Shelley Wright is a teacher who believes in all children having the right to experience “deep, authentic, transformative learning”. We support her completely in this outlook and this aim. As Shelley says, “It’s possible to embed technology in every aspect of teaching and learning and it still be a completely teacher-centred classroom . . . Real power comes when students take responsibility and ownership for their learning – when they become co-creators of their learning experience, rather than their education being something that is done to them. This is where true student empowerment and engagement begins.”
Shelley is obviously an inspirational teacher, and this blog post, “The Difference”, indicates with great clarity and subtle humour where education and schools should be heading.
Two recent experiences have significantly impacted the way I think about teaching and learning and the importance of student autonomy and volition in our classrooms.
I recently had the opportunity to attend a PD seminar around embedding technology in the classroom. A wonderful goal, really. I think embedded tech is important; in fact, I think it should be the status quo in every classroom, every day. I honestly think there’s little point to tech as an after thought so that we can say we’re doing something “techie”, as if that’s the goal instead of deep, authentic, transformative learning.
As I listened to the presenter, something didn’t sit right with me. At first I couldn’t figure out what it was. So much of what was being said I agreed with. Tech needs to be part of the entire learning process; social bookmarking during research, Google Docs to create a common document, collaboration between peers, the creation of technology projects –things that I advocate…
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