You're Only Alone if you Want to Be

"You're Only Alone if you Want to Be"

- - Chris Lehman in a multi- person Skype chat from NECC at the end of June - -

Teaching can be an isolating profession. Even more so in a small town where I am "the" grade seven and eight teacher.

I'm it.

I know even in the past when I have taught in large schools, teaching can still be a lonely profession. It is often the culture of the job where we feel we have "our" kids in "our" room and we can shut the door and keep the world out. Many schools have a culture where asking for help can be a bad thing.

The same can be true for our students. They are only learners who need to be alone if they want to be. We have proved that allowing students to work collaboratively with others around the globe is not only possible, but very positive. We need to develop a culture in classrooms that makes flexible teams that consist of both local and international members something that is not only possible, but is respected. We need to move the technical and cultural bars in our classrooms towards making these possibilities happen. We as teachers not only need to help students form these networks,  but make accessing them a regular part of how learning happens in classrooms.

But how do we help kids to not be alone? Learning is a process that happens in time. When help is needed, it is needed now, not tonight or possibly tomorrow. Allowing them to pose a question on a blog will probably get your students some help, but not immediately. So how do we make this happen? We have been getting good at using tools such as blogs, wikis, and podcasts to connect asynchronously with others, making connections and building knowledge, but how many classrooms allow for synchronous connections when needed? How many classrooms have a solid enough link with one or more other classrooms where they have an always - on video connection or a constantly running Skype chat or MSN connection that studnets can access throughout the day when needed?

We have often pushed students to rely on each other for help, asking them to find classmates who are good at a certain facet of research or writing, editing, etc. We want them to see each other as legitimate, valuable learners. It would enlarge our classroom potential immensely if we had students see each other locally, and others we are hooked up with, all as potential sources of help, information, and networks.

Imagine a classroom where students could be struggling with a piece of writing on Google docs and where they could call up a video Skype connection to work with a student in a classroom in another nation, asking them for their opinion and help.

Many classrooms are beginning to get the tools, but changing the culture of learning is what is more often needed.

 

technorati tags:networks, classroom, synchronous, skype, MSN, connections

Comments

[Diane P]

If you want to work with another classroom in the States, I'd love to have that opportunity. I teach 7th graders in Oregon.

[Andrew Robitaille]

You are a real visionary, and I share your excitement for the promise that technology offers to bring together our global community of learners. I hope in the not-to-distant future that a student in Florida easily be able to work collaboratively on an assignment with another student in Toronto. We have the technology now. The biggest hurdle is our own imagination. When we begin to view education as a boundless and global endeavour, rather than an activity confided to a classroom, then we can really start to imagine the possibilities.

I'm currently teaching in Australia, but I am moving to the USA (Ohio) next year. Hopefully we can connect with some collaborative projects someday.