What's up with Skype?

Earlier this week in my Contemporary Canadian Short Story class, my classmates and I had the opportunity to Skype with one of the authors whose text appears on the course syllabus. This was the first time in my university and academic career that a professor used Skype, instead of typical YouTube videos, to enhance our understanding and learning with a visual and an interactive medium. It was a very unique and memorable experience and it encouraged me to reflect on the use of such technology in a more twenty-first century classroom and evaluate the effectiveness of this learning strategy.

An important consideration is that activities like this are not always possible. Some professors do not have the resources available to them or, despite their best efforts, cannot convince or find an ideal time for relevant speakers to address their class. Nonetheless, Skype makes this easier on both parties. It can prevent travel and cut down on other problems that are associated with distance and overall it can be very convenient for willing participants. This is definitely a benefit to technology.

Less personal connections can be made via Skype or other forms of video interaction. This may benefit some students as they may feel more comfortable asking questions and feel less intimidated by the virtual presence of an informed speaker, thus allowing them to get more involved. On the other hand, some students may feel or be less engaged.

One of the ongoing debates about school is approximately what time students are most ready to learn and for how long students are able to maintain their concentration. My Contemporary Canadian Short Story class begins at 8 am and is three hours long. I have no trouble admitting that it can be difficult to stay focused in that class, not because of the content, but because my brain is not fully ready to function at such an early hour, even though it is expected to be. The Skype conversation provided us with a break from our usual routine. I noticed that it also helped my level of concentration in the morning and during a rather long class because it provided us with something different. It disrupted our usual process, which consists of listening to a group deliver a presentation and have a predictable discussion afterwards, in a positive way. 

We were not required to take notes and there was no test afterwards. We were encouraged to just listen and respond. I noticed that my focus was much better without the added pressure of trying to write down verbatim notes. I monitored my own learning and wrote down points that particularly interested me. Therefore, this assessment as learning (AaL) strategy was successful in encouraging student autonomy.

There is a downfall, however, of relying on technology, such as Skype, in the classroom. We encountered internet connection issues and other technical difficulties, like making and answering the call and ensuring that the screen and the Skype video conversation was visible to all students in such a classroom setting that is clearly designed to just accommodate discussion. There were various delays that resulted in some class time being wasted. Being a class with older, upper year university students, these delays did not result in students being off task, but if it occurred in a secondary school setting this would be more of a problem. Getting students to stay on task and get back on track is a struggle that all teachers face and the unreliability of technology may make this even worse. Similarly, as identified in our course book, one of the reservations that teachers have in regards to implementing technology in the classroom is that students often have a better knowledge about technology than teachers do. This can result in a role reversal of the teacher and the student, which can be uncomfortable. My professor had to seek assistance from other students at times as she struggled to work the program. Again, in a university setting this was not much of a problem, but getting other students involved in such a way in a high school setting could be. If a teacher knows that he/she is less competent than their students when it comes to technology, this recognition may cause teachers to be more cautious when dealing with it or cause them to use technology more infrequently, thus eliminating these interactive ways to learn in the classroom. Personally, I found this Skype discussion very helpful and I know that other students did too, so it is somewhat of a shame that unfamiliarity on the part of a teacher with technology or a certain program may result in its use being avoided all together causing students to miss out on valuable opportunities.

Reflecting on the KDB framework and what is most important to Know, Do and Be, I would say that, in the context of this specific class, this activity required me to know the place that humour has in Canadian literature and the stereotypes that are associated with the genre, as well as the strategies that are necessary to break these conventions. The Do or the twenty-first century skills that I gained from this include critical thinking and question making, collaboration, investigation and interpretation. Finally, I learned to be informed, to be attentive and accepting and to be an active Canadian citizen by reflecting on past Canadian historical influences and modern views.

As a result, this Skype session may seem like an added bonus or a waste of classroom time, but in reality it covered all of the goals that my professor outlined for the course, provided us with a rare chance to hear feedback from another expert and opened our eyes to the idea that technology can be used in productive ways and is not just a distraction when it comes to education. I know that this experience will be something that I remember and appreciate at the end of the term and will not just be something that I forgot about because it blended into everything else that I learned over the course of the semester.

Source: http://shop.skype.com/i/images/shop-graphics/skype-ready-tv.jpg

Questions, questions and more questions

This week I found myself plagued by many questions and a desire to challenge the design and assessment model that is favoured in the twenty-first-century classroom and that is exactly what I intend to sort out and do in this blog entry.

One of the three approaches to assessment, which is assessment for learning or AfL, redefines the role of both the teacher and students. In doing so, various methods can be used that are meant to enhance learning, however, some of these methods that are suggested by Black and Wiliam (2004), which reflect a twenty-first-century view of education, can produce uneasy responses among students. This is problematic.

What happens to students who are personally against certain methods of instruction and assessment? I cannot help but wonder about the resistant students that feel intimidated in different scenarios, whether that be feeling unprepared, speaking publicly or directly interacting with a teacher. For instance, what if students are, in fact, prepared and attentive, as the no-hands policy requires them to be, but, just like people who experience test or exam anxiety, are not good under pressure? Are they just supposed to suck it up because the teacher has the authority to implement these somewhat uncomfortable methods in a classroom? I would, in fact, classify myself as a more reserved student that is easily intimidated, so perhaps that also plays into my deliberation on this subject.

Our course book Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment talks about the flawed nature of the traditional and Socratic style of questioning, but isn't the no-hands policy flawed too if there is an unwillingness or fear to participate? Certainly, as the book indicates, some of this tension can be eradicated as students become more confident around their classmates, with the procedures and realize that this is an attempt to create a collaborative environment and not embarrass one another. Even so, this mindset may never fade away and what happens to those students? Do they become permanently apprehensive and distressed learners? What if these incidences contribute to them no longer experiencing the joy of learning? How will the rest of their educational journey progress?

In terms of my own educational journey thus far, as a shy student the memories of being put on the spot or in an unpleasant situation in the classroom have lingered resulting in a lot of concern and anxiety over being put in a similar situation. This has caused me to simply want to avoid repeating the past, per se. Therefore, I cannot say that as a student I was completely unaffected by these "bad" or awkward classroom experiences and this has likely altered my perception of assessment and learning as a prospective teacher even though I agree that some educational reform needs to take place. 

On one hand, as teachers, how can we expect students to just forget or not be affected by the traditional model that has now been engrained into their brains and immediately be open to this somewhat drastic change of twenty-first-century learning? On the other hand, how can we expect classrooms to successfully transition into this new and necessary modern teaching model if students don't deal with and accept uncomfortable styles of learning or step outside of their comfort zone? There will be no progress and education is about progress, especially now that the use of technology is more prevalent. I guess a better question then is how do we get students on board with this idea without just forcing them into it or springing it upon them? I would suggest a more gradual introduction rather than completely overturning a classroom, overwhelming students and counting on them to just adjust.

All of the aforementioned questions lead to one overarching question that current and prospective teachers, like myself, struggle with, which is how can educators accommodate all of the their students or the vast majority of them?  Honestly, I do not have a comprehensive answer to that and I wonder if anyone really does, however, the first step to solving a problem is asking the important questions. After all, asking questions is the key to higher thinking, learning and problem-solving. 

Ultimately, the reality is that education is incredibly diverse and that there is no perfect model of teaching, only those that appear to work better than others and satisfy the needs of the majority of students in a changing world. There are always exceptions when it comes to students, learning and teaching and unfortunately not all of them can be accounted for or prevented, but maybe there are even better undiscovered ways to approach education that will benefit an even higher percentage of students. 

 Source: http://stockfresh.com/image/1860416/speech-bubble-with-question-mark-icons

A reflection on the past and a look towards the future...

Hello! My name is Amy Bourque and I am twenty-one years old. I have just entered my fourth year of Concurrent Education at Brock University, continuously preparing for my final year to commence next September. I am majoring in English and my second teachable is French. Therefore, I am a bit of a language enthusiast (among other things like photography and music).  

One may ask "why teaching?". Although that is a complicated question to answer in one blog post, as there are many reasons, there are some more basic explanations and considerations as to why I have chosen this career path and way of life.

I recall in the third grade, for an art activity, being asked to draw myself in the environment that I pictured myself working in one day. By the end of the class, there was an abundance of pictures of firefighters and veterinarians, but I drew myself in a classroom next to a chalkboard with juicy red apple on my desk, which was my clichéd representation of a teacher at the time. I now know that teaching encompasses a lot more than that. At the age of nine I had an idea of what I wanted to be when I grew up and I have not had any doubts about my choice since and that has lead me to where and who I am today as a person, a student and as a prospective teacher.

As I have grown older and closer to my family, I have come to believe that my passion for teaching may have initially been passed on somehow from my Uncle, who unfortunately passed away when I was only a few months old. I have been told that a lot of my traits resemble his and lately my fascination has grown as to how and why that could be. I have also been told that it was not only his reputation as a teacher that made him so memorable in his teaching community, but his dedication to the profession and his students. Perhaps unknowingly I take after him and I certainly hope to take something from his success as an educator.

Also, simply put, as a teacher I want to inspire others the way that I have been inspired throughout my educational journey, both inside and outside of the classroom.

As previously stated, French is a subject that I would like to teach. I am one of the only grandchildren/great-children in my family that did not attend a completely French school, but rather learned the language gradually through the Catholic education system. I felt an obligation, of sorts, to my family, to carry on with French, but I did not always have a desire to do so. With each passing school year, however, my interest in the language grew and learning French was no longer just a way for me to fit into my large family and share a commonality with them, but something that I was genuinely interested in.

One of my grade twelve teachers is responsible for my increased engagement with the language from his use of what I now know to be holistic curriculum. Rather than  just choosing to directly instruct his students, storytelling was an important part of his teachings. By doing so, the teacher modified instruction, or individualized curriculum, in order to meet the needs of a greater variety of learners, still with the goal of ensuring maximum comprehension in mind. The teacher made additional attempts to draw pictures in order to help convey his stories. This choice appealed to more visual learners, like myself.

Personalization or personalized learning is also apparent in the teacher's methods as us students had the option to take notes or just observe and listen. There was no test on the material nor was there an assessment of learning (AoL) in the form of a number or letter grade. Unknowingly at the time, my classmates and I were assessing and reflecting on our own learning as we monitored our own understanding of the French language, verb tenses and sentence structure. We could take what we wanted from the stories with the teacher as our guide on the path to improvement.  

An added bonus is that by sharing some of his personal memories with us and his own French background, the teacher created a bond between himself and my classmates and I that was built on trust and respect and he became more approachable.

This same French class took place in a rundown portable. It was not a very motivational or productive atmosphere, but it was the only space available that could accommodate our unusually large class size for an upper year French course. Therefore, on various occasions, my teacher took advantage of the bleachers that were right outside of our portable and held some of his lessons outside. This gave us a break from our strict alphabetical seating arrangement in the classroom. At first there were some distractions, but the teacher eventually encouraged us to observe our surroundings and incorporated that into our learning and building of French vocabulary. That is not to say that my teacher did not employ traditional methods and did not expect us to memorize grammar rules and verb conjugations in order to get right answers, but he did incorporate more innovative and constructivist ways of learning, most of which I had never encountered in a French classroom before, or other classes for that matter.

I can say that both of the aforementioned Old Story and New or Emerging Story approaches were beneficial to my own learning and continuation in French studies. The blend added dimension to my learning experience and allowed me to discover my own learning preferences, but now as we enter a digital age I suspect that how I learn best, and definitely my perspective of teaching, will evolve.