BP6_2009121_AntiTeaching

Before I can talk about Personal Learning Systems – PLE, Course Management Systems – CMS or Learning Management Systems  - LMS we first must think about education itself. Just like the objective of your lesson plan we must consider the objective of education. You must have a desired outcome in mind. That objective drives your teaching. So why do I teach? The federal, state, and district policy makers all have their agenda and I will not go into that here. Then there are my personal reasons for they are what drive me to go to work everyday. Do I mask them to comply with the powers that be? Yes I do. I like to eat like everybody else. However there is nothing more powerful than a brain that wants to learn. When I have students come to me and tell me something they found out or learned on their own because of something we did in class I feel I have really taught them something. To be productive citizens in today’s society our students must discover their intelligences or talents and use them to support themselves while making a positive contribution to the future of our society. That inspiration will drive their need to learn. That is why I teach. With that being my objective then I can decide what platform would be best to obtain that goal.

We as teachers must consider all learners and provide opportunities for them to learn in a matter best suited for their learning style and in the same instance expose them to new experiences. I am an auditory learner. You may not know this but I am usually cooking dinner or washing dishes during wimba sessions. I remembered the change in wimba time from 7pm to 7:30 because I didn’t get the e-mail of the change but it was mentioned in class. I just put my laptop in the kitchen window and I am there. So it was a leap of faith for me to enroll in an online masters program. I had decided to go to the local university and doing the traditional 2 year program having to drive 45 minutes to class every Saturday. I thought I needed to be sitting to class listening to the professor because I just needed to hear what was being said. I must say these first few months have been difficult for me. However with each month it is getting easier. As teachers we have to do the same. Give our students opportunities to try new things. They may think they are more kinesthetic or visual learners but they may have other intelligences they haven’t even explored yet.

In the elementary setting some teachers think that students have to be “taught” everything. I have learned that if you pose the question and direct students to find out for themselves. Even students in the primary grades can discover the answer.  Just give a child some manipulatives and ask them what would happen if you put 2 orange pieces and 2 red pieces together. They will put 2 and 2 together and get 4. They may discover something you haven’t thought of yet. If the shapes are rectangles the may come up with a bigger rectangle which is learning on another level.

So how do PLEs, LMS, Virtual Environments and web 2.0 fit into this vision?  They are all tools at the teachers disposal to meet their objective. None of these platforms will work without purpose. When we inspire our students to want to learn they will choose the platform that best suits their learning style. Do they fit the bill for today’s educational system. Of course not! It was never meant to be. The instructional models, blogs, PLE will be another tool I can give to my students to drive their learning. I will use them to meet my objective to instill the desire to want to learn.

I feel that self-taught author Mark Twain said it best: "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."