Week #9 Initial Post...What are the challenges in shifting content from “what” to “where” and “how”?

Blog #9 Initial Post

First Point:  Summary of discussions with Group #2...since I was in a “non-internet access zone” in Pahrump, Arizona most of the week, I was not able to discuss until Thursday night, March 13.  But at this point (Friday morning), I am again in Alaska.  I noticed from the 3 of us who have messages on our wiki, that none of us are really familiar with game mechanics.  So, after delving into it a little, I found a website that allows teachers to sign kids up for a “game building” class.  It sounds really good as it is reasonably priced ($2 per student) and pretty powerful with no downloads needed.  The free edition is what I signed up for.  I have played a few of the student-created games and have investigated the lesson plans available for the classroom, etc and it seems to be intuitive for “techo-naive” people like me.  The site is:  https://gamestarmechanic.com/teachers/what_is_gamestar if you are interested.  

Response to question:  What are the challenges in shifting content from “what” to “where” and “how”?

As I thought about this week’s question, I believe that it should not be a shift from “what” to “where” and “how”, but an addition to the “what”.  I think that oftentimes, the idea of throwing out the proverbial “baby with the bathwater” gets us into a lot of trouble.  New ideas do not necessarily mean the old ideas were wrong and need to be thrown out.  Oftentimes, or shall I even go so far as to say, most of the time, the new ideas help to reshape the old ideas to form a synthesized idea?  Sometimes the new ideas come along and offer new things, but shouldn’t negate old ideas. But I do believe that some “whats” are always necessary (learning multiplication tables, etc.)  Dr. Ben Carson, the world’s most skillful neurosurgeon, said,  “There is no such thing as useless knowledge, you never know what doors it's going to open up for you” (2012).  I agree.  Some of the “whats” are imperative to survival and some learning by rote memory is necessary to move to the “wheres” and “hows”.  I remember using the “whats” to learn a foreign language, the periodic table, chemical formulas, algebraic concepts, the mechanics to writing, etc.  Then, after the “whats” were learned, I was able to use them for the “wheres” and “hows”.  I agree with Thomas and Brown (2011) when they said, “In the twenty-first century, knowledge is becoming less a question of ‘What is the information?’ and more of a ‘Where is the information?’” (p. 91).  But I wonder, is that always a good thing?  My teaching has changed in some respects with the advent of computers and calculators in my English and math classes.  I still make my students learn how to figure out trigonometric problems “by hand” rather than pushing a few buttons on the calculator because I believe it is important to understand the theory behind the answer, but I allow them to access formulas using the computer rather than memorizing all of them.  But, when I teach Alaskan survival skills, they must memorize information (the what), rather than learn how to find the information on their phones (the where) since knowing the information in the wilderness is better than knowing where to find the information...especially if someone is bleeding to death.  So, I continue to take my stand of “all three concepts are important and has their place in learning”.  To me then, the challenge is how to use the “what” to encourage the “where” and “how”.

But, a bigger challenge in bringing to the classroom the “where” and “how”, is the “fight” teachers are constantly battling with teaching to the test.  With students, teachers, and schools being measured on the results of testing, memorization is at the forefront of educating our students according to Heather Hiles (2013).  She also brings up the point that memorization must be thrown out in favor of deeper learning which can only be accomplished when teachers are allowed to move to more effective learn-by-doing methods.  And, it is also quickly added that applying what is memorized is the key acquisition of knowledge.  If only teachers were allowed to take the time away from teaching to the test and given the opportunity to help students better understand the “whys” of the knowledge.  Students need to be give the opportunity to be taught why learning the information is important and how it can be integrated into real-life.  I believe that being allowed to do this in the classroom is one of the bigger challenges facing education today.

Hiles, H. (2013). Moving beyond rote learning. LinkedIn.  Retrieved from:  http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130211172636-1265384-moving-beyond-rote-learning   

Olasky, M. (2012).  No Useless Knowledge.  World Magazine.  Retrieved from:  http://www.worldmag.com/2012/07/no_useless_knowledge

Thomas, D., Brown, J. (2011).  A new culture of learning.  CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform