Activity requirement
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Unpacking this first minute, we see issues of motivation raised but also relevance. How do we motivate and how do we make content relevant? Rather than questioning the relevance of memorizing multiplication tables of by heart, instead what I see in schools is an issue of prioritization. Ideally we would have access to all information, but what do we need to prioritize. Are we prioritizing the skills students will need most in their futures? I would think the answer is no. We all know that technology is likely to continue to transform our lives and work, but we are not teaching them the creative and technological skills they will need to thrive in a world where technology is capable of doing so much.
Instructor's Feedback
Your comments also made me think about how we don't really teach students how to adapt to changing technologies. We need to teach flexibility, confidence, and risk taking in order for students to be able to tackle the constant newness that technology will bring to their education and careers.
Time - 01:57
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I do see where he is coming from, and I don't disagree, but I think this argument focuses too much on what we are doing wrong, and too little on what we need to do right. I studied psychology in university, and one of the things that stuck with me was the importance of proactive messages over prohibitive messages. If you want positive behavioral change you need to focus on positive messages. Prohibitive messages just increase the likelihood of the behavior you are trying to reduce (see research by Goldstein, Cialdini, Griskevicius, 2005; Cialdini 2005; and Cialdini, 2003). It is not unlike telling someone not to think of a pink elephant. People will also begin to sense that their beliefs are under attack and they will instead being to hold them more firmly and try to reason to themselves about why he is wrong. Instead of telling people not to study multiplication tables, he (and this video) should emphasize that they need to study more X, Y and Z. At the very end they will come to this, but by then they will have lost a huge percentage of viewers (only a small percentage of people make it to the end of most long format videos, for various reasons, audience retention drops off with time).
Instructor's Feedback
Very insightful point! This could have been framed from what we do well/what is inspiring and how we can build upon that. Focusing upon the negative breaks the momentum here.
Time - 03:03
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I really love what the Khan Academy is about, I love the idea of students being able to work at their own pace and advance as they see fit. I also love the idea of service being available to everyone free of charge. Ideally we need governmental and corporate stakeholders to sponsor these new technologies so that they can be made free of charge to everyone. As an educational app developer, this is something that I aspire to and they are an example that I could learn from.
Instructor's Feedback
Additionally, it's such a wonderful option to allow students to be exposed to different teaching style and modes of grasping a concept. I personally would have done so much better in Math had I had a resource like this.
Time - 05:14
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I do respect Sugata Mitra, but I think he is ignoring several important factors here. Children can learn with computers, BUT just as adults can be distracted while using technology, children can too. This is particularly true when the computer has access to the internet. I've seen it in schools and I've seen it in homes and it has become a real issue. Ideally, both schools and families need to be able to easily, effectively and inexpensively set up a device so that the children have preferential access to materials that will be most educational and that will not simply lead to addiction to games of limited educational value. Students also need to be motivated and inspired to learn. Poverty and boredom can lead to motivation to learn, boredom is also a fantastic for creativity (https://hbr.org/2014/09/the-creative-benefits-of-boredom). In a village in India, these computers will be noticed and utilized more than elsewhere where the children are distracted by a wealth of toys and a huge selection of television programs directed at kids.
Instructor's Feedback
This is why I think the role of the teacher is more important than ever when students are using technology and can be so easily distracted. So the big question is, how we do inspire and motivate our students? How do we limit distractions and encourage the sense of flow that we often see when children are gaming?
Time - 06:44
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This part of the video really irks me as it shows additional hardware being used for something that could easily be done with inexpensive software- it is really just a drag and drop function. Could this have been done with tablets or computers that the school already has? Yes. Not all schools or households have the budget for unnecessary hardware. It is also going to be harder to update and develop for and it is not environmentally friendly.
Instructor's Feedback
And this example reflects the need for us to consider the most efficient uses of technology. After all, isn't that the point of it?
Time - 07:09
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This is what I love about Teach Now. Collaborative learning. A place where submitted work is open for everyone to learn from and discuss.
Instructor's Feedback
I couldn't agree more! It's such a wonderfully open space that values the process and the feedback so much more than a grade.
Time - 07:35
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I think the more interesting lesson here is that quite often 'facts' are not facts at all but instead they are the outcome of continuing debates and that they are often decided by authorities with power and that they are subject to change. People should be equipped with the ability to question facts and how they came to be and to think for themselves.
Instructor's Feedback
In a world where we are constantly faced with all types of sources and news, it's more important than ever to teach the critical thinking skills students need to be able to discern fact from fiction and to evaluate sources in a proficient manner.
Time - 09:28
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I believe that games have the potential to motivate, and teachers should attempt to gamify their lessons and their reward systems. As a teacher and educational game developer, this is what I am essentially trying to do. I am attempting to gamify books and to use these more engaging forms of media to teach children to read in a more effective and efficient manner and, in particular, to be able to teach children a second language when they might not have a parent or teacher who is highly competent at speaking that language.
Instructor's Feedback
There are so many possibilities to incorporate elements of gaming into our classrooms. Here's a great (quick) article if you're interested in learning more about how to incorporate game based learning: https://www.edutopia.org/article/3-ways-use-game-based-learning-matthew-farber
Time - 11:16
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When he discusses how to believe, I think what he is trying to say is we need them to become critical thinkers. This is going to be MUCH more important in the future. Deepfakes are well on the way, we have technology that create realistic fake videos of presidents giving important political announcements, and software that can replicate anyone's voice provided you give it enough samples. In the future much more than now, you won't be able to trust anything just because of the source or authority of the material. You will have to have the skills needed to assess the veracity of what you are reading based on your own research skills, knowledge and logic.
Instructor's Feedback
Yes! Students need to believe in their power to truly engage with information--to question, to debate, to synthesize, to build upon, etc.