New ideas in Teaching:

FORAGERS, GATHERERS & SHARERS by Chris Thomas

In the modern world, language is not the only important communication system. (Marsh, 2009)

There are others.

Sign systems, images, words, actions, symbols, artifacts, songs,

games

...and media from all varieties of social and cultural input are also part of a complex system of communication that is more pervasive

and more impactful than the few hours students spend with teachers learning to read and write.

...like Noam Chomsky and others tell us that because of brainplasticity and other enormous changes in children's brainsduring the first six years of life, humans are uniquely disposed –some say innately disposed to learning language … and toassimilate vast amounts of information they receive from all theirsensory faculties.

LINGUISTS...

They also tell us that literacy is more than just reading and writing, that it includes a host of visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olafactory and other sensory information that helps us evaluate our surroundings.

In that respect, literacy is WHOLE BRAINED; that is, based on information gathered from all sensory inputs.

Rudolph Arnheim, author of “Visual Thinking,” tells us that “cognitive operations called thinking are not the priviledge of mental processes above and beyound perception, but the essential ingredients of perception itself.”

Because literacy must be lived. It must be a result of living.That is, information must be contextualized – it must be relevant – it must connect to a child's schema, the informational structures in a child's brain that form the foundation of their understanding of the world.

Information that is not linked with schema is not contextualized. It has no connection with the child's life. It is not remembered.

RELEVANCE

Connects Learning toThe child's

world

COGNITIVE RESEARCH

COGNITIVE SCIENCE studies the way the brain interacts with and upon the information it takes in.

Advances in the fieldhave helped educators understand

the complexity of the brain and its ability tohandle large amounts of stimuli.

They are also aware of the many sources of information that feed into the brain, helping

the learning process.

Dr. James Paul Gee is a linguist and cognitive researcherwho has studied the many effects of media and digitaltechnology on learning. In his book, “What Video Gameshave to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy,” he developsseveral principles that we can use as goal posts forcurriculum design.

Dr. Gee has determined a series of critical, active learning principles that help understand the nature of learning in a media-rich environment and its effect on the development of pedogogical approaches to instruction.

They start with...The Semiotic Principle which states that teaching literacy must include learning about and coming to appreciate inter-relations within and across multiple sign systems (images, words, actions, symbols, artifacts, and so forth) as a complex system that is core to the learning experience.

For curriculum designers this means incorporating all varieties ofmedia – especially cultural media – into our topics.

For teachers it means understanding and including culturalelements and ideas that have normally not been seen aseducational, such as using graphic novel formats andsoftware to teach writing.

GEE'S LEARNING PRINCIPLES

GEE'S LEARNING PRINCIPLES, cont.

The design principle tells us that the information design, such as the sequencing, presentation and the relationship of bits of information encourages active and critical, not passive learning.

The spacial configuration of letters – their size and shape and sequence, the relationship of words, the grouping of information, the sequence of general concepts and the inclusion of details – all these things are loaded with relevance that determines how much priority they are given.

Learning is the process of connecting all information to the schema. And it comes from all the sensory and environmental sources in life.

Therefore; the active, critical learning principle acknowledges that the whole learning environment delivers a constant stream of life information which the brain evaluates, integrates into memory and uses to determine the relevance of all subsequent information.

The committed learning principle tells us that if a child determinesthat what he's learning in school is relevant (and therefore, interesting,)this encourages children to form learning commitments to that topic. He/she is no longer motivated by fear of failure.

The practice principle is a function of that interest, a connection with a particular topic, one that makes repetition a function of interest - not boring – and gives the child a sense of challenge and mastery.

The ongoing learning principle builds on interest, committed practice and helps students achieve a level of mastery which happens when the information or process becomes embedded in the child's schema..

GEE'S LEARNING PRINCIPLES, cont.

Multimodality principle. Information may come from a variety of sources – visuals, sound, symbols, texts – whatever. And its particularities may change the child's understanding to some degree depending on the child's dominant literacy. However, the nature of that modality – color, motion, sound, image - may be the dominant connection or the hook, to the existing understanding in a way that is most beneficial to the child's understanding.

Linguists and cognitive researchers feel that children are genetically disposed to learning styles and susceptible to a host of cultural impressions. And because he/she learns in relation to his socio-cultural world, the different intelligences determined by Harvard researcher, Howard Gardner, thirty years ago, in his ground-breaking research become more understandable and startto help us understand why children respond differently.

GEE'S LEARNING PRINCIPLES, cont.

HOWARD GARDNER'S INTELLIGENCES

Linguistic intelligence involves sensitivity to spoken and written language, the ability to learn languages, and the capacity to use language to accomplish certain goals. This intelligence includes the ability to effectively use language to express oneself rhetorically or poetically; and language as a means to remember information. Writers, poets, lawyers and speakers are among those that Howard Gardner sees as having high linguistic intelligence.

Logical-mathematical intelligence consists of the capacity to analyze problems logically, carry out mathematical operations, and investigate issues scientifically. In Howard Gardner's words, it entails the ability to detect patterns, reason deductively and think logically. This intelligence is most often associated with scientific and mathematical thinking.

HOWARD GARDNER'S INTELLIGENCES

Musical intelligence involves skill in the performance, composition, and appreciation of musical patterns. It encompasses the capacity to recognize and compose musical pitches, tones, and rhythms. According to Howard Gardner, musical intelligence runs in an almost structural parallel to linguistic intelligence.

Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence entails the potential of using one's whole body or parts of the body to solve problems. It is the ability to use mental abilities to coordinate bodily movements. Gardner sees mental and physical activity as related.

Spatial intelligence involves the potential to recognize and use the patterns of wide space and more confined areas.

Interpersonal intelligence is concerned with the capacity to understand the intentions, motivations and desires of other people. It allows people to work effectively with others. Educators, salespeople, religious and political leaders and counsellors all need a well-developed interpersonal intelligence.

Intrapersonal intelligence entails the capacity to understand oneself, to appreciate one's feelings, fears and motivations. In Howard Gardner's view it involves having an effective working model of ourselves, and to be able to use such information to regulate our lives.

[Source: http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm]

HOWARD GARDNER'S INTELLIGENCES

Dr. Sugata Mitra's new idea: Education is a self-organizing system, where learning is an emergent phenomenon.

Dr. Mitra's Hole-in-the-Wall series of experiments where he placed computers in walls in rural slums in India revealed new aspects to learning. Impoverished children who had no schooling became interested, experimented, and taught themselves not only how to use the computer, but to use the internet to answer questions.

Dr. Mitra suggests that children who are provided with computers will become interested, will forage or gather information, will share information, and will learn - by themselves…without the hovering teacher and formal class structure. This is a paradigm shift because It involves a shift in our understanding of what learning is and therefore, what constitutes education. It expands our understanding of our human capabilities, and the potentialities of technology.

Check it out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqsTD4CzRYM&feature=related

The science oflearning, however,

keeps exploding with

new ideas!

? So what does this mean toEducational researchers?

To curriculum designers like myself, it suggests that perhaps there are better, more engaging, more productive ways of teaching children to read, spell, and write than what we've been doing. Perhaps our assumptions about individual's learning abilities are inaccurate.

Does our teaching paradigm constrain inborn abilities?

The great science fiction writer, Arthur C. Clarke once said, “Where there is interest there is learning.”

The problem is that children raised in a media-rich world aren't engaged by methodologies designed to for a print-oriented world.

The answer lies in the extroardinary learning potential of the World Wide Web and associated digital technologies.

VISUAL LITERACYAND OTHER LITERACIES

Aristotle said: “without image, thinking is impossible.”

Visual/spacial learning is a large component of most children's literacy. And in an article on multimodal literacy, researcher, M.Walsh says,

“The synchronous functioning of the modes of image, movement, colour, gesture, 3D objects, music and sound on a digital

screen require a different type of ‘reading’ or ‘writing’, a literacy that entails non-linear and

simultaneous processing.".

As one of my older students once told me,:“the human brain is a

kick-butt, biological computer – processing 1,000 terraflops per secondand capable of storing 280 quintillion bits of memory which it constantly monitors, compares, and updates.

VISUAL LITERACYAND OTHER LITERACIES, CON'T.

I would, therefore, suggest that a reasonable formula for an engaging curriculum on any subject might look like...

pictures/images/words + sound (music and voice)

+ color + motion + the web and ability to find answers on the web

+ independence to interact and explore at will+ guided questions and topics+ the watchful, guiding eye of a teacher

+ social interaction in small groups, + participatory exploration and discussion

= ENGAGED, RELEVANT LEARNING.

WHAT DISTINGUISHES DIGITAL LEARNING FROM TRADITIONAL LEARNING?

The use of digital technology and the web for teaching childhool literacy is easy to dismiss as unnecessary, but its implicit power of learning reaches way beyond the colorful cartoon letters bouncing across the screen.

These programs engage the senses, and create substantially different, more empowered learners because of a new relationship with information.

Children already know where all the information is – not in books.It's on the web. And they already know how to access it, retrieve it,manipulate it, and send it to someone else.

Learning is no longer a matter of memorizing information.There's far too much to learn and most of it will be obsolete soon.Learning is now a matter of computer literacy...knowing how to find current information and connecting it to what they already know.

Information is free...and freeing because it's active learning!

Information Foragers: curiosity-based learningThe web is full of answers – immediate, diverse trains of thought and logic that one can click through in a matter of seconds. This easy access to information has given birth to information foraging as a productive approach to research and analysis.

Information Gatherers/Designers: to learn, teach! Kids of all ages now find information, download it, redesign it into webcasts, podcasts, blogs, social media, videos, reports,visual demonstrations...and send it on.

Working with design triggers a repetitive process that creates neural pathways, connects the material to their schema, and...voila! Learning.

Information is free...and freeing because it's active learning, cont'd.

Information sharers: small group collaborative learningFar from the anti-social, computer-nerd stereotype, kids use technology as a social medium. They share with their peers; pursue their own interests, gain mastery and enjoy collateral, learning - incidental information - along the way.

Learning is now the joy it was meant to be.

Thank you.