I have recently had several conversations with various educators about the assertion that technology fosters irresponsibility and laziness in our students. Their line of reasoning goes like this:
- When teachers post notes and class materials in Moodle, they make it possible for kids to tune out during class, knowing they can get what they need later on in Moodle.
- Parents will interfere and do the homework for the child.
- Students will rely on Moodle for everything, and they will never learn how to be responsible or how to take notes themselves.
I disagree with these assertions, and since I have a blog, I have the opportunity to think deeply and compose my rebuttal. (Note the plug for blogging and having students blog — good writing and clear thinking are such great friends).
Let’s talk about the parents first. Yes, some parents are helicopters. They meddle and absolve their children of responsibility and blame teachers for making expectations unclear or too hard. The arguments listed above favor the old system, when we posted due dates on the chalkboard and handed out paper assignment sheets. Kids were responsible for writing it down and bringing it home. Some kids learned that lesson in responsibility just fine. Others struggled, and when they got home, it may have gone something like this:
Mom: “Do you have homework?”
Child: “Nope. Nothing tonight, Mom.”
Kids learned that if they were sneaky, they could get out of work until the mid-term progress reports came out. When that F-bomb fell on them mid-marking period, they claimed that the teacher was to blame:
Dad: “What do you MEAN you have an F????”
Child: “The teacher never tells us anything. That’s why I’m failing, Mom.”
The teacher would find herself in an uncomfortable parent-teacher conference defending herself against meritless accusations.
Assuming that we all agree that parents should be asking their kids if they have homework, and that parents want what is best for their children (including the development of personal responsibility), we can analyze this all-too-familiar scenario and conclude that the child was not learning anything about personal responsibility. In fact, perhaps the child was even just learning how to lie and/or obscure truth.
Compare this old method to the Moodle method of posting due dates and class resources online. Responsible students continue to be responsible, except they go to Moodle for the items they need to attend to. Parents can still ask their child if there is homework, but parents can also confirm this on the teacher’s website. When the child begins to fall behind, the parent knows sooner rather than later. Yes, there are a few knucklehead parents out there, but most parents will say something like this:
Child: “I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing.”
Dad: “Your teacher posts things every night in Moodle. I’ve seen it myself. You have no excuses. Get it done!”
Really, it gives parents the information to hold their children more accountable, not less.
But what about those parents who want to do the work for the child? After all, if a teacher puts a worksheet in Moodle, it is entirely possible that the parent might just do that work for the child to “help” the child they love so much. It’s true. They might. But they might have done that in the “old” system, too. Kids are pretty bright, and if they have a parent who is willing to do their homework for them, I bet they know how to carry a paper home and leave it on the kitchen table. In other words, putting the resources online will do precious little to stop nefarious parents and students from doing nefarious things. But it’s beyond our control and always has been. I’d rather provide the access and reap the benefits of transparency. Good luck to the parent who tries to tell me that my course expectations are not clearly stated.
And now, I get to the biggest point of all in this blog post. That third assertion — “If kids could get the stuff they needed anytime online, then when would they learn to be responsible and take notes themselves?”
That really, really concerns me. In fact, it frightens me.
Here is my response:
If the content of a course can be summarized in class notes in a way that allows kids to read those notes and subsequently earn an A for the marking period, then that course is just not challenging enough.
I know — strong words. But think about it. We are moving into an era where Americans will be looking for the best educational placement for their children. Alternative educational providers are exploding on the scene, and we are increasingly in competition to attract students to our “traditional” schools. The “notes” for any of our content can be found in a couple clicks online (dates, formulas, definitions, key concepts, and step-by-step processes). If that is what we are giving to kids in class notes during class time, then we ourselves are woefully unnecessary. We can truly be replaced by any computer and any virtual educational provider. We must provide that info (or empower kids to find it themselves), and then, yes, we can just throw those notes into Moodle. In class and for homework, we need to get to the real content — applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating. No amount of notes posted in Moodle can replace a teacher challenging kids to apply, analyze, evaluate, and create in class and on assessments. And Mom and Dad certainly can’t earn an A for the child by doing his or her homework if this enagagement of higher-order thinking skills is what teachers are requiring of the student.
Andrew Churches, who maintains Educational Origami, compiled a very nice wiki page about the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. He licensed his wiki with Creative Commons, which allows me to share some of his materials here with you. I encourage you to read his entire page on Bloom’s. In particular, check out this graphic of the “new” Bloom’s Taxonomy:
Bloom's Digital Taxonomy Concept Map, from Educational Origami
No teacher can capture the “HOTS” part of that chart by posting some stuff in Moodle. It’s just not possible. (Want to see that image in larger form? Click on it).
Here at YS, we have several teachers who are striving for transparency with parents and students. Much is posted in Moodle. Notes are shared. Class time is devoted as much as possible to HOTS. One teacher is using WordPress (our blogging platform here at YS) to post a class recap that lists what they did, what they will do, and a PDF of the day’s notes. Any parent reading this would know that much is expected of the students, but that parent would be hard-pressed to do that work for the child. Check out that teacher’s work so far. Ask her about it. She’ll tell you that it is hard work to do this stuff. She’ll also tell you that it is good for the kids.
And as for students learning how to take notes — what if we provided them with the basic class notes in a Google Doc (linked from Moodle), and then asked them to elaborate on those notes as class proceeds? They could even occasionally do this collaboratively and learn how to work on a team. The teacher has 24/7 access to the students’ notes, so the teacher can monitor how well students are grasping at the true depth of the material. Now THAT is really learning how to take notes!
I really hope this got you thinking about the argument posed here. Want to know where your lessons are in terms of HOTS? Analyze your class activities for the last two weeks against the graphic presented above. Were you LOTS, or HOTS?
Let’s get together and do something wonderful. Contact me. I’ll make time for you!
FOR EVERYONE:
