Shifting the Paradigm

When many of us imagine a class being taught at any level above elementary school, we think of some teacher spouting off some lecture that takes up the entire class, while the students in attendance take notes at their desks and occasionally ask questions. This is how the majority of teachers in schools used to carry out their lesson plans, and I can almost guarantee that many still do. Well, ladies and gentlemen, times are changing! Whether or not that traditional way worked best before the information age, can be debated until everybody ceases to exist. Educational researchers have been searching, for years, to find the best way to teach students.

Today's classrooms are a tad different than the classrooms of our parents and grandparents. Computers and tablet devices appear to usurp the longstanding place of books and teachers appear to be taking a different approach in their lessons. Gone are the days when every class guaranteed a lecture that spanned the entire class period and maybe some worksheets to be done in class or at home. It has been found that students learn best when they are involved. This revelation is nothing new. As a matter of fact, educational researcher John Dewey published these findings way back in the early 1900s! Today's classes are finally following suit, as students are now more involved in the classroom than ever before. 

In one of my assigned readings for AEDU 209: Technology in Education, I came upon an article that spoke of a style of learning called "Constructivist Education". They defined it as, "learners actively construct meaning by building on background knowledge, experience and reflect on those experiences." We are actually putting a real life application to this in class with our Flipped Classroom project. In this project we make a video, teaching an Illinois Learning Standard, and a quiz to take on it afterward. The point of this being, that videos can be saved and watched on a student's own free time. If they do not fully comprehend the lesson, they can rewatch it or bring their questions to class. More and more educators are leaning towards the Flipped Classroom style and the Constructivist Education style as a whole. It will be very intriguing as to see how the face of education will look in the coming years!