Jul 20 2008
The e-mature learner – Pedagogy to Heutagogy
John Anderson’s research made me think more about heutagogy, its place in schools and what (future? current?) teachers are learning about how mature digital learners learn best.
On the issue of the relationship between the teacher and the learner - … mature (sixth form) learners were given the opportunity to prepare for high-stakes examinations, in a social constructivist model, … we noted that learners grew anxious. They were uncomfortable with the modest shift in the locus of control from the teacher to the learners. Put simply, they were used to being spoon-fed and felt abandoned.
How then can school learning shift the students outlined above to engage and help the more mature e-learners now emerging below?
Put simply (and very effectively by John Seely Brown, 1999) web-savvy learners demonstrate a literacy of navigating complex information structures online which is intuitive rather than taught.
Brown sees a mode of discovery-based, experiential learning through the web and describes it as ‘bricolage’ reasoning – reasoning which is neither deductive nor abstract, but highly social and concrete, even though it happens online.
Anderson then goes on to say
the hypothesis is that education technology offers tools with which to research, find out, synthesise, reflect and evaluate and therefore to act more effectively and efficiently as a maker of meaning.
Thats why web2.0 tools for digital learning are what interest me, not the technology itself. Reliance on text book catalogues, library shelf resources and other traditional classroom resources is diminishing rapidly and the budget shift in DET and schools is reflecting this, or should be.
Teachers are pioneering the use of web2.0 tools in many schools now. I am trying to develop my own PLN and also reassessing my thinking on where schools need to be within the next few years and how best to get there. Thats where the NSW CCP and laptops for all staff and students will help, but that in itself is NOT the answer. Far from it.
A shift in thinking, particulalry teaching practices, is far more important IF the digital revolution is to amount to a significant change in school learning. As a non ICT teacher, geek talk about systems, servers, cabling, bandwidth or other “hidden” technology leaves me cold, but any learners learning deeply and actually using
Online communication tools (to) provide a vehicle for learning, creating important opportunities for collaborative dialogue, and learning through group relationships.
is professionally exciting and where I’d like to be as soon as possible.
Fred Garnett’s work also made me think more about learner generated contexts. I particularly liked William Gibson’s quote on slide 4.
Create a free edublog to get your own comment avatar (and more!)
Tony, you really are thinking and engaging with these complex issues in a stimulating manner. Here’s my less sophisticated attempt:
http://darcymoore.wordpress.com/2008/07/20/digital-education-revolution-school-development-day-teacher-professional-learning/
I see laptops as a large part of the answer, if the pedagogy that supports their introduction is implemented. Laptops are effectively the ‘Trojan Horse’ that will allow for a great deal of professional growth and transformed practice.
Thanks Darcy, I like the gist of your SDD, ours was valuable as well, just on a different focus.
Laptops for all staff is a must as a start, but it in itself is not the answer to developing quality digital classroom learning. Once we have a personal need for a new skill, and it becomes enjoyable, it is more likely the behaviour will be repeated. New learners need to play, reflect, repeat, explore, make mistakes, be supported and if DET resources the changes appropriately, “build it and they will come” just like the movie said.
In the UK, my understanding is that many of the IWBs sat, unused. The lack of funding for PD was the main issue but also an unwillingness to invest time professionally to change pedagogy. It all comes down to money; we barely have enough money to run our school as it is, even replacing all the chalkboards is not affordable. Funding change is the issue; staffing the change a close second as the average age of the teaching profession has soared.
Absolutely. There are many Uk examples of $IWB’s posing as glorified whiteboards/PP screens or worse not being used at all.
The IWB our school bought with grant money last year, HAS not been used as a learning tool (to my knowledge)
It is difficult to set up, time consuming to establish connections, no computer is assigned to run it and hardly any staff have laptops, we have no wireless network so the internet is not available, and NO additional TPL funding is available. Even our ICT person has limited understanding of the technology or software it uses.
Added to this is the unreliability of our network, other computers not working when we need them to, DET filter blocks when some innovators try to integrate ICT, not being able to load software apps when we need them as the administrator rights are needed. The list goes on.
If DET don’t fund staff training for CCP including money for fundamental pedagogical shift, then the CCP may well be a fizzer.
All accurate and distressing, especially for the staff really having a go. We are blessed with a couple of really talented techie guys on staff and a number of enthusasts who are influential; this is allowing us to make progress in a number of areas. Our 1 IWB is now in the library and we have every faculty with 2 laptops. This is still pretty pathetic but much better than last year. Moodle has been installed and staff are out on PD to implement this tool in the classroom. Several staff members are using blogs with classes or faculty. I am ’screaming’ via every association, avenue and contact that we need money, support and a TIMELINE for implementation NOW.