* This video posted on Vimeo due to YouTube 10 minute time limit and YouTube not being available in China. I am working on shortening the video for YouTube playability and will add to post when ready.
When you boil education down to its most essential form it is simply the transfer of knowledge from teacher to student. Because we have not figured out how to implant knowledge telepathically, the information has to be transported via some sort of transfer mechanism. If we go back far enough in time, the transfer mechanism was the story around a camp fire and images on cave walls. It was simple, elegant, and most importantly it worked. But our society has evolved and so have our communication tools Lately there has been an explosion in communication technology, and as a technology professional who specializes in education, the question I hear most is: How can I use this technology to better reach my students?
Most education institutions set off to improve the transfer mechanism. We started with the chalkboard and then moved onto the overhead projector. When the bulbs in the overhead projector finally burned out, we moved onto powerpoint slides, and to broaden our reach we have begun to teach online and podcast. Some have even integrated clickers into the classroom.
Just when we exhausted every new technology to improve the transfer mechanism, our students are still telling us that we have missed something.
When you really look at, you see that most of the innovation in education has been to improve the transfer mechanism. But learning is two a way conversation, and the ways in which we are asking our students to communicate back to us is still incredibly antiquated; consisting of mostly of writing papers and filling out scantrons. Students check out when they realize all they need to do is cram the course material into their short term memories for the test, or to hammer out a paper the night before it's due.
This needs to change, and our students feel it needs to change. One of my favorite quotes from a students is "I don't speak scantron." Instead our students speak Blogger, YouTube, FaceBook, Twitter and WarCraft.
They are fluent in the different technology languages and move between these environments seamlessly. Taking a closer look, we find that these new technologies, while exciting, present interesting challenges for education. In the networked environment the professor is no longer seen as the content expert and has to enter the network as a peer. This has some pros but it also has some fairly serious cons. Professors have to compete with their students to get their message heard. Often, the education message gets lost in the medium, because most professors don't have the knowledge, time or resources to build the digital media that students are seeing built by their peers and companies in the consumer space. Students lose respect for the both professor and the material simply because it is not presented in a form they are used to. Also the idea of joining a network to be "friends" with a student can cross personal boundaries that both teachers and students aren't comfortable with, and to complicate things further, we see new technologies appearing every day. It is difficult to keep up with the pace of innovation, and for professors to manage all the different networks and new technology, while ensuring their instructional material is relevant and applicable.
So what do we do? Well, I think we need to start by asking a different question. The question of "How do I better reach my students" leaves us constantly chasing our students to close the technology gap, it forces us to compete for their attention, and can water down the education message. We need change the paradigm and start asking "How can my students to better reach me?"
The student generated content model answers this question and it is why it has been so successful. We originally built the model because we we were having a tough time convincing faculty to make the jump across the technology gap. So instead we empower students with technology and integrate video, we have found this to be a far more efficient way to close the gap. The model is simple: ask students to create 3- 5 minute videos that explain concepts that they've learned from their instructors. And not just explain the concept, but teach it back to the instructor and other students in the class. It is such a basic and powerful idea that any instructor regardless of discipline and technology skill set can get started tomorrow. We have been working with campuses all over Southern California to integrate this into their curriculum and they have got some great things to say.
Introduction testimonial (See above)
By making this simple shift we have found that students are far more engaged in their work and the process they go through in making the films is highly academic. Often they work in groups and the shooting takes place outside the classroom. This means that what is being learned has to be applied in an engaging way, like using the Pythagorean theorem to analyze the length of the roof of a house.
Engagement testimonial (See above)
When students build these videos they are constructing new knowledge based off of their past experiences. These experiences are often different from that of the instructor which means the videos are more personally and culturally relevant to the students. Students use their energy and creativity to teach the to concept from a different point of view and leverage different learning modalities in the process.
Learning modalities and Cultural Relevance testimonial. (See above)
Are you giving your students a chance to reach you? With the student generated content model bridging the technology gap has never been easier. It is as simple as assigning a video project to your students and it directly supports what the higher education institution and professor are trying to accomplish.
You can get started tomorrow. Please visit studentgenerated.com to learn more!
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