I remember back in my glory days at the University of Iowa, when I was getting my bachelor’s in Elementary Education, I only had to take one technology class. The final project was to send and receive email. No, I’m not joking. As you might be able to guess, I already knew how to do that. I wanted to learn how to create my own web pages. (Just to put things in perspective, this was shortly after modems hit 56kb, so the web had images, but high speed was ISDN and really high speed was dual ISDN.)
I was doing a community service project for a different class. I thought that instead of ‘learning’ how to send and recieve email, I could create an online portfolio for the project. While neither teacher really had any idea how I would be doing it, they gave me the green light and away I went. My first HTML web pages, my first online portfolio, and an experience that has contributed to the path that led to the career that I’m in now when you get right down to it.
The reason I share that little story is because neither teacher had any idea how to build a web page, and yet once they understood what I was trying to accomplish, they supported me in my endeavors. They didn’t need to tell me how to do it, they just needed to have an open mind.
A friend of mine forwarded me on what just might be the best marketing site for a book that I have ever seen. Take a minute to read through it. It won’t take any longer than that.
It’s brilliant. It’s eye catching, and yet incredibly simple. Low tech, and yet high tech at the same time. It makes a point in a very whimsical way and while it may not look like much, it obviously took a great deal of time to create (think about the books and the matching shirts).
So my question to you is, if a student came up to you and told you that instead of doing a book report, they wanted to create a website using images drawn on a refridgerator, would you let them? Encourage them? Push them to go beyond pencil and paper, or Microsoft Word for that matter? Would you allow them to create an animation to represent what they’re learning in Geometry instead of doing 30 practice problems? To create a digitial story about the Boston Tea Party instead of memorizing the date it occured?
Is there space in your classroom for innovation?
Steve, When I was taking courses for my doctorate one of my teachers explained that the job of a school principal is to make it possible for others to have a very interesting job. She meant that teachers have a very interesting job. I don’t think she was correct. I’d say that the job of a school teacher is to make it possible for others to have a very interesting job. I couldn’t agree more with your post.
Yes, Yes, Yes! The first day in my high school class I ask the students what it is they want to create - and that’s their project for the class. The content is from all kinds of sources (English class, social studies, personal interest, etc) but the way the student shows off their ’stuff’ is up to them. Some (usually freshman) still want to be told what to do. One student looked at me and said, “I’ve never not be told exactly what to do.” He had a really hard time coming up with an initial project, but now nearing the end of the year, has more than he can handle.
4/22/2007
In response to Kern and Steve, I think that students are told what to do too often. In my experiences as an educator, I believe from elementary to high school you will find over 90% of your students searching for step-by-step instruction. What is ironic about this scenario is that as an Art and Technology Educator, I was never one to fall into this category as a student, and as an educator I constantly search out ways to create open-ended projects for my students. Creativity in our students is underestimated and often not celebrated enough. I myself encourage students to seek unique innovative ways to communicate their ideas, as well as meet the objectives of their assignments. Balancing these two very important ideas takes time and effort, but in a world with increasingly competitive creative thought and design, we as educators must meet this difficult challenge.
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