Opening Doors

We've been thinking deeply about the role of digital technology in learning at Opal School lately. How, we wonder, can we embrace new media in a way that encourages the habits of mind that we are trying to develop? How might digital technology support Opal School values?  How can it be used to foster connectedness? These discussions have reflected both the great potential of new media tools as well as their limitations. How can we remain open to possibility while remaining vigilant against the hazards (of isolation, of limitations, of a narrowing of wonder, curiosity, and imagination) that we fear?

The conversations have been provocative and productive. Staff and parents have entered into dialog about hopes and concerns. We're working through drafts of a statement that articulates our current thoughts and questions about the topic, hoping that what we draft can support our emergent work and be open to revision as we learn more.

At the same time, our use of technology is opening doors. Next week at parent-teacher conferences, we'll bring parents into our effort to use Evernote to enhance our student portfolio system. We hope that using this multifaceted platform will develop reflectiveness and metacognition, make learning visible, and enhance school-home communication.

We're also finding ways in which new media breaks down walls.  I certainly saw an example of that today, when Opal fifth graders spoke by Skype to Charles Finn, an author whose essays have inspired their own (see earlier posts about this work here and here). Through that conversation, children learned more about the writing process in a way that validated their authority while catalyzing deeper inquiry.

A few representative reflections:

He uses the same strategies we do!

He revises the same piece of writing 40 or 50 times!

I'm going to try to take my time with my next draft.

I love how he always writes down whatever inspires him.  I'm going to start bringing my songbook around with me so if I come up with a awesome song I have my book right there.

Later in the day, students read their finished pieces to each other. These pieces were inspired by the structure of Finn's essays: The detailed, poetic description of setting and encounter with the unknown that led to personal epiphany.  As they read, they inahabited the same space Finn had filled earlier in the day (albeit electronically.) As each student finished reading, just as many hands went up to offer compliments to their classmates as had been raised to ask questions of Finn. Here was an encounter where digital technology had served the goals, expectations, and values of the students and the school through personal connections.

 

Comments

[mgdavis]

I love that Charles Finn joined the author's tea! An inspiring example of the potential of technology to support the work we're doing.

[Lucien]

I have a conflicted relationship with technology. As someone who makes a living at technology, it's obviously important in my life. But when it gets in the way of physical play/work or immersive reading (just to name two examples), I turn into a full-on Luddite. I am trying on a couple different perspectives on technology in education: one, that technology serves us when it is a route to something else, not when it is a destination in itself. (Your Skype session is a great example of the former.) Two, that technology serves us when we use it as a mechanical shortcut for something we know how to do, not when it becomes a substitute for learning how to do something. (For example, pen or pencil is great for writing first drafts, and computers are great for revisions.) I don't think I can prove either of these, but they feel good to me.