In collaboration with Veronica Balli and Erika Peña
According to Thomas (2012), learning is fundamentally an easy thing that we do that is natural and effortless, everywhere except at school. “For most of the twentieth century, our educational system has been built on the assumption that teaching is necessary for learning to occur” (Thomas and Brown, 2011). This outdated way of thinking is hindering the true nature of learning. According to Harapnuik et al., (2018), the standardized model of instruction proved to be an efficient way to get a large number of students to move into the industrial age, but we have progressed into the digital age where the challenges and opportunities that we face will not be met by a standardized learning model. This means that our current educational system can no longer continue to spoon-feed students information and expect them to become self-directed life-long learners. In order to empower students and reignite their learning, we must be cultivators of change and provide students with significant learning environments that provide choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities (Harapnuik, 2015). We no longer can float by with students just regurgitating information, we want them to also know HOW and to show us WHY. We need to embrace a new culture of learning that transforms the way we think about information, imagination, and play (Thomas and Brown, 2011) in order to create 21st-century lifelong learners that are prepared for “their world, the world of the future” (Dewey 1940).
Learning of Today
According to Thomas & Brown (2011), “play, questioning, and imagination lie at the very heart
of learning. When children play, they experience the world, and they learn that questioning the world is one of the key ways they can understand it” (Thomas & Brown, 2011). Our goal is to begin to remove the physical constraints of the four walls and include play, questioning, and imagination, through a global element in our learning spaces. We will accomplish this by implementing technology as an adaptive learning tool that can provide us with unlimited resources, amplifying our connection to the world. This type of learning involves us to inquire, interpret, and connect to the real world. We have the unique opportunity to bring the world to our students. As Dr. Harapnuik regularly states, there is no better time to be a learner than right now. We are now in the digital world, and the world is at our fingertips, information is accessible from anywhere and on a variety of devices. In the world of today, the digital world, we learn by doing, watching, and experiencing. We learn by absorption, making tacit connections. The more we do it, the more we learn (Thomas & Brown, 2011). The more we learn, the more our passion grows towards that topic. As our passion grows, we will seek out challenging problems, rather than the easy ones, and will work harder to solve them, while having fun doing it. However, there must be structure, whether it be with textbooks or assignments. The intention is to help students learn a specific piece of information, but also allow them the choice of how to acquire it.
Creating a New Culture of Blended Learning
Students and teachers both experienced disruption due to the pandemic. Upon our return to school, student engagement and motivation have been low. With our innovative plan, Blended Learning: Personalizing the Future of Education, we believe we can restore the excitement and motivation of both students and teachers with new learning environments. First, “we need to shift our thinking from the old model of teaching to a new model of learning in which students, teachers, and information from within the digital information network coexist and shape each other” (Thomas & Brown, 2011). By doing this, we will change the culture and the current role of our classrooms and teachers in a school. They will evolve into significant learning environments with facilitators of learning. By adopting new vocabulary for the old and outdated terms, we can help create a safe culture in a shared space. We will no longer have the teacher as the center of the learning and begin to move into a more student-centered approach. Our vision is to grow our students into self-directed lifelong learners that can be productive members of society. We aim to achieve this by disrupting the current educational model with a new culture of learning. Our WHY and passion are what have motivated us to create our Blended Learning Innovation Plan. The purpose of our model is to shift the learning back into the hands of the students with adaptive programs and personalized lessons that are based on their individual needs. Just like Thomas (2012) stated, learning should be effortless and fun while providing challenging and critical thinking opportunities. With our model, students will contribute and take an active role in their learning. They will be able to choose what and how they learn and will work together to create a more meaningful learning community. Blended learning will allow us, teachers, to take on the role of a facilitator and mentor of learning, while also providing personalized instruction based on students’ unique needs. As Dr. Harapnuik states in the New Culture of Learning video, we as teachers must create the right learning environment, but the student must also be in charge in order to promote learning (Harapnuik, 2021).
By allowing our students to experience their own learning, they will take ownership of the learning path that sparks their interest, leading to higher engagement and motivation. We are not recreating the system but rather learning how to learn for the world of today. Currently, our campus is already shifting from a teacher-centered approach to a student-centered approach by implementing center rotations in the lower grades. This is fostering a hands-on approach that is giving students the time to communicate and learn with and from their peers while cultivating deeper understanding. This is a great starting point in our shift to creating significant learning environments in order to implement our blended learning initiative next school year. By creating these small changes this year, we have paved the way for a bigger impact in the future. We must continue to be the change we seek in our classrooms. However, if we are to create long-lasting and impactful changes, our Blended Learning Implementation Team must also provide alternative professional learning and model these actions. We must be able to give teachers the time to observe and time to learn how to create a new culture of learning that will foster continuous motivation and increased student participation.
References
Harapnuik, D. (2015, May 9). Creating significant learning environments (CSLE). YouTube.
Harapnuik, D., Thibodeaux, T., Cummings, C. (2018). Choice, ownership, and voice through
authentic learning [eBook]. Creative Commons License. http://tilisathibodeaux.com/wordpress/wpcontent/uploads/2019/04/COVA_eBook_Jan_2
Harapnuik, D. (2021, April 16). New culture of learning. YouTube. https://youtu.be/G4RIBNgK6xI
Thomas, D. & Brown, J.S., (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a
world of constant change. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Thomas, D. (2012, September 12). A new culture of learning [TEDx Talks]. YouTube.
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