Designing for the Digital-Savvy Student

I just learned the other day that an education workshop I proposed regarding Learning Environment Design has been approved, and is being marked for late March / early April.  That is wonderful!  I think that there is not enough conversation and attention given to learning environment design.  I think this area will be very important in any school reform.  Students are wired differently than they were 10-15 years ago.  Because of this, we must create learning environments that mesh with how they learn in order to maximize the educational experience.  While I often see literature that discusses how students are wired differently and are more digital savvy than ever before, I have not seen much literature that talks about how to design learning environments that take advantage of this.

One of my favorite books that touches on this is Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology by Richard Halverson and Allan Collins.  They talk about how technology has forced us to a point where we have to seriously look at what education was, and what it needs to become, in order to help students of today learn.  I recommend this book for everyone who is interested in looking more into the phenomenon of student learning in an increasingly digital world.

This interview from one of the authors, Richard Halverson, expands on the subject below.  He makes some good points and brings up important issues that those of us interested in learning environment design need to be aware of.  Enjoy:

Back from Winter Vacation

Today I return to class after having a few weeks off due to the Winter break.  It has been a great few weeks to regroup, refresh, and regain perspective on a lot of things.  Important perspective.

I remember a conversation I participated in with other part-time students before the break.  This was during a Part-Time Student Association lunch.  There weren’t a lot of students there, but a nice group nonetheless.  We kind of came to a revelation that because we’ll be in GSE longer than a good amount of the other GSE students (some of whom will only be in it for 1 year!), we have an opportunity to be a great resource for the school and the students.  I hope to take advantage of that a little more this semester by focusing more on the people of GSE and not so much the work I receive from my GSE class.  I will still work hard, but will try to stress less!

The time off was important.  Between your own life and what’s happening in the lives of others (even those who are hundreds of miles away from you), you realize that there’s more to life than that 25 page paper you stressed over toward the end of the semester.  It’s also about those other students who stressed over the 25 page paper as well!  It’s about the experiences, learning from each other, helping each other, and not taking a day for granted. 

In the midst of trying to complete one assignment to the next, or completing one reading after another, I think I let the entire Fall semester whiz by me.  I didn’t stop to really soak in just how beautiful it was that a group of students from all over the world could gather together in one classroom (or Blackboard, or Canvas) and freely expand on or create knowledge. 

So this semester, I hope I can slow down and soak it in.  I’ve been blessed with a longer amount of time to soak it in than some students get.  I’ve already heard several 1-year GSE students say that their year went by so fast.  For me, it will take longer, but it will still be done before I know it.  And if I continue to let it whiz by me, I will look back one day and think, “I wish I would have just stopped and, I don’t know…learned a little bit more about my classmates.”  So I hope I can stick to this for the semester.  

The even greater part is, I think it will help me overall as I continue to balance part-time school with the other responsibilities in my life.  So we’ll see.  Here’s to a great Spring semester, and a great 2013 as well.

*Comic: Ph.D Comics by Jorge Chan: http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php