Integrating the design process with students and students with their learning community

Each week it is increasingly apparent that Technology Teaching involves a great deal of integration. This week’s link involves the design process, while it is a cross disciplinary/subject process, it is highly tied to the curricula that we must teach. Looking back to last year’s day-a-week prac, this was visible through all the classes I observed. In a similar sense the content orientated subjects to date have all incorporated the same thoughts and processes into the projects student’s had to complete as part of their work.

This leads me to ponder how I can incorporate the same ideas and concepts in my future lessons, in a broad sense. One way could be to structure lessons in a consistent fashion, drawing student’s attention to what problems they have faced in class on this day, how they are working to solving them and evaluating how their solutions are satisfying the requirements. More specifically a point that Leanne made this week was to have a question box in the classroom, where you encourage students to write their questions which they feel too embarrassed to ask in class (they may feel like they don’t know something). Not only does it give students a time to ask these questions, it also allows you to assess where students are at with their learning. This could also be used as a method of regular assessment for classes.

Returning to previous mention of the design process, students within a class with a feedback/question box could be encouraged to put their own thoughts into how they could tailor it to their own ways of thinking. This could also be done using a database orientated software, such as Edmodo or PBWorks where students not only have their own online identity but have the ability to share their ideas and thoughts with the learning community they are a part of.

In regards to being a part of a larger learning environment, group work could be used to encourage student interaction and sharing of ideas more freely. This could be incorporated in various ways, project work, peer review (marking of work), these two ways alone can lighten a teacher’s load, if well prepared and structured/scaffolded. It is important to integrate group work, which is more highly valued today as a skill by employers than ever before. Not only does it benefit teachers, it benefits students when approached in the appropriate context and situation.

To end this week here are two videos which put forward in detail some of the notions I have touched on, regarding integrating ideas, solutions, the design process and students being part of a larger team.

Video Retrieved Tuesday March 6, 2012 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsndhCQ5hRY&feature=related

Video Retrieved Tuesday March 6, 2012 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISMO7M3-UV8&feature=related