I recently had a conversation with some teachers and administrators about the importance of simply giving the students the notes/presentations we use in class. "Give them everything," I told the teachers and administrators. However, I was quickly challenged. "I can't give them my notes, they won't have anything to do in class," said several people in this group. Wrong, they will be able to construct their own information from your notes and discussion instead. "The students won't take any notes," they told me. Wrong, the students who won't take any notes weren't going to anyway, but at least now they have something.
The fear behind this was not knowing what to do when the students come to class with the background the teacher is wanting to give them. My answer to that is, they already do, they have the power of the Internet. The second part is we need to ease up on the giving of information and start asking for it from students.
What is "it?" It is what the students create to share and explain their understanding of the topic based upon your notes or information about a subject. It is the creation by your students. It is what will change how we teach.
Those people who understand the "it" understood why I would preach this. One teacher commented they understood more when they saw the notes because they could disseminate the information in their own way. A student I spoke to about this said her teacher does provide the students with his notes. She likes it that way because now she was not worried about missing something the teacher was saying. In the past, she was too worried about writing her notes to comprehend what was being said.
Once teachers gives up this control of the notes and realizes Google has replaced us as the classroom deity, knowledge is not simply absorbed, but real learning occurs. Does "it" work? Yes.
The fear behind this was not knowing what to do when the students come to class with the background the teacher is wanting to give them. My answer to that is, they already do, they have the power of the Internet. The second part is we need to ease up on the giving of information and start asking for it from students.
What is "it?" It is what the students create to share and explain their understanding of the topic based upon your notes or information about a subject. It is the creation by your students. It is what will change how we teach.
Those people who understand the "it" understood why I would preach this. One teacher commented they understood more when they saw the notes because they could disseminate the information in their own way. A student I spoke to about this said her teacher does provide the students with his notes. She likes it that way because now she was not worried about missing something the teacher was saying. In the past, she was too worried about writing her notes to comprehend what was being said.
Once teachers gives up this control of the notes and realizes Google has replaced us as the classroom deity, knowledge is not simply absorbed, but real learning occurs. Does "it" work? Yes.