My teaching philosophy is centered around the idea that the student is ultimately the one responsible for his or her learning. The role of the teacher should be as facilitator. The teacher should provide the student with tools to guide learning. These tools are vast in nature depending on what subject is being taught. For example, in the area of mathematics education, the tools would include problem-solving models and instruction in the use of technology.
In an in-person class, my view of an ideal classroom is one in which the teacher uses a rather Socratic method of teaching. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_method I visualize the teacher answering a student question with a question to invoke critical reflection on the part of the student. However, there are a couple of things that prevent this method from being a common reality in today’s classroom. First, there is not enough time to cover the required material if there is a lot of individual reflection of each problem situation. Second, today’s students want instant answers. They are used to “Googling It” and getting immediate results. They want to see how to do the problem, but don’t want to reflect on the problem-solving that goes into it. They see the answer to the problem as the desired end. I see the problem-solving that goes into getting the answer as the focus. Further, getting students to share their approaches with other students is valuable. As students witness other approaches, they are broadening their experiences with problem-solving and are essentially adding to their “toolbox” to draw upon in future problem solving situations.
In many ways I see that online education as an ideal opportunity to achieve the goal of making students responsible for their own learning. Online education is definitely student-centered. They must be active and participative in classroom assignments. They aren’t permitted to sit in the back of a classroom somewhere “learning by osmosis”. Students must take advantage of tools within the online course to direct their own learning experience. Again, the role of the teacher should be as facilitator. For me, personally, this is a giant leap out of my comfort zone. I welcome the challenge in creating the tools needed to enable students to learn in the online setting.
I am learning about participating right now, as a student, in that digital storytelling class I am involved in. In Blackboard it seems "safer" to say things in a discussion board. In this digital story telling class it is wide open and for me it is a bit more challenging to get the nerve to say what I want and feel good about doing it. I am just learning this stuff.
ReplyDeleteEven here, this is a space that we can have great conversations, but the teachers of the class are still having us "have" the conversations in Blackboard? Part of it is just ease of use. Interesting stuff these blogs.
That need to participate in order to be present in the virtual sphere is one of the most important benefits I see in online learning. I've incorporated discussion board assignments even in my F2F classes, because I find that I get great comments and questions from students who would never dream of opening their mouths in the classroom. I can then use those comments to start conversations in the class, encouraging shy speakers to elaborate on what they've already expressed to the class online.
ReplyDeleteYes, I too see online learning as engaging for all students. The written word can be a preferred communication style for shy students. I wonder if everyone reads everyone's posts. Probably not.
ReplyDelete