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“Games have grown up, and playing them is no longer reserved for children. In fact, the ability to play may be the single most important skill to develop for the 21st century.” (Thomas & Brown, 2011)
Reimagining Online Learning
Reimagining Online Learning
During the course CEP812 I was introduced to the concept of wicked problems or problems that are so complicated it really isn’t possible to create a solution to. The new Media Consortium created a white paper that highlights 5 of the top wicked problems facing education today. Working with Nathan Jacques and Kaitlin Rhonda we decided to work on brainstorming possible ways to reimagine online learning, on of the top 5 wicked problems in education today. Here is what we came up with during our brainstorming sessions. I especially want to thank Nate for all his wonderful artwork, the project turned out better than I had imagined it could.
White Paper
It is no secret that there are many problems in education today. Some problems can be solved easily, while others take some work. And then there are problems, the wicked problems, that seem impossible to tackle. Koehler & Mishra (2008) define wicked problems as a problem that has
incomplete, changing, and contradictory requirements. Solutions to wicked problems are often difficult to realize
(or maybe even recognize) because of complex interdependencies among a large number of contextually bound
variables. Wicked problems, they argue, cannot be solved in a traditional linear fashion because the problem
definition itself evolves as new solutions are considered and/or implemented. (p.10)
Lately, online learning has been a focal point in education reform, but online learning is not always successful. Why is this the case? Reimagining online learning is a wicked problem, one of the top five affecting education as identified by the New Media Consortium (2013). They challenge educators to re-imagine online learning. However, there is no one way to reimagine online learning in a way that will be successful in every school district. The formula has to change with each particular classroom. Online learning is also constantly changing and it is difficult to stay on top of the latest trends. It’s even more difficult to determine if these latest trends are indeed effective means of teaching! Finally, the success of online learning has so many different variables, that there could literally be thousands of different successful approaches.
Different districts have different policies regarding which devices, technology, and programs are usable, which also makes this problem a little more wicked. Many schools allow the use of cellphones or other personal devices for the purpose of text message polling, social media in the classroom, and other forms of educational communication. Other school districts have banned the use of cellphones and other personal devices for reasons from abusing the privilege to violence issues. Regardless, it is up to the school district to determine how and what technology can be used, which greatly affects the success of online learning.
Our potential solution to this wicked problem revolves around the idea of getting students plugged into their own learning! What does this mean?
We love the idea of “digital gaming” in education. What is gaming in education. Gaming or the “gamification” of lessons use game-like mechanisms to increase motivation and involvement. These mechanisms include, earning experience points/badges, having “lives” in an activity, and a video game element where students have to work through a series of tasks in order to “win” or be successful. Digital gaming allows for students to work at their own pace. By allowing students to work at their own pace, all students can achieve to their highest potential not falling behind because the class pace is too quick for understanding or bored due to the class pace being too slow.
Digital Gaming also creates an environment where students can make mistakes and try again until they are successful. In a typical video game, a player can make a mistake, die, and come back to life to try again. In a classroom setting, students should be able to make mistakes and build off of that to be successful.
Digital gaming also adds an element of entertainment that is similar to what they are doing outside of school. Developing a gaming lesson that gets all students actively involved can be a wicked problem in and of itself. However, the chances of students being more involved in an interactive learning game over taking traditional pen and paper notes on a lecture is highly probable. Many students who put in little effort into their school days will go home and spend a lot of time and effort into learning new information to be successful in the online environment. We think education needs to tap into the potential for student motivation found online. The idea of gaming appeals to student interest, even those who may not be “gamers” by definition. Gaming can be individual, for those who like the challenge of accomplishing goals/tasks. It can also be group-oriented, for those who thrive off competition and teamwork.
Within this, online learning needs to matter to students. It is also important that learning is connected to the real world. Gee (2013) says, “Often students can see no clear and compelling goal for learning in formal classrooms beyond grades and graduation. They often do not care about the material in any deep way.” (p. 16) Students need to be able to find meaning in what they are learning. If students don’t see a real world connection, it is likely they won’t put effort into learning it long-term. If we make online learning fun and realistic, online learning can be a powerful thing.
What that experience will look like for every student, is still a wicked problem that needs to be solved. With the circumstances of each student being different from access to technology, teacher comfort, teacher knowledge, school policy, board policy, state or provincial mandates, it is improbable that a single vision for what online learning looks like is possible to create. What may be possible is an amalgamation of practices that are anchored to educational research from which teachers could choose from to suit the needs of their particular students. Here is the start of a possible list of strategies to keep students highly involved throughout a gaming scenario:
1) Daily reflection and Debate through Twitter, Blogs, Posts, and Surveys
2) Conscious implementation of devices into assignments and projects
3) Project based learning through the maker culture. Innovation through mistakes
4) Sharing Web 2.0 applications and attempts to fit into content delivery
5) Learning through teaching. Use technology to research and then return information to peers
In the end, the only thing that matters is the students. Something that needs to be at the forefront of all interested in educational reform.
References
Gee, James Paul (2013) The Anti-Education Era: Creating Smarter Students through Digital Learning [Ibook edition] New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan
New Media Consortium (2013) The Future of Education: The 2013 NMC Horizon Project Summit Communique Retrieved from http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2013-Horizon-Project-Summit-Communique.pdf
Outcome Based Gradebook
Outcome-Based Gradebook
During the last three years, a local school division has been transitioning from a percentage-based system that records student grades with the mean being used to calculate average to an outcome-based reporting system where growth over time and most consistent achievement are valued. This new system requires teachers to give parents feedback as to how students are doing over a semester without using summative (or final) assessments until the end of the semester. The latest phase of this transition is to have an online method for parents to be able to see their student’s assessments at any time. To this end, the existing platform of digital percentage-based gradebook is being repurposed to display students’ formative (working) assessments to students and parents.
In my analysis, the features of three existing online gradebook programs were examined to identify key components necessary in the creation of a new online gradebook for outcome-based assessment. As no outcome-based gradebook was found, this analysis looked at the features in two standards-based gradebooks, Active Grade and JumpRope, as well as the existing gradebook, Desire 2 Learn, used by the school division that starting to use outcome-based reporting. I then turned to my staff to get feeback on what they wanted in a gradebook. When I needed to do the research, only four out of a staff of 40 were willing to talk to me about how they wish the grade book system worked....but come the week of progress reports I couldn't stop them from sending me feedback about how much the program was broken and how it wouldn't let them do x or y. So I guess, timing is everything. People have limited interest in something that they have no need to use at the present but have heightened interest when it directly affects them.
After getting limited feedback, I decided to create a working prototype using Flinto. I can't show you the protoype as after my free trial was over I have no access to the protoype. However, screen shots as used in the above video. Once the prototype was finished, I set up a focus group of teachers. We moved through the prototype, with the teachers voicing comments about what they liked and what they wished were there for each step of the prototype. All of that feeback has been summarized in the focus group report found in the above video or at the bottom in PDF form.
What would I have done differently?
I would have liked to see how the teachers teaching a single subject would have differed from teachers teaching two subject classes. Would they have had similar results to their respective groupings of STEM and Humanities or would they have created their own profile. I also would have liked to have seen what the results would have been like with a larger sample of the staff. Would these results have been similar if more members of each group had participated. It would also be interesting to see if the results would be the same if the parameters were expanded to include the staff from different schools.
I did come out of the observation really realizing how lacking our existing grade book system is, and how it is another example changes being made before the infrastructure to support those changes. It is possible to hammer a square peg into a round hole...it isn't pretty or effective but you can make it sort of work. And that is how my grade book is, not pretty or terribly effective but it sort of works and I guess that is good enough until a better program comes along. It is days like today that I wish that I was a computer programmer so that I could create the program and give it to my school board so that what I am required to do is easily possible.
