Learning, not Teaching

I spent some time this morning reading and thinking about this post.

http://ihop.typepad.com/virtual/2009/03/the-objective-of-education-is-learning-not-teaching.html

Very nicely, it sums up so much for me.  I think back to the things that I’ve been taught over the years.  My background is in Mathematics and Computer Science so you’ll definitely note a slant in my examples, but I’d encourage you to apply this to your own situation.

What I Was Taught	Last Time I Used It	What I Learned
Multiplication Tables	1992	Calculators are cool Multiplication tables are good to teach nested looping
COBOL	1989	How to type Data Structures
The Lady of Shalott	?	How to memorize
Square Dancing	?	There are a lot of other forms of music
Chemical Titration	?	There is a lot about safety that I need to know Chemicals can burn holes in desks
Raw HTML	10 minutes ago	Dreamweaver is awesome Even Dreamweaver needs a helping hand at times

OK, this is getting too sentimental but I think you get the point.

I was a relatively good student and so did my very best to learn what I was taught.  Upon further reflection, the things that I was taught in the left column were essentially memory work to get me through the assessment.  At the time, there was little connection to much more than getting myself a good mark at the end of the unit.

Last weekend, I had the good fortune to meet up with a friend I see about twice a year.  Geoff and I have this ability to go months without seeing each other and the moment that we say hi, pick up on a conversation as if we had it only minutes ago.  This time, he through out one of Einstein’s famous quotes as we were chatting.

“Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything one learned in school.” – Albert Einstein

He is one gentleman that I never tire of chatting with and I always walk away with far more than what I brought to the conversation.  His mention of the Einstein quote certainly was appropriate at the time and is worth reflection by all educators.

I am deeply concerned when I think of the trend towards blocking of resources from the student learning experience.

What I Was Taught	Last Time I Used It	What I Learned
Personal internet appliances are not allowed in class	On the way to class On the way home At the mall In my room	My best friends are very helpful when I need answers The internet is everywhere Despite our textbook, Pluto is not a planet Everyone on Facebook is good and wants to be my friend

Years from now, will our students look back fondly on the memorization techniques that we provide them?  Or, will they remember us fondly because we gave them the opportunity to learn and learn powerfully with the tools at hand.

You just have to know that they’ll look back with a smile when they think about computers with video display tubes, marching to “the lab” because it was their turn on the computers, slow wireless speeds, …

Can we at least teach them that we’re learning and adapting to new technologies as they come along?

Social Bookmarks:

Powered by ScribeFire.