Definitely! Perpetuating horrible lectures is not going to fix any problems or win any converts to the lecture style. I also think it’s interesting that many college professors start out with little teaching experience (which is often because there may have been little chance to do so during a PhD, not necessarily because they didn’t want to) or else poorly-informed teaching experience (they don’t know a whole lot about education to begin with), whereas elementary and high school teachers are more likely to have a degree in education, where they learned how to teach (and lecture) more effectively.

I also thought a lot about personalization with this week’s subjects. A multiple choice scantron test is universal. You can give it to any person, anywhere, at anytime and measure the same things fairly consistently (in general). That is exactly why the government loves them! The type of learning we’ve been discussing in class however only happens when students get connected to their instructor and to other students in a personal way. One size does not fit all in “real” education.

You are absolutely right “knowledge is power”, but do you think that you will acquire this power by relying everyday on the available technology? When I read the part where you said that if you wanted to find something you had to go to the library and get the answer from a book, it made me remember my MSCE advisor that always told me that this was the best way to find the answer but I never understood why until I finished my masters. Having this technology will make you find only one thing that is in your mind and leave the rest. For example if you want to know about WWII in a USA history book, you might learn about WWI or Vietnam War just because you are searching the entire book, however if you use the internet you will find the answer for what you are looking for and nothing else. In summary, I’m not a product of the 90s but I would give anything to be one.

I also really like the prius metaphor. I started my college career over a decade ago, and in that short time the dynamics within a classroom have changed so much. When I was a freshmen there were still some older professors that lectured at a podium straight from their notes, they did not ask questions because what would a student have to add to their great lectures. Things are different now, I think in some good ways and some bad ones. But I feel lucky to have all of the tools I’ve learned over time to bring to my own class.

P.S. I am old enough to think that pajamas and work out clothes are not appropriate for the classroom.

That’s very true! We have opportunities that no one had before. It is unfortunate that many teachers and professors don’t or can’t take advantage of them. And it’s not only digital tools that can be used. Teachers and professors can share interesting lesson plans or ideas about how to better teach concepts with each other online, which was also never possible in the past.

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I really appreciated your post. I think that games are one of the best ways to get people interested in a subject. I think a little competition handled improperly can lead to students feeling like “winners” or “losers”; but competition handled properly can be a little push towards excellence for everyone. I think it can be a tough thing to do properly in certain group dynamics and that’s why I really believe games like any other teaching tool need to be tailored to the individual classroom. So I agree with you and the reading that games have a lot of potential in the classroom.

I remembered those days when I used to play Halo for xbox almost 24/7. At the point where I started skipping classes during my undergrad just to play with my friends. After I got caught up into the game, I wanted to get better that everybody else therefore I started reading books about how to improve the way I play and of course the tricks to cheat a little bit. All this motivation lead me to learn more about the game, however it didn’t help me being mindful every moment due to the fact that while I was playing I got lost in that digital world. It is a great idea to have “video games for those books” but until what point the learner will understand that not everything is a game.

Silence is definitely crucial for students to be able to stop and process what they’ve been listening to. It provides needed breaks in between sessions of talking and listening–as anyone who listens to jazz knows, the pauses are as important as the notes themselves. That being said, it’s also somewhat nerve-wracking as a teacher to sit and wait in silence for an answer; I’m left wondering if I asked too difficult a question, or if I’m waiting too long before helping them out, etc.

I definitely think that note-taking is important and necessary, especially in more lecture-oriented classes. No matter how active and engaged a student is, there’s no guarantee that they’ll remember every part of a class, so the notes are there as external memory storage. I certainly prefer hand-writing my notes instead of typing, because the physical act helps to reinforce the memory and it allows me the freedom to draw diagrams, arrows connecting different concepts together, etc. in order to help me remember things better. As a teacher, knowing students’ propensity to not take notes if they know the slides are online has definitely affected my teaching style. I try to minimize the amount of words on a slide and instead use them as talking points to elaborate on during the lecture.

Yes, having a balance is a must! Mine was an example to get the thinking going, as I wouldn’t want to overwhelm students by doing too much to foster learning. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could find that well-tailored balance that works for most, yet gives options for those who need something different too? Hopefully we will get there (someday!).

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