The New Culture of Learning
“We can help our students to learn how to learn and grow into the people we all hope they will become” Dwayne Harapnuik
The twenty-first century is about embracing change, looking forward to what will come next, or viewing the future as a set of new possibilities. It is a new world where connectivity is everywhere, and access to information sources is unlimited. Every day we adopt new ways to perform tasks in our daily life as a natural learning process. Today, people of all ages learn by doing, asking further questions, and working together to solve problems and take opportunities. This new learning culture often occurs without books, teachers, or classrooms. However, education stills following the same factory model and prepares students for jobs that do not exist anymore. It is time to move forward and create significant learning environments (CSLE) that engage our students and prepare them with the skills required for twenty-first-century jobs. I intend to create a significant learning environment with the pilot of my Innovation Plan by implementing ePortfolios.
To create significant learning environments, Harapnuik, D. (2015) suggests starting with a student-centered approach where each student can be seen as an individual that has a choice and voice in their learning. We need to stop treating our students like programmed machines to accomplish task-test results and make them learn as much as they can and as fast as possible. The study of How People Learn found that to optimize learning, schools and classrooms should be learner-centered. Students come to the classroom with different perceptions about their environment and cultural differences that affect their knowledge (Donovan et al). Personalization is required to improve students' attitudes toward learning. It increases engagement and motivation. ePortfolios are personalized learning spaces that help improve critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Learning is dynamic and growing; we cannot just pour knowledge into someone (Bates, 2015).
Effective learning environments provide unlimited access and resources to the learner and freedom of action within certain boundaries and structures that include play and imagination. Play is the tension between the game's rules and the freedom to act (Thomas & Seely, 2011). With this concept, learners create in the face of obstacles. They use their imagination, wonder how to solve problems, and find joy in learning. When we play, we engage in passion; with imagination, we can develop innovative solutions. We must give our students access to this unlimited information within a structured environment to cultivate minds. ePortfolio adopters will have the opportunity to explore different platforms to develop their websites and use a variety of software to present their learning pieces of evidence. We must allow experimentation and help them stimulate their imagination through inquiry that motivates learning and provide constraints that make the learning meaningful. We must embrace change if we want our students to be long-life learners.
Key elements for this New Culture of Learning
Passion
Imagination
Constraint
Play
the tension between the game's rules and the freedom to act
The teacher's role in this new culture of learning is just a presenter, facilitator, coach, or mentor. Teachers will need to shift from content providers to context creators. Authentic learning environments promote collaboration, a valuable skill in today's organizations. Peer-to-peer interaction and learning communities are essential elements in this new learning culture. Learning from peer to peer can be powerful and fun when students start seeing each other as a resource. During discussions, ePortfolio adopters can share interests, develop their passions, and learn to participate and experiment. By playing side by side, they learn to appreciate and recognize each individual's distinct motivations and skills. The different students' dispositions are an advantage because of the diversity. Students are willing and capable of learning from one another in deeper ways. They turn diversity into strength and build their networked communities based on interest, shared passion, and perspective.
Giving students control of their learning sounds challenging for teachers and scholars. However, students get a calm teacher who is not multitasking but can help them work through their group dynamics meaningfully. The teacher's responsibility lies in pushing passion and fostering imagination while allowing students to construct and cultivate knowledge for themselves. Students may feel overwhelmed with this freedom that they are not used to, but a Growth mindset plan will help them to take ownership of their learning and become self-directed learners. Moreover, it could be challenging for students to manage their time, but I also prepared an execution plan (4DX) that allows ePortfolio adopters to be on track.
In conclusion, by making learning fun, we motivate our students to take ownership and go deeper in their learning. We must build effective learning environments that follow COVA (Choice, Ownership, Voice through authentic learning opportunities) principles and include the New Culture of Learning element of play (passion, imagination, and constraint) to allow the learner to explore and experiment. We must prepare students for life, not just to pass the test. ePortfolio adopters will have authentic opportunities to build their knowledge through play, stimulate inquiry, collaborate with peers, and use technology meaningfully. Moreover, they will gain skills like problem solvers, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication to become self-directed and long-life learners. These skills will impact students' lives, school, and community.
References
Brown J. S. & D, Thomas. (2011). A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Harapnuik, D. (Retrieved on 2017, February 5). CSLE [Web log comment]. Retrieved from https://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=849
Donovan, Bransford & Peregrino (1999). How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice. Retrieve from http://www.nap.edu/catalog/9457.html
Douglas Thomas (Sep 12, 2012). A New Culture of Learning at TEDxUFM. Retrieve from https://youtu.be/lM80GXlyX0U
Dweck C. (2007). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House.
Tony Bates (Dec 14, 2015). Building Effective Learning Environments. Retrieve from https://youtu.be/3xD_sLNGurA