Page 101 - Microsoft Word - The Future of Learning April 2017.docx

Look at any teenager performing outrageous leaps, jumps, dances, singing, skateboarding, surfing, in the endless line-up of YouTube clips we watch. The vast range of learning feats they perform is breathtaking. Each, an actor in their own play, choosing to learn in their own time, using their own resources and their peers are ‘marking’ their work using ‘likes’ and views. Compared to this, the learning that takes place in the traditional school settings is often dominated by tedious content, that even for the most enthusiastic learner would struggle with. Sadly, because our brains are simply not that good at remembering random and often out-of-context knowledge, we struggle to remember it, and often leading learners to think that they are not very intelligent (at all), which was and is, simply not the case.
In this new approach to learning, we want effective prompts to inspire and create an emotional response, driving to be curious. The lure of curiosity drives us to answer our questions that drive us to discover the knowledge we require that initiates a journey to satisfying our curiosity.
When educators prompt learning using a range of media and activities, the learner chooses to learn, of their own volition, and they own that subsequent learning journey. Ownership of the Learning Process is what is referred to as agency, which is one of the greatest motivators for learning. The video clip127 that follows is an example of how a prompt can be used to stimulate a learner’s curiosity; to work out whether it is possible to do this prank, or whether this is a photo- shopped fake.
Resource 44: Stimulating Curiosity
We tend to drown learners in a sea of disparate and disconnected knowledge, embedded in thematic units of work. Topics such as famous mathematicians, transportation, plants, the Aztecs, healthy eating, and volcanoes, as examples, are all introduced with large bodies of knowledge and endless labelled diagrams that are required to be remembered before any understanding or curiosity is initiated. Curiosity is the spark, and it must come first, to light the flame of learning. When educators take this approach, the learners want to learn and work through the Learning Process to find answers to their questions.
89
127 Granado, Joey Anaya. (2009, Oct 3). Why math is important. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDkd0Vaxf-c