Heading in to work this morning, I saw yellow buses filled with students heading back to school for the fall. Which got me thinking about homework.
Homework, as I knew it in middle school and high school, was a completely backwards concept. Class time was always spent in solitary activities like reading textbooks and listening to the teacher drone on about a particular subject; homework, on the other hand, was usually collaborative or required some kind of interaction and exploration.
Here’s what I’m thinking I’d do if I ever became a high school teacher:
I’d record my lectures in short bits (12-15 minutes each session) with accompanying visuals and let my students download them as video clips that they can put on their iPods. Class time would then be used for question & answer sessions, engaging discussions on the content they had already consumed, and group projects where collaboration and face-to-face contact was important.
In that model, homework would cease becoming a chore that got graded and scared students. Instead, it would be a form of preparation for students who would then come to a classroom environment that focused on their interaction with the content rather than simply the content itself.
Maybe I’m just being an idealist here. Do you think my model for instruction is feasible? Have you heard of any other similar teaching techniques?
I like your idea… sounds like the Socratic method. Kids need to be engaged and using the many tech/web tools at our ready, I’m sure it can be easily done and without incurring major costs.
The question is how well equipped/trained are teachers to be able to teach using this style? Sometimes I get the feeling that everyone is just going through the motions and neither the teachers nor the kids are engaged.
Learning shouldn’t be top-down… even the best of us tune out. It has to be collaborative and interactive. The cynical streak in me thinks that those in powers have an agenda quite different from the rest of us. They are mostly interested in using education to develop a docile group of lemmings who can’t think for themselves.
Check out the book… Deliberate Dumbing Down (http://www.deliberatedumbingdown.com/) A very interesting expose on the US education system.
The problem is that you can’t really verify whether someone did their homework or not (what you can’t measure, you can’t manage…) The result will be a lower quality of discussion; it’ll sink down to generalities and things not specific to the prep material. Also, clever students have a knack for asking questions that make it seem like they’ve prepped.
If this seems cynical, I see this happen all the time in tutorials in university where students are supposed to be more interested in learning…
So the idea is great but it needs some way of ensuring that people either do the prep or those who don’t can’t participate as loudly.
Maybe I am being a bit idealistic here. There must be a way to make it happen though…any ideas?
OHMYGOD. So someone just told me that they discussed this exact same idea on CBC Spark this week. (I don’t listen to Spark, so I had no clue — but I really should start listening!)
I’m off to download this week’s episode of Spark. For those of you that have heard it already, let me know if they share any insights.
Since this is high school, you can still baby people into doing work. Maybe a simple worksheet, worth a few marks, that you have to hand in before class that asks some basic questions about the material.
ie. “What is person X’s opinion on Y” or “why did X say Y to Z.”
The key should be making sure everyone is on the same page before a discussion begins. Even those who cheat/collaborate will be exposed to what the material is about.
Sounds great but don’t teachers have to follow a curriculum and a teaching style that their dept head agrees to?
by the way, vasta, my jays beat-up on the yankees!
kk
i love new york!
Andrew, I guess that’s one way of doing it. It would be great if you could get students to respond to your lectures through their own videos — essentially creating a video library that can be used by other students to get an even more in-depth look at the subject.
Karim, the best teachers are the ones that don’t fit the mold. =)
Oh, and I’m happy the Jays beat up on the Yankees — as long as my Mets make the playoffs!
I have no idea about teaching in High School, but in Elementary good luck deviating from the curriculum…You have 8 different documents to get through by the end of June…..But you have 10,000 different ways of teaching it.
Many teachers are trying to incorporate tech into their classrooms, I’m trying to get a projector to attach to my laptop, but funds, as we all know, are lacking.
ANYWAY, it’s a cool idea, and I think anything is possible in a classroom with clever organizing. I hate when people get all cynical about education. If you’re into the subjects you’re teaching, and you think of a way to reach out to the students, then it will work.
The Toronto District School Board has a new homework policy. You should check it out…somewhat dry, but if you’re interested,
http://www.tdsb.on.ca/homework
Yay school!
xox
Ave
Sameer, I think you’ve got the right idea. It would engage students and bring them face to face to collaborate and share. Great job on the workshop!
Thanks Mary-Margaret! Looking forward to being in touch soon.
Thanks for the insight Ave. Again, I’m not a teacher, so I’m not quite sure how the system works and all I can do is throw crazy ideas out there. =) Thanks for chiming in with some real experience!