Week 2 Fundamentals of learning & education’s original sin

2 Announcements  We are in motion on making sample available, setting up sections, finalizing the reading package after Smart Schools, etc.  General questions about course, projects, etc., after class  Smart Schools available from Marcia Brownlee, Longfellow 207  Handouts and PowerPoints on the course Website

3 Review  A feel for the course spirit, the tame and the wild  A passion for asking questions about creating learning in the curious Pandora spirit  An awareness of good questions to ask toward creating learning  An awareness of the Pandora Questions as useful top-level questions toward creating learning

4 Learning goals  Seeing how the Pandora questions help to organize ideas about creating learning  Thinking of learning as a matter of always getting better at something  Some skill in looking at learning through the lens of Theory One  A feel for creating learning guided by the Pandora questions and Theory One

5 Preview 1.Adding to Pandora In which we consolidate ideas from Smart Schools using the Pandora Questions 2.Education’s original sin In which we look at all good learning as getting better at doing something of some scope and richness. 3.Ulysses on paper In which we look at a learning experience through ‘getting better at…’ and Theory One. 4.Ulysses by hypermedia Quick Design: Creating learning around a multimedia resource through Theory One and the Pandora questions. 5.Taking stock and looking ahead

6 Adding to Pandora Goal: Consolidate ideas from Smart Schools using the Pandora Questions

7 1.What’s worth learning? What topics are worth learning? What inside a topic is worth learning? 2.What’s hard about learning that? 3.So how is it best learned? What’s the source’s share? / What’s the learner’s share 4.How is the learning going?

8 Education’s original sin Goal: Think of learning as getting better at something of some scope and richness

The original original sin

10 Education’s original sin…

 AboutitisGetting better at… Tame  Wild

12 All learning is learning to do

13 Play the whole game!  Getting better at something of scope and richness…  And more engaged by it…  And more alert to opportunities for it.

14  Aboutitis Knowledge base Field of action

15 Knowledge base Field of action  Playing a better richer game

Theory One A design tool for getting better at whatever game  Theory one 1.Clear information 2.Thoughtful practice 3.Informative feedback 4.Intrinsic or extrinsic motivation How is it best learned?

17 Back to Pandora 1.What’s worth learning?  What topics are worth learning?  What inside a topic is worth learning?  Beyond knowing stuff, what games are learners getting better at? (Avoid ‘aboutitis’!) 2.What’s hard about learning that?  Where should we watch out for fragile knowledge: missing, inert, naïve, ritual 3.So how is it best learned?  What’s the source’s share? / What’s the learner’s share  Can we keep all four sides of Theory One in play? – clear information, thoughtful practice, informative feedback, strong intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. 4.How is the learning going?  Can we arrange for truly informative feedback (from Theory one)?

18 Ulysses on Paper An example with not much ‘aboutitis’ Goal: See how Theory One applies to a simple but active learning experience

A simple design tool Theory One Strong intrinsic or extrinsic motivation Getting better at X amply rewarded, either because it’s interesting and engaging or because X feeds into other achievements that concern the learner. Informative feedback Clear feedback in support of getting better at X via teacher, peers, the situation itself, etc. Thoughtful practice Plenty of opportunity for learners to engage reflectively in X. Clear information E.g. Pertinent knowledge, clear explanation, modeling the activity well, etc. in support of X. The game learners are getting better at X

20 Ulysses by hypermedia An example with risks of aboutitis Goal: Through ‘Quick Design’ and bearing Theory One in mind, solve a problem of aboutitis

A simple design tool Theory One Strong intrinsic or extrinsic motivation Getting better at X amply rewarded, either because it’s interesting and engaging or because X feeds into other achievements that concern the learner. Informative feedback Clear feedback in support of getting better at X via teacher, peers, the situation itself, etc. Thoughtful practice Plenty of opportunity for learners to engage reflectively in X. Clear information E.g. Pertinent knowledge, clear explanation, modeling the activity well, etc. in support of X. The game learners are getting better at X

22 Rapid review and looking ahead Goal: Consolidation and mental preparation

23 Learning goals  Seeing how the Pandora questions help to organize ideas about creating learning  Thinking of learning as a matter of always getting better at something  Some skill in looking at learning through the lens of Theory One  A feel for creating learning guided by the Pandora questions and Theory One

24 1.How do your learning experiences out there in the course of the week stack up from the standpoint of getting better at something and Theory One? 2.Continue to read the reading assignments with the Pandora Questions in mind Where is your learning Eden?