Buttom-Up input
June 17, 2008
This morning I have been trying to catch up on some journal reading … I have a stack of educational technology journals on my desk and the stack seems to be growing and I think it may over take me soon. Anyway, I just finished reading Young Minds, Fast Times from the June/July 2008 issue of Edutopia. Marc Prensky discusses how important it is to invite students to the technology conversation. He compares it to the corporate world asking consumers what they want. After all aren’t students our consumers? Prensky asks all schools where he presents to invite panels of students to the presentation. The students see the presentation Prensky gives and then he turns it over to them and asks three basic questions:
1. What experiences in school really engage you?
2. How do you use technology in school as opposed to outside of school?
3. What are your pet peeves (about how tech. is used in school)?
This article really got me thinking. When I taught, I was fortunate to have a technology-rich classroom. I did my very best to expose students to the content as well as new technologies but you know I never asked if it was what they needed. It makes me wonder now if it was. Maybe I can get a few of my past students to answer Prensky’s panel questions.
When we discuss technology changes, strategies, etc. in our district the idea of using students always comes up… but it is never initiated. I wonder how different things would be if we did involve the students in the decision making process?
I would love for students to answer Prensky’s questions in the comments. PLUS, for any of you who have used students in the decision making process what was it like? What were your outcomes?
Technorati Tags: student input, Marc Prensky, Edutopia, technology decision-making
Entry Filed under: What do you think?. .
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1.
Cathy Nelson | June 17th, 2008 at 10:02 am
http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=412c8a6da7c426bbc7e6
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2.
Chris Craft | June 17th, 2008 at 10:11 am
One of the interesting things that the data shows is that students often don’t really know what’s best for them. That sounds very teacher-centered but in looking at the research, anything that requires students to self-report (or anyone to self-report for that matter) will be problematic. Perhaps a better approach would be to ask students what they think and then have them explain why. Even better would be to have students prepare ahead of time a presentation on what they want and why they want it. I find that when I ask students what they’d like I often need to give them a bit of push back to challenge their thinking, which often yields much better results. As Piaget would advocate, we need to help them develop a “critical spirit”. Let’s get kids to begin critically evaluating their desires to see if they’re really good or not. Then we can begin a dialogue, I think.
Chris
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