technology units for a summer camp for elementary age students. I can design and teach whatever I want – planning for a different theme each week. Some of the themes I am planning are: Expanding and Showing Your Personal Interests Through Blogging, Photos, and Videos; Coding and Creating Online Games; Tinkering and Making – Simple Robotics; Hacking Your Notebook; and Creating Online Comics, Newspapers, and Magazines.  I have begun the process of planning these classes through reflecting on what the lessons will look like.

Learn more:

- https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2014/10/03/design-the-learning-of-your-learners-students-ideas/

Jackie GERSTEIN: I was asked recently why I have a strong interest and innate understanding of the growth mindset. I believe it comes from a background of being an adventure educator, and even though it was not labeled as such, the adventure educator embraces a growth mindset when working with participants. The underlying tenet of adventure education is “You are capable of so much more than you can even imagine. I believe in you and your capabilities; and I will set up the conditions for you to develop and amplify that same belief in yourself.”

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Learn more:

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- https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2015/03/28/learning-to-learn-for-my-professional-development-i-did-it-my-way/

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- https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2014/10/03/design-the-learning-of-your-learners-students-ideas/

Jackie GERSTEIN: I've posted about The Other 21st Skills and Attributes.  This post provides links and resources about these skills as well as an educator self-assessment.  This assessment contains questions to assist the educator in evaluating if and how s/he is facilitating these skills and attributes in the learning environment....

Suspends Judgment – Silences the Inner Critic

The ability to hold off on judging or critiquing an idea is important in the process of creativity. Often great ideas start as crazy ones – if critique is applied too early the idea will be killed and never developed into something useful and useable. (note – this doesn’t mean there is never a time for critique or judgement in the creative process – it’s actually key – but there is a time and place for it). (http://www.problogger.net/archives/2007/05/09/9-attitudes-of-highly-creative-people/)

Many new ideas, because they are new and unfamiliar, seem strange, odd, bizarre, even repulsive. Only later do they become “obviously” great. Other ideas, in their original incarnations, are indeed weird, but they lead to practical, beautiful, elegant things. Thus, it is important for the creative thinker to be able to suspend judgment when new ideas are arriving, to have an optimistic attitude toward ideas in general.

Tolerates Ambiguity

Ambiguity tolerance may be… the “willingness to accept a state of affairs capable of alternate interpretations, or of alternate outcomes,” (English & English 1958). In other words, ambiguity tolerance may be central to creative thinking. (http://knowinnovation.com/tolerating-ambiguity/#sthash.XqxhaQh3.dpuf)

With the toleration of ambiguity, creativity gives way to new ideas, stimulates the acceptance of others’ viewpoints, and thus raises tolerance, understanding and cooperation. (http://www.academia.edu/2506344/Creative_climate_as_a_means_to_promote_creativity_in_the_classroom

Persists Even When Confronted with Skepticism & Rejection

Learn more:

- http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=Creativity

I have discussed educators as model learners before: The educator's role has or should change in this age of information abundance or Education 2.0-3.0. The educator's role has always been to model nd demonstrate effective learning, but somewhere along the line, the major role of the educator became that of content and knowledge disseminator.

Now that in this information age content is freely and abundantly available, it is more important than ever to assist learners in the process of how to learn. (Educator as Model Learner).

Learn more:

- https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2015/01/28/practice-learning-to-learn-example-2/

- https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2014/07/10/education-collaboration-and-coaching-the-future/

- http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=Learning+2+Learn

I really like what's in and what's out of current trends.  I created the following chart of what I hope and wish would be education ins and outs in the NEAR future.

Learn more:

- http://gustmees.wordpress.com/2013/01/23/is-your-professional-development-up-to-date/

Schools are doing Education 1.0; talking about doing Education 2.0; when they should be planning and implementing Education 3.0. This post seeks to compare the developments of the Internet-Web to t...

This piece was actually sparked by an interview of Lady Gaga by Soledad O' Brien at the Born This Way Emotion Revolution Summit where Gaga stated, "It's time to stop telling learners what to do and 

start listening for we can do for them.”

One of those accepted practices, sadly, in most educational settings is that the teacher is the authority to be respected and listened to without question. Listening to students is not a practice that is often taught in teacher education programs.

There is a current movement, in some circles, to promote and honor student voice.  But, and this is a huge but, if educators are serious about honoring student voice, they need to first learn how to listen, really listen to their students.

Students who are given a voice in setting goals gain ownership in what they’re learning. Teachers who listen to what students tell them they need to learn gain more than just a better understanding of the children they teach — they gain clarity on their roadmap to better teaching. And when conversations about teaching and learning are allowed to happen, teachers and students develop mutual trust and high expectations. (Want to Improve Teaching? Listen to Students)

Learn more:

https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2014/10/03/design-the-learning-of-your-learners-students-ideas/

https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2014/05/29/practice-put-students-in-the-drivers-seat-how-to/

https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2014/01/04/practice-better-ways-to-say-i-dont-know-in-the-classroom/

http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=students+voice

Understanding the fundamentals of electricity is an important part of science education. Often, simple demonstrations work better than textbooks, lectures or even videos. Simple science projects get...

Learn more:

- https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2014/08/20/maker-space-a-new-trend-in-education-and-a-big-responsibility/

- https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2014/08/24/coding-a-new-trend-in-education-and-a-big-responsibility/

Apply New Learning Often and in Meaningful Contexts 
The more you can apply what you're learning to your every day, the more it'll stick in your head. The reason is simple. When you're learning by doing, you're implementing everything that makes our memory work. When you're able to connect what you're learning with a real world task, that forms the bonds in your brain, and subsequently the skills you're learning will stick around. 

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We learn best when we have context, and that applies to new skills as much as it does random facts in school. That's why something like the transfer of learning is helpful when you’re learning a new skill. This means you're applying your new skills in your day to day life in a context that matters. (http://lifehacker.com/the-science-behind-how-we-learn-new-skills-908488422)

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Learn more:

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- https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2014/10/03/design-the-learning-of-your-learners-students-ideas/

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This is a follow up to a post I wrote, How Do We Learn? How Should We Learn?  The purpose of these posts is to encourage educators to examine practices they take for granted, implement without deep...

The following are some suggestions for establishing context (the list is just a start). Ironically, they are practices that are often recommended are best practices in teaching but they aren’t implement as often as they should be:

• Assess and Connect to Learners’ Real Life and Previous Experiences with the Topic – seehttp://ideaedu.org/research-and-papers/pod-idea-notes-instruction/idea-item-11-related-course-material-real-life
• Use Hands-On and Experiential Activities – see http://www.raft.net/case-for-hands-on-learning
• Use Case Studies and Simulations – seehttps://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/teach/instructionalstrategies/casestudies.html
• Have Learners Engage with Real World Practitioners – see http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/52279118#52279118
• Implement Place-Based Learning – see http://www.ourcurriculummatters.com/What-is-place-based-education.php

If I ask you or your students, "How do you learn," how many of you could clearly articulate this process? If you can, are the strategies you're using the best ones for learning? 

Apply New Learning Often and in Meaningful Contexts

The more you can apply what you’re learning to your every day, the more it’ll stick in your head. The reason is simple. When you’re learning by doing, you’re implementing everything that makes our memory work. When you’re able to connect what you’re learning with a real world task, that forms the bonds in your brain, and subsequently the skills you’re learning will stick around.

We learn best when we have context, and that applies to new skills as much as it does random facts in school. That’s why something like the transfer of learning is helpful when your learning a new skill. This means you’re applying your new skills in your day to day life in a context that matters. (http://lifehacker.com/the-science-behind-how-we-learn-new-skills-908488422)

   Resources for Educator as a Design Thinker Ideo. (n.d.).  Design Thinking for Educators Toolkit - Pfau, P. (2014).  Rethinking Education with Design Thinking - Speicher, S. (2013).  Design Think...

Learn more:

- http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=Jackie+GERSTEIN