Memorization?

For this blog post, I want to try something a bit different. I'd like to point you in the direction of some interesting videos and articles we have come across in our discussions at Houston Academy.

Over the past three years, we have been engaged in a discussion about what education should mean in the information age. As a 1:1 MacBook school, our students have more information at their fingertips than there has ever been in human history. The “Knowledge Doubling Curve," created by Buckminster Fuller, tells us that up until 1900, human knowledge doubled about every hundred years. By 1945, knowledged was estimated to double every 25 years. Now, we believe that human knowledge doubles every 12 months. IBM asserts that it will soon double every 12 hours. Moreover, we can pull out a "smart phone" and access that information instantly, from anywhere in the world. We have "smart" TVs, and "smart" computers that can "think." That begs the question of "What is essential for our students to know?"

For example, we would agree that students need to know their vocabulary in their world language classes if they are going to be fluent in their chosen language. However, debate is raging in the educational community about the nature of essential knowledge and the role of memorization in our educational system. Do students need to learn times tables? What about spelling? Do they need to know that "in fourteen hundred and ninety two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue"? We still have a "classical" educational model that maintains that memorization is the key to learning, but at HA, we have come to  virtual consensus that it is more important for our students to be able to find information that to memorize information. Furthermore, once that information is acquired, the real challenge is to synthesize and analyze that information and separate good information from bad.

Actually, the argument against memorization is far from new. As early as 1956, educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom identified six cognitive domains, starting from the most simple to the most complex. Informed by brain research, "Bloom"s Taxonomy" was revised in the 1990s to place "creativity" at the highest level. "Remembering" (or memorizing) has remained at the lowest level.

I encourage you to click on the links I have provided. These videos and articles are thought-provoking, and I would love to get a discussion going about the value and role of memorization in our educational system.

Read this article!

And this one! 

Watch this video!

And watch this one!

The Best Way to Predict the Future Is to Invent It: Harnessing Technology in Schools

While perusing social media, I revisited an article I had read earlier this summer Independent School magazine:

The Best Way to Predict the Future is to Invent It: Harnessing Technology in Schools

Here is the quote that I believe is particularly apropos to HA:

Just as the hybrid gas-electric motor represents a key to our energy future, hybrid thinking can take us farther down productive educational paths. Instead of the either-or debates that have characterized so much of education reform (phonics vs. whole language, computational skills vs. mathematical thinking, face-to-face instruction vs. online courses), it’s time we take a both-and approach — weave the best traditional elements of teaching with inventive digital learning to create a truly fresh approach to education.  

This blended approach integrating digital learning with the power of face-to-face relationships, between teachers and students and among students as peer tutors, is proving more effective than either alone. 

I watched Mrs. Snell's 5th grade class today. They had used their MacBooks to type a story in which they had to integrate their vocabulary words throughout the story. Now, certainly, this same assignment could have been done with pencil and paper, but by using their MacBooks, the students were able to integrate some practical, real-world technology skills into their assignment. First, they utilized keyboarding skills; second, they used a word processing program; third, they used their grammar check to make sure they were using appropriate grammar and punctuation.  One student actually noted that they had originally used incorrect grammar, but they were able to correct their mistake before completing the assignment. In a sense, the student was getting instant feedback without having to wait for a teacher to provide it.

At the same time, the students were exhibiting a number of 21st century learning skills.  They were using creativity to write the story, they were presenting their stories to each other (communication), and they were critically reacting to each other's work and evaluating ways that they integrated the vocabulary (critical thinking and collaboration). Of course, too, by actually using the vocabulary (as opposed to just memorizing a definition), research tells us that these 5th graders in Mrs. Snell's class will be much more likely to remember and use their new vocabulary words in the future (higher ACT scores!). Moreover, they had FUN doing the activity, and they were proud to share their stories with me.

THIS, is what you are getting at HA that I believe you won't get anywhere else in the Wiregrass -- technology and 21st century learning.  It doesn't get any better than that.

HA and 21st Century Learning

George Washington, so the story goes, wakes up one morning and finds himself magically transported to the year 2013.  President Washington wanders out of Mt. Vernon and sees a row of large, metal boxes on wheels, and he’s amazed! He asks a tourist about these strange contraptions, and the tourist explains, “Oh, those are buses. You can go inside one of those, and they will take you to other places – way faster than horses could back in your day.” 

“Wow,” exclaims President Washington, “That’s amazing!”

So our 1^st President gleefully hops onto a bus with the intention of  discovering how his country has changed.  He travels around Washington, DC, the city that bears his name, and he is overwhelmed by the airplanes, computers, cell phones, televisions, highways, and all the other trappings of modern society.

Finally, President Washington comes across a local school.  He walks inside the school, and is stunned to see a big screen television in the foyer and a media center full of all kinds of contraptions that he does not understand.  

Inside a classroom he sees pupils quietly sitting in rows taking notes, while the teacher sits at his desk and delivers his lecture. With relief, Washington exclaims, “Thank goodness, there’s something that hasn’t changed!”

While this joke is funny, it’s also poignant. The world has changed, but in many important ways, education has not. Education is a field that has been particularly adept at resisting change. To this point, I recently read a quote from a Vice President of McDonald’s corporation: “The difference between your industry [education] and mine is that in my industry, we have to change before we need to, while, in your industry, you won’t change even when it’s clear that you must.”

By taking the bold step of initiating a 1:1 laptop initiative, we are already ahead of other educational institutions in the Wiregrass. As daunting (and expensive) as that move was, putting wireless technology in hands of our students and teachers was the easy part. Now comes the hard work of using that technology to transform education as we know it at Houston Academy.

If you look back at my blog post in December of 2012, I reference the verity that giving students computers means very little if it does not change educational practice.   

In my mind, technology is not necessarily an end; technology is a tool for our students to engage in 21^st Century Learning. In case you’re not familiar with this now ubiquitous term, “21^st Century Learning” is the buzzword in today’s educational vernacular. Researchers and business leaders have identified six key competencies ("the 6 C's) that students must possess in order to be successful in the world and in the workforce.  Those six competencies are (in no particular order):

• Collaboration

• Communication

• Creativity  

• Critical thinking

• Cross-cultural competency

• Character

I will expound on these competencies in future blog posts, but for now, suffice to say that the educational literature suggests that we can significantly impact student learning in competencies 1-5 through our 1:1 laptop program.  However, we have a tremendous amount of work to do in order make effective use of our technology.

The truth is, however, we must change the way we educate our children, and we must do it now. The Houston Academy Board of Trustees has laid out an ambition strategic plan, which calls for nothing less than transforming way we approach education here in the Wiregrass. Using technology as a tool to give our students the 21^st century skills they need to be responsible citizens in a competitive, global workplace should be a proverbial “game changer.” As far as I can tell, we are the ONLY school in our region that has embarked upon this arduous task. I hope you are as excited as the teachers and faculty are about the educational journey upon which we are about to embark.

I can’t wait for the school year to start!