This week our class went on a field trip to Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry (PSII).  Unfortunately I was unable to make the field trip due to having to stay home with a sick child, but I was able to go on to their website and learn about their approaches, as well as watch a TED Talk done by Jeff Hopkins who founded PSII.  I really connected with a quote that Jeff began his TED Talk with which was, “Education is not the filling of a pail,  but rather the lighting of a flame.”  This is such a powerful statement that I think really sets the tone of PSII and their educational philosophy.

After listening to the TED Talk, and exploring the PSII website a bit, I find that I am intrigued to learn more about their approach to education.  While there is definitely a focus on inquiry based learning in the new BC curriculum, and we have talked a little bit about it in our program, PSII has taken it to the next level.  Some areas that stand out about how PSII is different than regular public school in their approaches are:  the different subjects are integrated rather than taught separately, teachers and learners work together to come up with learning plans, students personal interests are central to the whole experience, and students are grouped in whatever way makes most sense and the groupings are dynamic.  From the bit that I have learned about PSII and their approach to education, it seems like they are putting into action an ideal learning environment.

For all the positives that PSII appears to bring to education, I believe that this kind of learning environment would only truly succeed in specific situations.  I think it would be extremely difficult to apply PSIIs’ approaches in a regular public school.  In a regular school setting,  to be able to give students this much freedom with the curriculum, and to create completely individual learning plans for each student, it would be very difficult.  I also think that for younger students (mainly elementary) this much freedom and inquiry would be difficult.  Inquiry based learning is important and teaches students many added skills, but for younger learners I think they still need a higher level of guidance from the teacher as they learn how to successfully approach this kind of learning.  Maybe in the future, as education keeps adapting and shifting, there will come a time where more schools can successfully approach education in a similar way as PSII.  For now, I think finding a balance where teachers can challenge and guide students to more inquiry based learning, while still fitting in the confines of BC curriculum, is a good place to start.

This is a link to an article that looks at some of the benefits and challenges of inquiry based learning:

https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/29714/the-challenges-and-realities-of-inquiry-based-learning

In this weeks class we watched a documentary called RiP! A Remix Manifesto.  This 90 minute show talks about the “war” of copyright between people who use material created by someone else and expand, adapt, change, and use it for their own work, and those who created the original material.  It is a long standing battle with strong opinions supporting both sides of the argument.  I would say, at this point, I sit somewhere in the middle.  I can understand the frustration and anger of those who work hard to create something, especially if it is their means of income, only to have others access the work for free and then take it and change it into work of their own.  However I would also agree with what was said in the documentary that “everything comes from something.”  People do not live and create in a vacuum, and so their ideas are always influenced (either consciously or subconsciously) by something else.  From this standpoint, we are all guilty of breaking copyright laws.  I think especially in today’s digital world, where everything is so easily accessible through the internet, copyright laws need to adjust and fit into our modern reality.

Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash

We also learned about open educational resources today.  These are educational resources that are shared freely through creative commons, and so are accessible for all to use/change/redistribute.  These are very useful tools to have access to as a teacher, as you do not need to worry about copyright.  I think that it is important for teachers to make sure that they follow copyright protocol with the resources they use as it not only is good practice, but also models it for their students.  I thought the Open Resource Commons was a convenient and easy way to access many learning resources.  I would still encourage teachers to look critically at the resources they find through OER Commons and other OER tools.  Just because the material is meant for educational purposes, and made accessible to teachers, it is still our responsibility to ensure that the information we find this way is credible.

This is a link to an article that examines open educational resources in depth, their pros and cons, and who it is that is creating these resources.  This is a longer article but it contains some helpful information for those who are interested in learning more about OER, and what the benefits and challenges might be in using them.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jan_Hylen/publication/235984502_Open_educational_resources_Opportunities_and_challenges/links/54d321a80cf250179181779b.pdf

Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash

Today in class we talked about the “Most Likely to Succeed” documentary which examines different teaching approaches when the teachers are not bound by a curriculum and have the freedom to teach students  by the method they choose.  I think this is happening to a certain degree in classes more and more, though not to the extreme as in “Most Likely to Succeed.   As I am learning through my education program, and through what we see happening in classes today, teachers are moving farther away from the more traditional style of teaching that we have known in the past.  While it appears that education is moving forward in a positive direction, this shift doesn’t come without its share of challenges and obstacles.  I think one of the main challenges that arises for those who are changing pedagogy, is reluctance from teachers who have been teaching a long time and are set in their ways, parents who grew up in the old system and still look for things like grades etc to demonstrate their child’s process, as well as administration who may not support teachers new ideas.   When certain systems have been in place for so long, it can be difficult for some people to shift their ways of thinking.  While there are many teachers who are embracing newer progressive pedagogy, there are those whose training and experience come from the older more traditional schooling making it difficult for them to embrace change.  Many parents also went through the older school system and still look for those values to be reflected in their child’s education.  If a teacher is changing the way learning happens, many parents may raise concern about how they can be sure their child is learning what is stated in the curriculum. Though today’s teachers can face many challenges as they adapt their classrooms and teaching to fit into today’s diverse learning environments, this shift makes for an exciting future in education.

flicker@morbergCCBYNC2.0

Today marked a milestone in my technology journey, I created my first blog website!  This was created with WordPress, and for the most part was fairly straightforward.  Though we had very detailed instructions, with my limited/lack of experience doing this kind of thing, I found that I still had questions and needed a bit of help.  For those who are as technologically challenged as me, yes, you can do it without too much stress and anxiety! For those who are a little more tech savvy, it’s a breeze.

I think that blogs are a great tool for sharing information through either Inquiry projects or simply sharing about your interests and passions.  Using this kind of platform as an educational tool can entice student interest as they can have some fun with creating their blogs and getting creative in their posts.  I think it fits into a middle/high school setting as older students will be able to utilize the platform to a fuller extent, however, with a little more guidance,  it could also be utilized in elementary schools.  In all cases, educating the students about the importance of understanding privacy settings, as well as appropriate posting is important.

For those looking jump into the world of blogging, here is a little how to video to help you get on your way!