More thoughts on chapter 2, "Students and Learning" , from Solomon & Schrum's Web 2.0 New Tools, New Schools. In the conclusion of the chapter the authors discuss the challenge for today's educators. Constructivism, project-based learning and connectivism are discussed as a past trend in education. If they are a past, then I fear I am still living in the past. Most of what I believe about education is wrapped pretty tightly into those three terms. Students need to connected to their learning, they need to engage in the learning, to construct the knowledge for themselves. Teachers can not deliver the learning, we can't do it for the students, we must create an environment where students can involve and immerse themselves in the learning. Creating those environments whether online, during field experiences or in the classroom are the job of today's educator.
The authors discuss the very real concern over "teaching to the test", the idea that what we measure in standardized tests might not be what is most important. I have come to see these tests as both good and bad. Good in that we (educators) are being held accountable for raising student achievement. And certainly bad when they measure surface content and not true depth of knowledge. But they are here for now and as a public educator i have a responsibility to help my students to as well as possible of there tests. Over the course of the last ten years I think the tests themselves have gotten better. The authors worry that educators will (and have) move away from good teaching and move toward teaching to the test. Though we are concerned about the impact of test results in our district, we have not been asked to teach to the test.
I think we will see improved test scores by helping our students to be better thinkers and the way to make them better thinkers is to strive for deeper understanding in every thing we teach. Kids need to learn how to learn because all the research out there supports the idea that today's students need to be life long learners.
"I think we will see improved test scores by helping our students to be better thinkers and the way to make them better thinkers is to strive for deeper understanding in every thing we teach. Kids need to learn how to learn because all the research out there supports the idea that today's students need to be life long learners."
ReplyDeleteSo how do we test the ability to learn how to learn? Can it be done with paper and pencil? I don't have an issue with the accountability part, I have an issue with the testing what we know we shold be teaching part.
Thanks for the feedback Jeff.
ReplyDelete"So how do we test the ability to learn how to learn?" That certainly is the question, I agree traditional paper pencil tests are probably not the best way to measure. I worry that we spend too much time testing and assessing things that don't matter and in doing so we are losing precious time to help students learn how to learn and to own their own learning.