My learning in the 'Learn Create Share' pedagogy

Create

Influences by Sir Ken Robinson who advocates opportunities for expression. Allowing, encouraging and expecting creation as part of the learning process. 

A quote from his blog:  Creativity is about fresh thinking. It doesn’t have to be new to the whole of humanity - though that’s always a bonus - but certainly to the person whose work it is.

The idea is to use the opportunities that technology allows to show learning in ways that were not available before. This links to the SAMR model of redefining what we are doing, not just doing the same things we have always done but now digitally - substitution. Rather doing something completely new that we were unable to do before - redefinition.

Dorothy Burt sourced this thinglink below and unpacked the SAMR ladder very clearly on her blog.

I really like the idea that teachers start the process and then get out of the way of the students learning, as noted under Redefinition on the thinglink. I suspect it can be hard to do but a good discipline. Those learners who excel often do their best (most / all?) learning outside of school in a traditional classroom. So to give tools and set rich tasks... makes sense. There needs to be entry points for all learners at all levels so applying Universal Design for Learning principles makes sense to me. If I can 'design from the outset for the learners from the edges, rather than for the average and then adapt.' (from a UDL webinar facilitated by Nathaniel Louwrens) then I will have designed for all learners.

Teachers need to be given the opportunity and expectation to do use the SAMR ladder in a structured way. Yes mistakes will be made but ones that can be learnt from, a slight correction made and move on, then building on what is working well. I find it exciting to see teachers discovering, using and improving what works well in a supported environment and they in turn find it satisfying to see significant student progress in learning.

Share 

To an authentic audience. The initial audience can be classmates, teacher, school, parents. The more authentic audience is the wider world, e.g. sharing via  TV or the internet.

We have a very simple definition and a deliberate plan of attack to help students grow one [authentic audience].

An authentic audience is people who choose to listen to you.

And if they pay to listen to you then I guess they are even more authentic! From a Dorothy Burt blogspot.

Learn Create Share

A place to start is the Learn Create Share (LCS) pedagogy as a linear model using the SAMR ladder. Hence a scaffolded framework is a good place to start to help teachers move practice to be above the line.

Eventually there is a shift to a spiral model where students might create to learn or share to learn. This post by +Fiona Grant  shares the content of a professional learning day where the teachers explored the idea of Create to Learn.

Learning re Google Apps for Education

I have passed the Basics Exam for Google Apps for Education (GAFE). A small start.

Some reflections on the process

 In some areas, of interest perhaps, I have gone much further and deeper than the exam required. In other areas I needed to 'review' as the exam suggested.
While I have done the learning and have 'passed' the exam I still feel somewhat underhand and shamefaced that I both required and used the opportunity for further review. Why?

Interesting that to me the word exam immediately conjures up the idea of cramming and preparing and of failing if I don't do this well enough.

I did the Basics lessons, practices on the various elements and answered the self-review questions, mostly right so I thought I was on track.

So what happened?

Once I hit a few questions in the exam where I didn't know if I was correct in my multi-choice answer, I decided to go back to the element and have another go or search it so as to find out 'the answer'. I decided to do this based on the facts that:

• I was here to learn rather than pass or fail an exam so better to learn it now
• In two months time the learning is the important thing not the exam pass or fail
• The GAFE exam tool recommended to review questions so it must be okay mustn't it?
• Some of the questions were... "Really? I 've go no idea even though I've been using Chrome for years and I've never needed to do that specific action and was it in the lessons 'cos I did those."
• If I failed the exam I would going back to the lessons again but I would not know where I should focus. This would be disheartening and I might find it all too hard and even give up.

Even though I have now 'passed' I would still like to know what questions I got wrong so as to learn what I obviously missed, misunderstood, or just plain got wrong.

Effective feedback is so important -  it  needs to be timely, specific and with next steps. I like Hattie and Timperley's 'three questions'. for effective feedback. Elegant, in it's simplicity, as the mathematicians would say.

As an independent learner I did what I felt I needed to learn.

Perhaps on reflection I have missed the whole point. Perhaps I could have reviewed every answer I submitted and know that I would in fact get 100%.
Either that or maybe as well as that a multi-choice assessment is not the best way to assess this learning. Could be that is why the Google Educator exams are currently being reworked. I'll find out as that is my next goal.

Thanks to Allanah King for her reflections on becoming a Google Certified Educator. It gave me some ideas.