18 comments:
John: Another way to attack the problem is to use Google Books. Add a few books with full or limited preview to your Google Library and use the ideas suggested. http://books.google.com/books?id=FzxsvOY4t00C&pg=PA108&dq=Questions&ei=yWf1SvqEBYPuyASuwfmiBg#v=onepage&q=&f=false
MikeNovember 7, 2009 6:33 AM
Hi there ... since your students are keen on technology, perhaps also introducing the Bloom's Digital Taxonomy will motivate them more to blend technology with higher order thinking skills AND google-proofing. I also use the updated Bloom's which now show "Creating" as the top HOT skill. http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/Bloom's+Digital+Taxonomy
November 7, 2009 8:35 AM
Hi, I'm just a mom and love the new technology and ability to access information almost instantaneously. Having said, I worry the effect it will have on our children. For example, this past summer my daughter took a supplemental Reading/Writing class because this is an area of weakness. In the class, they were required to read a book and then "discuss" it. Made sense to me, back to basics...how to break down a book. She needed it and I was relieved and praying that this would help her. Until she told me that the teacher gives them a certain amount of time to read and then posts a "discussion question" on the computer....? Apparently, the kids were all given laptop computers as they come into the class and "discussing" a book is done via the computers. 13 kids in a class, discussing a book, and no one is talking. Great. Help my daughter dissect a book but take away her ability to communicate effectively. It's bad enough that they communicate via text messaging. Needless to say I was crushed.
November 7, 2009 9:47 AM
Your concern is understandable. I am a great champion of technology which enhances education however I clearly understand (and teach) that technology must support effective instruction, it is not an end in itself.
It is important for students to learn how to express themselves digitally as it is also important for them to express themselves verbally from one person to another. You can not nurture one at the expense of the other.
Thank you for posting your thoughts. It is always good for groups of educators to hear voices from outside our "circle." I hope that you will contribute regularly.
November 7, 2009 11:53 AM
I guess I would question "Anonymous'" belief that having an online discussion is any less powerful as a teaching strategy as face to face discussions. Take away their ability to communicate effectively? What?
In the 21st Century, children are going to need to understand how to communicate with people from around the world through the written word. Granted, it does seem somewhat useless to have them in a room together and not discuss the book f2f; I think I might have had them express themselves online and then opened the discussion up for oral commentary.
I have found online discussions to be powerful and extremely freeing for those students who will not open up when placed in a f2f situation; particularly teenagers. We need to change the way in which we look at learning in the 21st Century. I hate to burst the bubbles of millions of adults but the world is changing...get use to it.
November 7, 2009 1:04 PM
Someone very smart once said, "I never try to memorize something I can write down or look up."
I think this is totally appropriate to today's learners and Google-proofing assessment questions will go a long way to prevent the useless memorization of facts that are now available at our fingertips.
We definitely need more and better ways to get those facts into play, though, so that the HOT skills can then be utilized effectively to allow true engagement with the learning to occur.November 8, 2009 1:03 AM
Our digital learners are learn and participate differently. Even in a small group of 13 students, reflecting on a book, there will be more than a few in the group who will not speak because they are fearful. However, by posting a comment or replying to a comment, there is pride that their comment is valued, they had time to be thoughtful and then write their comment , they are published- that word goes further than their teacher, and they can speak out and reply anytime of day. This is a powerful concept for our young writers.
The Google it! mode of education today will force all educators to let go of the notion that we hold the keys to knowledge. We are facilitators of knowledge. If a question can be answered by Googling it, we should not be asking that question. That is rote memorizing which our computers do quite efficiently. The computer gets the A+. However, when we ask the kinds of questions that John suggests, we lead our digital learners to the kinds of thinking, creating and uncovering of material where answers are thoughtful, reflective and tested. Great discussion!November 8, 2009 8:12 AM
I like the topic of discussion for the issue that it raises "google proofing", or in general, the habit of copying an answer from someone else. The approach of moving the "assessment" into higher realms of Bloom's taxonomy seems valid. As if to say "yes, now we have had a revolution and information is only as far as your fingertips. You don't have to memorize it, but you must show that you can think about it". My company has written a set of assessment/communication tools for students and teachers that run on ipods and cell phones. The challenge for us has been to design tools that are compatible with assessing "higher order thinking", It is more challenging that it seems on the surface, and comes back (as always) to how the question is designed.
November 8, 2009 11:49 AM
The answer to "Design an experiment to test the consumption of oxygen by germinating seeds." is one of the tops results on Google.. so I guess this is not exactly Google proof question is it?
But I do like the idea of Google proof questions..
November 9, 2009 3:09 AM
I like how the Mom with the daughter with the "weakness" in reading and WRITING can't understand how having her daughter WRITE her responses is helpful in a class on reading and WRITING.
November 9, 2009 10:57 AM
Well put!\
I'm an advocate of the open exam/test. Let students refer to any resource or person they can locate, but ensure the questions/challenges require that students apply their found knowledge in unique ways.
Here's how I put it a few months ago:
http://thecleversheep.blogspot.com/2009/05/open-exam.htmlNovember 10, 2009 8:55 PM
Thank you for your post on Google-proofing. I am always seeking to ask those higher level questions in my science classes, and in fact, have Bloom's Taxonomy as a bulletin board in the room with the words "How Are You Thinking". It never occurred to me to rewrite the web-quest and research tasks with the same approach, and it makes so much sense. Thank you for sharing!
#i3cs21
November 11, 2009 4:55 PM
Great post and excellent graphic. Data is such a buzzword in education. Perhaps a better tool is wisdom. Students need to develop wisdom and educators need to use wisdom in their decision-making.
November 11, 2009 9:51 PM
I'm finding some real challenges at a new post where I am teaching anatomy alongside a veteran teacher who has been honing his methods for 20 years. Anatomy is one class that can lend itself very well to lots of rote memorization, and my colleague is worried that I am jeopardizing the strength of the program by focusing less on memorization of anatomical landmarks and more on interpretive questions. One could argue in a subject like anatomy that you need to do a lot of memorizing before you can even get to the higher level thinking. Would be interested in other opinions.
November 12, 2009 4:50 AM
I love your blog- thanks for sharing. What strikes me is how much better your post google questions are for students. Wish i had used those when I taught biology in 1990 (even w/out Google :)
November 12, 2009 1:53 PM
This may or may not have been posted earlier.
But I do not believe you can Google proof a question. There may be an anwer to the Google proofed question if a student has posted it.
Also, if you have to Google proof questions, then there may be something wrong with the picture. The more important thing would be to find out why the students are not interested in bettering themselves academically or personally. What are we missing? How can we spark thier interest to learn? How can we help them to love to learn? Is it understanding, lack of confidence or something else? Once we can get at the root of problem, then maybe we may not have to Google proof questions.
November 13, 2009 12:05 PM
Hi John, great post, I wrote about your post at techlearning.com last week.
CherylNovember 14, 2009 1:58 PM
John, You raise some really interesting questions. To me, the question is how to make the technology transformative or value-added. My daughter's school is full of smart boards, and my dad (college professor) thinks smart boards are cool, but I can't see how they are being used in any way that makes kids learn more or think differently. So why pay for them?
In some subjects, memorization is essential--does having a Spanish game on the computer help kids learn vocabulary? Maybe, if you are a kid who likes computers, if you have access to computers.
Your point about google-proofing is a good one, except that really we probably want to emphasize those analytical and creative skills anyway...
November 18, 2009 12:49 PM
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
The Electric Educator: Google-Proof Questioning: A New Use for Bloom's Taxonomy
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