The classroom using ICT to enhance the teaching and learning

Scott McLeod (video - Shift Happens fame) is currently visiting from Iwoa University. He has been saying that classrooms need to change and that the days of pupils sitting at desks listening to the teacher have gone. This is something I have been saying for over ten years and yet as I go round in schools I still see the traditional style of teaching in the classrooms.

Scott advocates that we must transform our classrooms into collaborative, technology driven, interactive teaching spaces. He argues that today's learners should be working with others from around the world on real inquiry or problem based issues, pursue topics they are interested in and be content creators rather than regurgitators. He says:

In a really robust, collaborative classroom where kids have good technology you often can't tell where the front of the room is, as teachers roam around helping small groups and the kids help each other. There is a lot of learning power that comes with these new technologies and we need to help teachers understand that power and how they can take advantage of it.

Christchurch Press Saturday Feb 21

He acknowledges that the transformation will be expensive but asks the question: What happens if you don't do it? He suggests that the schools who don't will be left behind in the global economy.

Mission Heights, a school in Auckland is teaching in this way. This is a new school which was set up to take advantage of the technologies.

Studies Show Deep Understanding Derives from Collaborative Methods

I have been reading an interesting article from the Edutopia magazine about how deep understanding derives from collaborative methods.

This is very interesting for all teachers to read is the research to show how cooperative learning and inquiry-based teaching can have big dividends in the classroom.

"Evidence shows that inquiry-based, collaborative approaches benefit
students in learning important twenty-first-century skills, such as the ability
to work in teams, solve complex problems, and apply knowledge from one lesson to
others. The research suggests that inquiry-based lessons and meaningful group
work can be challenging to implement. They require changes in curriculum,
instruction, and assessment practices -- changes that are often new for teachers
and students.
Teachers need time and a community to organize sustained
project work. Inquiry-based instruction can help teachers deepen their
repertoire for connecting with their peers and students in new and meaningful
ways. That's powerful teaching and learning -- for students and teachers
alike."