The Crowdsourced Classroom

This is a place for me to just post about what I find important or interesting in the realm of education.

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Reddit-ucation

I have felt that there are no good communication tools within e-learning resources.  The chats are desolate and the forum is hard to parse through.  I hated communicating in e-classrooms from the beginning, but after using Reddit, I saw just how much better things could be. Imagine being able to view comments and discussions in the order of how important the class (or multiple classes) thinks they are, and being able to reply directly to other student’s comments.  I would actually want to comment...

What is Reddit?

The popular social news network Reddit.com has attracted around 3 million page views per day.  There are thousands of active topical subgroups (sub-reddits) and many popular links rake in thousands of "up-votes," which are the driving mechanism of the site.  Users can upvote or downvote posts to move them up or down in viewing order.  These votes don't just apply to the main posts, but to the comments, and that is where the magic happens.  To any popular post, there are hundreds of comments, with people commenting to others comments in a conversation thread form instead of a forum form, so people can directly respond to comments.  Users can then upvote or downvote these comments and this shapes the entire comments section, as the best comments rise to the top and are seen first.  Many misleading posts are corrected and clarified in the comments sections as people vote the best comments to the top of the section. 

An Engaging Online Classroom.

This democratically arranged thread mechanism would be a fantastic structure for social learning within an e-learning resource.  For every lesson element, whether it be a learning activity or a video, students could develop a conversation over time, where they could answer each other’s questions and hold discussions relevant to the subject.  Students could even get in their jokes and socializing in comment threads without disrupting the ability to parse through the on-topic conversation, and their usernames force students to be responsible for what they post.  Of course the teachers would need to be vigilant in moderating, but allowing any student to flag a post as possibly inappropriate would improve the teacher’s effectiveness.

Besides simply being able to post about a lesson element, students could pose their own questions, comments, and links in separate posts that appear on the class homepage.  One other benefit of Reddit is that it conglomerates the highest trending topics in the categories you choose to appear together on the front page.  This would allow the home page of an e-classroom page to display the trending links and community questions from different subjects at once.  There could even be a two column approach of trending posts and new posts.  Much in the fashion of Reddit, students would have a mechanism to view replies to their posts, helping to facilitate the conversation.   But why stop at just the class level…

THE WHOLE SCHOOL!

If instead of limiting this to e-learning sites, the students could participate on a school level.  This would create a common platform for students to communicate about all school related matters in a structured and efficient way.  Students who are members of clubs can post in their clubs subgroup, which is moderated by the sponsoring teacher.  Polls and posts from the administration can appear on the front page.   Subjects can have their own discussion pages, and students can share resources and schedule meetings on their own time.  A “new club forum” for students to find their peers with common interests would strengthen the motivation people have to explore their interests.  There are probably many more possibilities as well.

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Thinking on Feedback

Feedback is an excellent means of reinforcing both relationships and competence.  

I have pondered on assessment generation that can be broken down by standard (or multiple ones addressed) and offer an answer selection where each [incorrect] answer choice is a common incorrect answer when the question is given in free response.  If each choice were encoded with feedback on how they messed up, it would be able to provide feedback on what mistake the student made.  Including hints would help students who don't know what they are doing or might have gotten stuck.  

Many e-learning resources resemble this in that they provide constructive feedback, but they are missing the relationship/social side of it.  Somehow we must bridge this gap and provide a socially constructive environment.  These resources are fantastic for summative assessment, but the teacher needs to know how the students are learning things to properly move a classroom forward and to be respective to their ZPD and motivation.  This is a topic that I am sure many scholars are exploring.  Whenever we can find a way to help teachers be more efficient and present without compromising their relationship with students, there is an opportunity to innovate.

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Jim Stigler is a psychologist who studies the differences in how Eastern and Western cultures approach learning. After watching a Japanese student try and fail and try again, for a whole period, to draw a geometric shape in front of the entire class, and then enjoy the experience … he knew something was different about the philosophy of struggle in Eastern classrooms. A key bit from the NPR story (emphasis mine):

“I think that from very early ages we [in America] see struggle as an indicator that you’re just not very smart,” Stigler says. “It’s a sign of low ability — people who are smart don’t struggle, they just naturally get it, that’s our folk theory. Whereas in Asian cultures they tend to see struggle more as an opportunity.”

In Eastern cultures, Stigler says, it’s just assumed that struggle is a predictable part of the learning process. Everyone is expected to struggle in the process of learning, and so struggling becomes a chance to show that you, the student, have what it takes emotionally to resolve the problem by persisting through that struggle.

“They’ve taught them that suffering can be a good thing,” Stigler says. “I mean it sounds bad, but I think that’s what they’ve taught them.”

Not all Eastern cultures are identical, of course, but I think it could serve American students nicely to realize that yes, this stuff is hard, struggle is part of learning, and not learning something at the same pace as others doesn’t mean you are stupid … it means you are learning the way that you learn.

That idea should be encouraged. Success in learning and in life comes from the desire to work hard to master the problems before you. Intelligence is not bestowed upon us like magical powers from above. 

Very good read over at NPR, check it out.

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Calcu-literacy

Math literacy is an often overlooked skill.  It allows us to communicate mathematical relationships, read equations aloud, and understand function notation, among other skills.  Without this skill, students cannot read mathematical texts, understand abstract topics, or intuitively apply mathematical concepts to everyday life.  

What can we do to increase math literacy among students today?  Here are a few suggestions:

Rewrite equations into sentence form, and compose equations given a description.

Create a symbol synonym chart, showing that "=" can replace the word "is," that "rate of change" or "per" often implies division or differentiation, and that the word "net" implies subtraction.

Describe the shape and features of parent function graphs, and then compare and contrast the graphs of functions, relating differences in the shape to differences in the equations.

Narrate over a video of a problem being solved.

Annotate a worked problem.

[Have students] grade incorrect work and analyze where errors were made. For an extra extension, have them grade it according to a rubric.

Write synonymous relationships whenever possible, like about geometric relationships or about traits of different derivatives of a function (f"(x)>0, f'(x) is increasing, slope of f(x) is increasing, f(x) is concave up)

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Grades

"Report cards should not include any failing grades because failure is on par with incomplete in that it shows no evidence of learning.  When the student finally does show evidence of learning, that evidence needs to be reported and the previous acknowledgement of failure becomes irrelevant as it does nothing to demonstrate progress.  In fact, if a student does have many failures and works hard to demonstrate proficiency after receiving a failing grade, why shouldn't they receive the same grade of meeting expectations as a student who gets it the first time but doesn't work harder to exceed expectations or learn other things.  Working hard in the face of adversity is a virtue that should be nurtured.  Failure teaches consequences and maintains the integrity of assessment. A new system would need to provide the opportunity to fail but be designed in such a way that it inspires hope and a chance for redemption, which emulates the real world much more than the status quo."

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A great blog on post-modern study and motivation.

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Zen Valedictorian: Unlocking Intrinsic Motivation

Zen Valedictorian, from this article,  is a fascinating philosophy that suggests empowering ones intrinsic motivation by structuring your life to cater to it.

It suggests three pillars of underscheduling, innovate, and focus.  

Also this blogger offers a lot of other interesting theories which I find intriguing.

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The Resource of Willpower

Check out the studies in the article.  They are fantastic.  Also, the author notes that the best ways to avoid burnout is (FTA):

"As much as possible,engineer your student life to make the source of your actions intrinsic— that is, freely chosen and connected to an honest interest.

Run fast as hell from any large commitment that you feel like you’re expected or have to do. Over time, these will keep draining your vitality until you spiral into a burnout.

Be careful about asking for advice from authority figures.Hearing, for example, a parent telling you that you should follow a certain path can have the effect of making the related actions feel controlled — even if you might have arrived at the same conclusion on your own. Mentors are safer as they exist outside of an existing framework of control in your life.

Spend the time necessary to figure out what’s important to you and what’s not. Without real values, almost any activity will be arbitrary or controlled by outside forces.

Leave your schedule open enough that, on a regular basis, you can pursue random, interesting opportunities as they arise.These provide the vitality equivalent of booster shots; keeping your zest for life strong."

And in conclusion

"When you’re doing something that you choose to do, it’s just not that bad."

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Movember

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Practice as Practice.

Have a weekly required practice set for the class, filled with recent and not-so-recent problems.

“If you don’t use it, you lose it.” 

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Group Writing

Students begin working on a problem or worksheet, showing all of their work.  After a minute or so, they rotate papers.  With the new sheet in hand, they check the work done so far, and continue working where the previous student left off.  By having multiple versions or problem sets, additional challenge can be added (From the College Board Website).  This will both keep students on their toes, and allow them to practice reading over the work of their peers.

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Never use "smart" as a compliment.

If you call me smart, it discredits any and all work I have invested.  Genetics did not earn me my grade.  When [smart] students are rewarded and lauded for their work which required little to no effort, they are being trained to take pride in how little work it took to succeed.  This devaluation of hard work manifests as a lifestyle, which follows them as they grow up.  

To be "smart" is to be relieved of learning the virtue of hard work.

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“Life-Lessons”

Students often complain that they are not being educated in many of the topics that matter that much in the real world.  By teaching them very relevant topics, like how to apply for a loan or care for your car, they will be much more interesting and relatable, as well as useful for the students. 

Many students complain that they aren't taught how to “buy a house, balance a checkbook, or even cook.”  By investing lesson time in developing many useful skills while learning the curriculum, students can get even more out of the learning experience, and as a result will tend to be more involved in their own learning.  Collect ideas from recent grads and students themselves.  Build a pool of ideas to pull from to provide students with important life lessons.

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Knowledge Requirement Checklist

Students should be given a curriculum checklist to track their learning accomplishments.  Whenever they are able to demonstrate having met the learning requirement, then they can check that topic off of the list.  This will keep students informed of what they know and what they need to work on. It will also make catching up easier when students can see a finite list of things required to meet expectations and catch up.  This also empowers students to be catalysts for their own learning.

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