Reflecting on Technology, Learning, and Education

Yesterday, our English Department had a student guest presenter, a Hogwarts junior, who talked about her experience using various technology tools--blogs, Twitter, podcasting, videoSkyping--and how technology has transformed her learning.

While there were arguably rough moments in terms of her presentation, I admired the student's desire to share her experiences with us (a gutsy move!) and felt her genuine enthusiasm and passion for her projects. In addition, she underscored several important points re: the intersection of writing, learning, and technology, and to her credit, did so more articulately than a few paid adult educational technology consultants I've seen. The salient threads:

1. Writing becomes more meaningful when it is purpose-driven and
generated from one's passions: if teachers can discover and foster
those passions in their students, the caliber of work will increase.

2. It is vital for humans to build a sense of community and converse
with kindred spirits; technology helps to transcend the borders of
geographic distance and time and broadens one's audience.

3. Sometimes the best education comes from our self-directed projects;
it's important for us to find personal meaning, outside of extrinsic
motivators (the A, the accolades, etc) in what we do.

4. While we should uphold standards for student work, our teaching--and
our own learning/professional growth--is enhanced when we provide
flexibility and creativity in how students demonstrate their learning
and meet those standards. There's more than one way to exhibit
excellence. While technology opens rich possibilities for both
research and expression, strong foundational skills in reading,
writing, and speaking remain essential. In fact, they are crucial, now that communication venues and media have increased exponentially, making publishing instant and easily accessible.

As a speech teacher, I was also reminded of the continuing importance of
oral, versus. virtual, presentation and the discussion our department had when
we first considered the junior/senior Speech course some years back: that students
can be so amazingly articulate and cogent in print, yet oral persuasion--and sparring/fielding impromptu questions with intelligent adults!--presents a different set of challenges that often thwarts the best of us.

So here's to straddling both worlds, techie and oratorical, and to upholding the cause of joyful, real learning.