Recently, I read a book by author Tony Wagner titled Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World. The book covers a variety of topics within the scope of what it takes to create students who are innovators, including a look at who our students are today, the teaching practices that we use to teach them, and how our teaching practices are influenced by the college system. For this second post, I wanted to reflect on the second topic mentioned: the teaching practices that we use.
When it comes to changing how we teach in order to create more innovators, Wagner’s book contains a wealth of knowledge. One of the primary things that Wagner’s book does is identify problem areas in our current ways of teaching. One particular problem is the emphasis on content in most conventional schools. According to Wagner (and to many of the people who have been interviewed for the book), “Academic content is not very useful in and of itself. It is knowing how to apply it in new situations or to new problems that matters most in the world of innovation” (Wagner, 2012, Chapter 2, “Motivating Innovators,” para. 2). Unfortunately, many assessments in traditional schooling—such as vocabulary tests—focus almost entirely on remembering content and not on using that content.
While this focus on content may have been a relevant approach in the past—in an age before smartphones and global connectivity—students today may require a different kind of approach in order to remain engaged in that content. As Wagner states, “One problem with this traditional approach to learning, however, is that the way in which academic content is taught is often stultifying: It is too often merely a process of transferring information through rote memorization, with few opportunities for students to ask questions or discover things on their own—the essential practices of innovation” (Wagner, 2012, Chapter 5, “The Challenges of...,” para. 2). These days, there are far more ways for students to have an active role in the learning, including using technology to not just receive information but also to create their own projects.
Part of the current technology debate in education revolves around smartphones and their role in the classroom. While some may consider smartphones to be a distraction, it is difficult to deny that having tiny, powerful computers in our pocket that can access the internet makes the need to memorize facts less important than in previous years. It is the difference between needing to know something “just in case” and needing to know something “just in time.” Now that students can access content almost immediately, perhaps it is time for the focus to shift to what students can do with that information.
Wagner includes the following suggestions from an army training program that is attempting to change the way it teaches its students:
(1) Convert most classroom experiences into collaborative problem-solving events led by facilitators (vs. instructors) who engage learners to think and understand the relevance and context of what they learn. (2) Tailor learning to the individual learner’s experience and competence level based on the results of a pre-test and/or assessment. (3) Dramatically reduce or eliminate instructor-led slide presentation lectures and begin using a blended learning approach that incorporates virtual and constructive simulations, gaming technology, or other technology-delivered instruction. (Wagner, 2012, Chapter 6, “Innovators for the Army,” para. 6)
By using technology to move the focus from students memorizing content to students producing, not only can the experience in the classroom be more engaging and meaningful for the students, but it might even be more engaging and meaningful for the teachers as well.
Wagner, Tony (2012). Creating Innovators (Enhanced eBook): The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World. Scribner. Kindle Edition.
When it comes to changing how we teach in order to create more innovators, Wagner’s book contains a wealth of knowledge. One of the primary things that Wagner’s book does is identify problem areas in our current ways of teaching. One particular problem is the emphasis on content in most conventional schools. According to Wagner (and to many of the people who have been interviewed for the book), “Academic content is not very useful in and of itself. It is knowing how to apply it in new situations or to new problems that matters most in the world of innovation” (Wagner, 2012, Chapter 2, “Motivating Innovators,” para. 2). Unfortunately, many assessments in traditional schooling—such as vocabulary tests—focus almost entirely on remembering content and not on using that content.
While this focus on content may have been a relevant approach in the past—in an age before smartphones and global connectivity—students today may require a different kind of approach in order to remain engaged in that content. As Wagner states, “One problem with this traditional approach to learning, however, is that the way in which academic content is taught is often stultifying: It is too often merely a process of transferring information through rote memorization, with few opportunities for students to ask questions or discover things on their own—the essential practices of innovation” (Wagner, 2012, Chapter 5, “The Challenges of...,” para. 2). These days, there are far more ways for students to have an active role in the learning, including using technology to not just receive information but also to create their own projects.
Part of the current technology debate in education revolves around smartphones and their role in the classroom. While some may consider smartphones to be a distraction, it is difficult to deny that having tiny, powerful computers in our pocket that can access the internet makes the need to memorize facts less important than in previous years. It is the difference between needing to know something “just in case” and needing to know something “just in time.” Now that students can access content almost immediately, perhaps it is time for the focus to shift to what students can do with that information.
Wagner includes the following suggestions from an army training program that is attempting to change the way it teaches its students:
(1) Convert most classroom experiences into collaborative problem-solving events led by facilitators (vs. instructors) who engage learners to think and understand the relevance and context of what they learn. (2) Tailor learning to the individual learner’s experience and competence level based on the results of a pre-test and/or assessment. (3) Dramatically reduce or eliminate instructor-led slide presentation lectures and begin using a blended learning approach that incorporates virtual and constructive simulations, gaming technology, or other technology-delivered instruction. (Wagner, 2012, Chapter 6, “Innovators for the Army,” para. 6)
By using technology to move the focus from students memorizing content to students producing, not only can the experience in the classroom be more engaging and meaningful for the students, but it might even be more engaging and meaningful for the teachers as well.
Wagner, Tony (2012). Creating Innovators (Enhanced eBook): The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World. Scribner. Kindle Edition.