Monday, December 10, 2012

What can we learn from Batman?



Below is a very handy little resource from Peter Gutierrez about what can be taught and discussed with senior students in regards to Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. It is an excellent resource, and is a great example of the rich resource that pop culture can be if properly approached.


(Published by Metromagazine's Screen Education)


I hope that we can see more discussions and resources like this in the future as parents and teachers take the time to understand why students like certain films, and then help them understand the social and political climates in which these films were created in.


Wednesday, December 5, 2012

The end of fall semester 2012


Well the months have sped by, and it is almost time for a short Christmas break and a new year. Looking back on my experiences this semester, I am amazed at all I have learned. More than a cumulation of facts and figures, this semester has brought new paradigms and perspectives to how and what I learn.

Cool pond place in Colorado - we were there this summer

The following points are prompts provided by my professor to help me think through what I have learned about digital culture this semester - followed by my response.  

1. Self-directed Learning / Personal Blog Posts

This semester I have tried approaching a variety of topics in digital culture. Indeed, a great weakness of mine is narrowing my interests down! Perhaps the most prominent concepts I focused on this semester are those related to my educational startup idea which is closely tied to business and entrepreneurship as noted in my post "Making Curriculum POP" and practiced on my Beta site. I spent quite some time building new prototypes and getting feedback from others. These activities of agile development and social proof helped me as I began the semester with my toe in many different themes and topics.

Starting in the summer, but only increasing once the semester began, I got into listening to the podcast - On The Media - which led me to exploring things like Facebook and privacy as well as elements of human nature in the digital age. I also began tweeting and learning to have conversations around hash tags (rather than just speaking random things into the void). Digging around for educational content to support or supplement the badge project, I found many interesting things and people like the New York Times' education blog. Proper consuming practices enabled me to read and curate a large amount of helpful resources and articles about media education.  I read David Buckingham's Media Education and later discovered that he is probably one of the most important scholars of the field I may be interested in going into. Also I read Renee Hobbs' Copy Right Clarity which led to two great phone conversations with her about my video database. This was extremely motivating and a great testimony to me of the power of social proof. 

I started using Google Reader and Diigo and connected both of them to my Evernote account through IFTTT enabling me to consume very effectively and efficiently. The library of materials I have started curating there, along with my Twitter and Pinterest accounts are beyond the scope of this post. Of the most worthwhile findings that I have logged away in these tools, these three articles are among the top related to education and digital/media culture:


2. Collaboration

Our group started out as five people interested in badges. As we started choosing the direction we wanted to go, we each played a different role in getting the first iteration up. I put together a Prezi with the content provided by the other team members and recorded a simple screencast explaining the badge group scope. I also created a wiki (which went largely unused it turned out). When our team split, and Katie and I started focusing on badges for middle school kids, I helped produce a short explanatory video which integrated elements of After Effects and screen casted Prezi content. Katie and I worked hard to best understand the directions we should go, and under her direction I designed some badges and visited with her Mom about the class we were working with. Katie is a very hard worker, and I did my best to add anything I could to help her and our project be more successful.

In regards to other group projects, I did tragically less than I originally hoped for. However, I was able to meet with Grace and Allie at the library and spent some time playing a level on Little Big Planet. I gave some feedback to Grace, and was blown away by her hard work. It was really neat to see some of the changes she integrated after that feedback session. 

3. Others’ assistance

This semester I have been largely influenced by Katie Wilkie's relentless personal research on open education and badges. It has been really helpful to bounce ideas off of her, and build this project from the ground up together. Jalena and the Remix group have also been inspiring to me in regards to my personal project (to which this blog is normally dedicated to) and its relationship to copyright and Fair Use. Josh's blog on memes was very helpful as I was trying to explain the phenomenon to my family.

4. Digital Literacy

As mentioned earlier in this post, my digital literacy has been enhanced to in significant ways. Using the categories of "consume, create, and connect" I will review over some of the details.

Consume

I already talked about using Google Reader, Diigo, and IFTTT to properly consume and curate things online. Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest are more informal but still very helpful ways I gather both fun and relevant information in regards to my interest. As a part of my Google Reader feed I subscribe to a few blogs/curators that are already organizing information, such as Devour and Annie Murphy Paul's blog, thus helping me focus information one step further before I even get to it. Filters or consuming streams are important, but I have also been made aware of the dangers of creating a personalized bubble where I am only exposed to ideas that don't challenge me and so forth.

This semester I have started to be more effective with my time on the Internet. I have learned to only get onto Chrome when I have a purpose (even if that purpose is to have fun or check up on a friend). I guess you could say I have become more conscious of my habits and how I use the amazing tools that are available. These have been extremely valuable lessons to learn, and I imagine I will only come to learn them better as time goes on.

Create

Being a filmmaker, writer, and photographer, I was already using the Internet to a small degree to make things. However, after learning about the mantra "release early, release often" my perspective of creating online has changed dramatically. I am less concerned about getting it just right before hitting publish/share, and I am more eager to jump into a new tool and try things out. One example of creating I have done is making a new website (actually it is a Wordpress site . . . ) which was a challenge for me, but worth the effort it took to learn how to operate the system and manage things. I also spent a significant amount of time creating the google site that is associated with this blog - The Relevant Classroom project. Before this semester I had a little experience with either Wordpress or Google Sites, but I now I am comfortable enough to create quick and rough prototypes of projects or web site design proposals. Agile development and social proof are two other key aspects of creating I have learned and practiced this semester. I am excited to continue expounding on these principles with my photography, film, and educational design plans.

Connect

An important part of this semester has been my realization of just how amazing the Internet can be when it comes to meeting new people, collaboration, and networking. I mentioned social proof in the paragraph above, and connecting with other people was definitely a large part of that. After getting feedback on my "idea" from family and friends, I was able to connect with professionals in New York and Rhode Island via email,Twitter, and phone.


There is something quite neat and uplifting about connecting with others across the world, sharing meaningful ideas, and trading feedback with one another, that is unlike anything I have experienced before. Of the many things I joined/signed up for this semester, my favorite has been a social network for educators to discuss using pop culture in teaching. On that site I have connected with K-12 educators in Australia, professors in West Virginia, and graduate students along the East coast (among many others).

In connecting with others I have learned more about myself and how to approach new ideas and challenging issues. Social research, or using networks and online communities to learn about a topic, has become a new habit. I know now to check a variety of places when I think I have some "new idea" because the chances are - someone is already executing that very concept!

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Is it legal? How crowd sourcing pop culture clips is not a shady concept

Probably the most common feedback that I get when asking people what they think about my idea is: "Cool! But what about copyright?"

This has been my question for over 2 years now. What about copyright? Check out this video below, and maybe like me you will be a little surprised at what you learn. 


Under Fair Use, I believe The Relevant Classroom concept would work with the law just fine. If teachers and students are sharing and viewing clips with clear connections and context to what is being taught, then there really shouldn't be any problem with it. Looking at the idea from the filmmaker's position, would I really be that upset by millions of kids watching 1-3 minute clips of my movies? No! If anything, kids would be more likely to discover films they were unaware of, and may even spend money on the product down the line of time. But someone might ask, "Yes, but isn't there something wrong with a mass database of Hollywood clips that is open to the public?" I admit that initially I asked this question too. However, when you think about it - who is going to be searching this education site for mere entertainment? And if they are, won't they end up learning anyway? Thus the educational benefit will always outweigh the cost of the films themselves.

Movie clips, pop songs, comics, and trending culture in general is so rich for educational use. This database thing I have been pushing around as the potential to do so much good! It is free, it is legal, and it is relevant.


Monday, November 12, 2012

Another Iteration


I decided to dig in and revamp my database idea on The Relevant Classroom site, and now I feel that it is one significant step closer to being more accessible and ready for feedback and contribution. 

The challenges are still all over the place, including Google Sites being buggy (the joys of using free software!) and lacking in content. However, hopefully when you go to the site it is clearer as to what I am trying to do, and how anyone can participate. 

Probably the most often asked question I hear is something like: "So what is your end objective for this thing?" I don't know if I want to start a business (see the evil corporate looking picture on the left), or if I see this concept as being the foundations of a non-profit consulting group. Perhaps it could be an idea I formalize and then sell to TED Ed? They are doing something very similar, but without the emphasis on pop culture. 



Another option I have thought about, is developing this enough to where I could do some research studies by implementing the database in a classroom (or two) and then extracting some qualitative data about the student and teacher experience. This is a rich option because I could utilize expert critiques (from my professors) as well as see how the idea works in a real classroom

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Motivation and Student Value

I have been meaning to write an amazing commentary about these quotes, but realized I just kept putting it off. So, here are the excerpts from a chapter in The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences that taps into some themes I am really excited about. 



"There are several ways in which students can value subject matter. Intrinsic value is influenced by interest for the topic and enjoyment experienced when performing the task. Instrumental value refers to students' perceptions of how tasks are related to their future goals and everyday life. Attainment value refers to the personal importance that students place on accomplishing the task."

"Drawing connections to student's personal lives, embedding the introduction of new concepts and skills within meaningful tasks, and emphasizing the instrumental value of mastering a skill or doing well in a subject matter enhances value . . . A second way to enhance value is by incorporating topics that students find interesting."

"Teachers can support autonomy by allowing students to make decisions about topics, selection and planning of activities, and artifact development. When teacher practices are autonomy-supportive, students respond with increased interest and willingly approach challenges."

"One instructional challenge is to determine what students find meaningful."

"Descriptions of how students engage in initial experiences with inquiry suggest that another motivational challenge is that students are often interested in surface features of the investigation, not in the underlying content. Students often get excited about what they are seeing and doing during inquiry. However, students who lack the skills cited above can appear interested an excited about what they are doing, even though this does not necessarily translate into cognitive engagement with the content."

"Beyond the classroom, collaboration with other students, experts, and neighborhood members enhances student motivation. Students are excited when they have the chance to communicate with other students outside of the classroom via the World Wide Web. Opportunities for sharing work with their peers and community members beyond the classroom enhance feelings of ownership and value."

"To meet the instructional challenges of motivating students and promoting cognitive engagement  teachers must be motivated and invested in improving their own knowledge and enactment skills."

"We argue that the field (of Learning Sciences) would profit from making motivation an explicit concern."


Kempler, Toni M., and Joseph S. Krajcik. "Motivation and Cognitive Engagement in Learning Environments." The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences. By Phyllis C. Blumenfeld. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2006. 475-86. Print.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

3 Principles of Relevance in the Classroom



Introduction


A recent study, as illustrated by the Washington Post, evaluated whether universities should be held more accountable. It stated that colleges have been largely exempt from the accountability movement sweeping through public elementary and secondary schools yielding the No Child Left Behind Act and other initiatives. Within the article there is mention of backlash and many themes arise such as the ambiguity of evaluating "successful" education, and how to quantify (or qualify) what is working and what is not (De Vise). This issue isn't so much about effective tests, or getting the right money to the rights schools; it is essentially about the why and the what of today's current educational system, and the why is more important than the what in learning every time (Page).
            Good evaluations and questioning of student outcomes ultimately result from our concept of the purpose of school. Some may see school as an institution primarily responsible for preparing a child to enter the workforce, while others feel that attending school should be an experience that helps facilitate citizenship, character, critical thinking, and leadership skills among other things. Beyond these two ways of thinking are inevitably countless others. Regardless of the perspective of the role of education, however, it is unlikely that anyone feels children and young people should be experiencing hours of what seems to them to be irrelevant lecturing or instruction. And yet, with the current state of testing and attitude of standardization--that is exactly what is happening even in the face of overwhelming research that opposes it (Strauss). Said author Daniel Pink, "In education systems tilted towards standardized tests, grades, and 'if-then' rewards, students often have no idea why they're doing what they're doing. Turn that around by helping them glimpse the big picture. Whatever they're studying, be sure they can answer these questions: Why am I learning this? How is it relevant to the world I live in now? Then get out of the classroom and apply what they're studying . . . Think of it as the fourth R: reading, writing, arithmetic and relevance" (179). It is not only an issue for the students, however; many teachers are faced with the challenge of addressing different needs and appeasing expectations as diverse as uninformed parents and fearful political leaders. Relevance is essential on all fronts.
            This fourth R that Pink introduced is more than just a current popular trend in education--it is a scientific fact that appears time and time again in studies across the nation to be important to effective learning. Students obtain more knowledge and retain further information when they actively participate in the learning process and when they can relate to what is being taught (Akey, italics added). Relevance is essential to learning because of how the brain takes in new information. Teacher and writer Bill Page explains, "The brain works by linking things to other things. Memory relies on patterns, concepts, meaningfulness, relevance, and associations. New knowledge must connect to previously learned, relevant, and meaningful experiences and knowledge. Lack of meaning makes it difficult to study for and pass tests. Students learn isolated facts only by rote memorization—relating it to stored learning using pneumonic or memory gimmicks" (Page).  Learner's brains are also impacted by the manner in which those who are experts in a particular field share their knowledge. In relation to what Bill Page discussed about the linking that goes on in the long-term memory of the brain (this process is also called "retrieval" in the literature), Ruth Colvin Clark writes about additional challenges:
            Expertise in all domains relies on extensive patterns stored in long-term memory--  patterns that enable experts to make much better use of the limited capacity of working memory. But sometimes those patterns get in the way. Have you ever watched a subject matter expert teach a class? Quite often they overload the learn ers' working memory with too much content, with unfamiliar terms, and with lengthy lectures. Experts just don't realize that their memories can hold and process information much more efficiently than novices. (33-34)
Who is at fault then? The expert teacher who is oblivious to the fact that the students' working memory is overloaded, or the student who just can't seem to focus and work hard in class? The answer is: neither. No one is "at fault", the simple truth is that everyone desperately needs to be taught the basic fundamentals of how the human brain learns new information.
            Beyond the functions of the brain, relevance in learning is often received with higher levels of satisfaction among students than ambiguous instructional methods. While addressing problem-based learning in the medical field, Clark asks, "What might account for the popularity of problem-based learning? I think the main reason is relevance. A medical student has already studied years of science and is now focused on a career objective. By engaging with patient cases early on, the instructional environment is more in tune with their career goals" (68). Clark is talking about medical students, Pink is focusing on children's education, and Page speaks merely to students in general, and they all come up with the same connection: relevance. In this argument I too will focus on the fourth R of education and illustrate how this quality is the fiber that binds effective education together. Three points make up my argument: relevance promotes engagement, relevance increases motivation, and teachers who make relevance a priority become servant leaders who change the world.

1. Relevance Promotes Engagement


Relevance is important for a number of reasons; one being that it fuels engagement in learning. Why is engagement important? Because "Only engagement can produce mastery [which means one] becomes better at something that matters" (Pink 207). A flight instructor could teach essential maneuvers and emergency procedures to new pilots, but unless he or she is engaged in the learning process, the relevant material to the safety of the aircraft and those on board could be in great jeopardy of never being learned or executed. Academic disengagement continues to be a problem within the U.S. school system (Crumpton & Gregory). While the reasons for this truth are diverse and plentiful, the fact remains that the repercussions of disengaged students generates a significant impact on society as a whole. In studies done on low-achieving high school students, researchers are finding that without seeing the value in education, low-achieving high school students face the proximal risks of disengagement and low achievement, and the more distal and debilitating risks of grade retention, dropout, restricted job options, and low wages (Battin-Pearson et al.; Jimerson). It is inferred that without relevance in the classrooms of America, along with students becoming engaged in understanding how the material applies to their lives, the nation's economy will continue on the path of frustrating mediocrity that has been at the center of debates for nearly a decade. What can be done to increase engagement in the classroom and thus impact the overall welfare of the education system? Implementing the fourth R of education is a start, and this can be done by closing the gap between what students perceive they are learning in the classroom and what they will need afterwards, and by using popular culture in instruction.
            An important step to making education more relevant in general  is to address the gap between what students feel they are doing in classes and what they feel they need to be doing to be prepared for "the real world." Said one scholar, "One reason students fail or are disinterested is because they don't see the connection between today's lesson and what they really want to do someday. The more we can close that gap--to illustrate classroom relevance to their world--the better we can engage students and keep their interest. The prospect of getting a job and working 40 plus hours per week for the next 40 years doesn't exactly breed excitement in this generation (Masters, italics added). This concept of closing the gap in the classroom does not have to be only the teacher's responsibility, but parents and friends, civic and church leaders, and other influential adults can take part in changing the culture of education. Scholar Rebecca Black feels that even in areas such as fan fiction and social media there are many opportunities for learners to develop as they engage with materials. She explains, "It might be tempting to dismiss activities such as fan fiction writing as leisure-time pursuits that have little relationship to academic content . . . Lessons based on popular culture can offer a wealth of opportunities for encouraging students to critically engage in broader discussions about the ways that mass media construct various cultural, gender, and social roles; promote particular representations of the world; and position youth as consumers"(Black). Instructors should not feel that important, evidence-based teaching methods are obsolete because young people are getting bored. The key is to help students see the relevance in what they are learning, and often popular culture-- something young people are almost always fully aware of--can be the gateway to creating the desired relevance and engagement in learning situations.
            While not all scholars are embracing "edutainment" models as effective teaching pedagogy, it is challenging to argue that such practices do not generate engagement and thus present students with relevance for their education. If it is something as small as finding clever opportunities to integrate TV, movies, or pop culture into lesson plans (Masters), teachers and trainers can connect the new generation of students with relevant media which in turn will promote engagement. The connection between engagement and relevance is not a fad in educational research. A research team concluded at the end of a study,  "Drawing connections between information taught and real life—such as everyday life, social issues, and personal concerns of the age group of students—is highly effective in engaging students in the lesson"(Heller et al.).  A different study focused on struggling teens found that regression analyses show "students who found coursework personally relevant had increased engagement . . . Importantly, this relationship was mediated through intrinsic motivation"(Crumpton & Gregory). Faculty members (parents, leaders, and anyone who is acting in a teaching role) should challenge themselves to reach out to students by regularly incorporating pop culture into their instruction. Maybe an example from a recent movie or. . . possibly posting a weekly career spotlight of someone under 30 who is successful within the field . . . Students will pay attention and be more inspired to learn than ever before (Masters). As mentioned before, never should the focus fall on pop culture as the end goal of learning. When used appropriately in classrooms settings, such media and methods can strengthen the connection between what students are doing as learners, and what they will need to do once they are out of school. As learner's perceptions of that gap closes, and teachers use engaging teaching tools and methods, the relevance of the material goes up along with engagement and another essential attribute: motivation.


2. Relevance Increases Motivation


It is not uncommon to hear unmotivated complaints ringing off the walls of local high schools about math assignments that don't seem to have a purpose or whining that an English teacher required a useless paper. Perhaps these murmerings are characteristic of young people and will always exist. However, no matter how much one might want to yell at the teens to 'get over it and just do your homework', science explains, “motivation is fundamental to learning” (Hinton, Miyamoto, & Della-Chiesa). Thus, regardless of how the teacher, administrator, parent, political leader, or coach views the material that must be taught, no real learning will occur without motivation in the student. What is the general current state of students and learning? One scholar reports, "Adolescents complain that they are more interested in and learn more from their own explorations with the media and the Internet outside of school than they learn in their content classes" (Magnifico). Currently the topic of the Internet and learning is one of the most hotly discussed issues in education, the implications are in many ways hard to evaluate at this point. However, it is clear that students struggle to find motivation or even relevance in conventional classrooms when they feel like they can learn what interests them on the Internet. Part of the solution is using tools that learners are interested in (such as new media, TV, or the Internet). In addition, teachers can use relevant problem-based methods and help students keep a growth mindset. Focusing on these three things will unlock the door to motivation and enable vast amounts of student learning to flow through it.   
            As mentioned already, students' motivation often plummets in classrooms because they would rather use their own media or "digital texts, such as websites, television programs, video games, and trade books. However, identifying the appealing elements of these alternative texts could assist teachers in designing instructional activities that are relevant to and motivating for today’s students" (Alvermann, Moon, & Hagood). This doesn't necessarily mean teachers should be embracing every electronic device and allowing students to play around every class period; the emphasis should be on the motivation and relevance that come when students use tools they are familiar with. One math teacher found he was constantly pushing up against this very issue. He explains, "I have found myself bemoaning the fact that students spend more time on their game consoles than on their math homework." It seemed that no matter what he did, students would always choose their electronic hobbies over his assignments. However, the math teacher later realized that this could be a strength in his classroom if he focused it correctly. He continues, "Today’s students are part of a gaming generation that possesses a new set of skills on which teachers can capitalize" (Gasser). In his article Gasser discusses his use of creative problem solving, relevant math problems (such as determining the appropriate car that has the best gas mileage when given a set of different numbers), and the use of problem-based instruction. This final method of teaching deserves more attention.
            At the beginning of this paper a quote by Ruth Colvin Clark illustrated the popularity of problem-based teaching in medical schools because students saw the relevance of the material to what they would be doing as a profession. This model can also be effective for other students whether in math, writing, science, or a variety of other subjects. By creating a problem that is believable (or realistic to the student approaching it) and relevant, students will not only engage with learning--their motivation will increase. Thus the question of how to design motivating instruction has an answer, like this one provided by Guzzetti: "Instructional strategies such as small-group discussions to solve a problem or predict an outcome allow for giving and getting different perspectives to consider and evaluate and promote critical inquiry. These approaches allow students to be at the forefront of their own learning and become dominant in the teaching-learning process" (Guzzetti). While problem-based learning methods are not always the best, researches have found that student's motivation and learning go up. Perhaps it is more than just motivation, but also the presence of relevance that influence these methods.
            However, even with strong relevance, motivation can often be swept aside when learners see themselves as failures or "not smart" and they refuse to approach a subject. Gasser faced such issues in his math classroom, finding that often students lost motivation and interest in the materials because they just were not good at math.  He stated, "We need to produce a climate where failure is viewed as an experience from which to learn and not one of which to be ashamed. Creating such an atmosphere is not easy, especially with students who have been raised in a culture of competitiveness"(Gasser). His comments are revealing about the society learners are submerged in and how that affects the acquistion of knowledge. Carol Dweck, a professor at Stanford who has studied this perspective of failure that Gasser saw in his classroom wrote a whole book about the concept (Dweck). Because his book focuses exclusively on motivation, Daniel Pink provides an excellent overview of Dweck's findings on perspectives of failure: "If you believe intelligence is a fixed quantity, then every educational and professional encounter becomes a measure of how much you have. If you believe intelligence is something you can increase, then the same encounters become opportunities for growth. In one view, intelligence is something you demonstrate; in the other, it's something you develop" (121). In short, many see themselves at a certain level of intelligence, and they feel that no matter what they do they will not be able to increase it. This "fixed mindset" is the thorn in the flesh of relevant and motivating learning structures in today's society. If nothing is done about it, relevant material that is both engaging and motivating has no influence on the lives of the learner. In the end it is the person who fills the role as teacher--be that parent, leader, friend, or classroom teacher--who can assist the learner to open their mind and heart--a "growth mindset"--to the relevant material before them. In order to generate such a mindset, however, students need teachers that care deeply--even to the point of becoming a "servant leader."

3. Teachers who Make Relevance a Priority Are Good Hosts & Servant Leaders


This argument focuses primarily on the role of relevance in education. Engagement and motivation are natural and important stems of relevance when addressing learning in formal situations. In addressing the role of the teacher, little has been said about the actual practices the teacher must use to ensure that relevance is a priority. How can teachers prioritize relevancy in the classroom?  This important question is essential to be answered by every professional instructor, but will not be answered in detail in this paper. Rather, we will look at a few broad ways that people who fill the roles as teachers can do this.  While years of discussion, experience, and wisdom are behind these issues, this article merely seeks after a few meaningful traits that instructors can adopt to encourage relevance in learning. Among these qualities are two specific attributes: teachers can strive to make learners comfortable by being a good host, and they can become what Robert Greenleaf calls a "servant leader."
            The first of the qualities that can assist teachers is to be a good host. This may sound somewhat out of place, especially when the fact is that usually the term "host" refers to "a person who receives or entertains guests at home or elsewhere" (Host). However, when trying to interact and influence people, young or old, it is important to receive them in a way they feel comfortable and can open themselves up for learning. Clark encourages, "Promote deeper learning by speaking in a conversational manner using first and second person and polite phrases" (117). If students are frightened, disrespectful, angry, or confused when interacting with the teacher, then there is little chance that teacher can assist in the learning process of the student. This concept applies to settings other than a conventional classroom. This hosting idea spans all teaching "jobs" such as parenting, coaching, or leadership of any kind. With e-learning and video conferencing, hosting should still have a presence. Clark is very clear that "When communicating instructional content in texts, on computer, or in the classroom, adopt hosting techniques by using appropriate social cues that make you accessible to your learners" (119).
            The second quality that can assist teachers in creating environments of relevancy is by striving to become what Robert Greenleaf calls a "servant leader." These two seemingly disagreeing terms make up a dichotomous title of what learners need in order to be willing to engage and learn relevant materials. What is a servant leader? Greenleaf explains in his book Servant Leadership, “It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant—first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served" (13). It is the natural instinct of most people to abuse power once they have it. Teachers become the de facto leaders by the fact that they have knowledge their students do not. When the very first priority for that teacher is to communicate their wisdom successfully to the learner, then they become servant leaders. They choose not to lead or teach for compensation, title, reward, or status, but for the benefit and well-being of those they care for. Throughout history, teaching as a profession has been known for this sort of mentality, and it must continue to be that way. It is important, even in these times of harsh teacher evaluations and reforms (as mentioned in the introduction to this paper), that the profession and identity of teaching be grounded in servant leadership. An article published in Educational Leadership magazine that highlights quotations from students who had positive experiences with servant leader-like teachers. Brittany, a five year old from Michigan talked about an opportunity she learned from. The subtle guidance and teaching from a loving instructor can be observed when reading the following statement.
         Helping out with the younger kids and teaching them to read made me feel good        because I could tell that us bigger kids were making them more comfortable than when they went with the adults. I remembered how stressful it can get to not know how to pronounce words or letters. After we had been working for a couple of days, they were getting the hang of it. They finally whizzed through a whole little five-page book, and we all got so excited. I would never have thought in a million years that I would help someone do something as special as that. I will never forget that moment. ("What Students Want")
This example is one of untold millions, and these kinds of stories must continue or else students will not be affected by relevant material--even if it is motivating or engaging. Several studies have found that students who noted that their teachers were supportive and cared about their success were more likely to be engaged in the classroom and perform well academically (Heller et al.; Akey). While supportiveness and care can be challenging to monitor and evaluate, it should be understood that these qualities of servant leadership are a part of the key attributes teachers ought to be striving for. Greenleaf, aware that these ideals are no quick fix or simple answer explained, "At its core, servant-leadership is a long-term, transformational approach to life and work—in essence, a way of being—that has the potential for creating positive change throughout our society" (Greenleaf, "Servant Leadership Within" 16). Students need not only relevant course materials and exciting content, but parents and teachers, leaders and guides, who feel the student is relevant to society and the future of this planet. Learners of all types need instructors who are good hosts in the classroom, and lead by serving in both example and attention to the potential of the student.

Conclusion


This argument approached a wide variety of issues, practices, and subjects that are connected to the educational process. Though many concepts were explored, there is a large need for further research. Health education researchers summarized this need at the end of a particularly detailed study concerning active and passive learning strategies in large group settings, "While both educational theory and common sense argue that active learning strategies should lead to improved learning outcomes over traditional didactic lectures, experimental data directly comparing active to didactic teaching strategies using the same content and learners are scarce" (Haidet et al). There is a need to further investigate the methods of teachers who engage students with tools such as social media and the Internet, as well as the academic impact of students that are more motivated to learn than others. Relevance has been--and will continue to be--an important quality to understand and promote in learning centers around the world. While the research has room to improve the academic understanding of how relevance helps learning, methods of appreciative inquiry (AI) act as guideposts for educators as the field of learning is molded by the revolutionizing wheel of the information age.
            In their anecdotal, yet heavily researched-based book Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, Chip and Dan Heath explain a process of appreciative inquiry that leads to the saving of countless lives. They relate the tale of Jerry Sternin, a man who is sent to Vietnam on a shoestring budget in 1990 to solve the problem of malnutrition and starvation among children (27). At first feeling overwhelmed, Sternin was clueless as to how he should proceed. After questioning the villagers for data and visiting their homes he realized it would be impossible with the time and money he had, to go about the whole process in ways previous experts had attempted. Like the field of education, there were simply too many reasons that things could go wrong so children were not getting the nourishment needed. Sternin finally came to the conclusion to look for what was working, and what families were getting all the necessary vitamins. He began asking to see those families that had children who were not lacking the essential sustenance or contracting disease. This method of AI, focusing on the solution rather than the problem, led to a few small and simple adjustments that increased the level of health in the region dramatically. Positive psychology methods such as the one Sternin used in Vietnam have been followed in countless other venues across the world, and it is time to bring such practices to the schools and houses of learning in the United States. It is so easy to focus on all the possible reasons America's schools are not performing. These causes are the focus of many political debates, the topic of blasting press articles, and the theme of documentary films. "But as one top executive summarized, 'If you focus on (an organization's) weaknesses, (it will) lose confidence.' At a very basic level, it is hard for us to build self-confidence when we are focused on our weaknesses instead of our strengths" (Rath). So it is with education. The more we focus on the bad, the more challenging issues we will have to "fix". Thus further research in regards to relevance and how it promotes engagement, motivation, and shaping teachers to become hosts as well as servant leaders, is necessary. Better understanding the role of the fourth R of education can change the course of America's learning system, especially when looking to those that are already doing it and replicating their successful examples to the best of our ability in every kind of classroom possible.




Works Cited


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Monday, October 15, 2012

Reflections

These past few days I have started to feel a bit overwhelmed with all that I want to write about, and with the encouragement of my professor I think it is wise to take a step back and reflect on how things are going in general. 



I started this semester reading David Buckingham's Media Education, a book that I feel is extremely important for anyone interested in teaching and learning in today's digitally saturated world (see my whole review). Perhaps the most significant point I learned is the importance of understanding that children are "growing up" much faster merely due to the fact that information is so ubiquitous. It is essential that teachers and parents not only recognize this fact, but take active measures to utilize the situation for the benefit of the children. Media and technology literacy should be at the forefront of our education system, and if it isn't then students will learn those skills in other ways that may lead them down a less healthy road. After reading this book I realized that knowing principles such as how to connect, create, and consume in an informed way on the Internet will become increasingly more important. We need to start teaching this now. 

About a month or so ago I had the chance to read The Odyssey. It was my first time reading Homer's classic, though I have heard the story before. As I read I thought about how the ancient story carried with it specific themes that we may consider to be elements of digital culture (see my past post about masks). I really enjoyed looking for these themes, and connecting the literature to concepts like identity, exploration, and self-control was revealing as I came to realize that many of the seemingly new issues of the information age are really as old as civilized society. 

In thinking about the movie clip database, and more recently educational badges, I have learned to take a large initiative in my personal learning. I have learned and started to actively use Diigo, Google Sites, Twitter, Google Reader, and Google+ among other networks and tools. These platforms have lead me to enormous vaults of knowledge and helpful opportunities for progress and feedback.

So far the experience with these new platforms and concepts have been greatly supported by my classmates. We have been interacting on Google+ and I have found that receiving just a small degree of social proof has had a remarkable impact on my motivation and ability to accomplish things. In addition to the sense of encouragement I have received, I have been exposed to some really interesting and helpful ideas. My classmates are doing incredible things, and at times I feel a bit inadequate when I make the mistake of comparing my progress to theirs. 


Perhaps the most intriguing concepts I have found so far in this experience is that there really is a digital culture both online and all around us. By jumping onto these different platforms I have started meeting people and having conversations I thought I wouldn't be having for another 10 years! It is remarkable what a little initiative and activity can accomplish these days. There are so many things I am interested in, and I have been especially excited by how in general people online and experts in fields like media literacy and education are kind and positive. I am probably getting ahead of myself and the process, but I want to turn some of my somewhat abstract ideas into concrete products. I also want to learn how to better manage my online presence so that I am more consistent and less spastic when it comes to my online activity. 

Anyway, this has been a somewhat brief but much needed reflection on my experiences so far with these projects and in my digital culture class at BYU. Look for more posts soon about the badge project (we still need to find a good name for this) !