Cart before the horse on MOOCs

Saying that the MOOC debate rages on is rather like saying, "Mosquitoes bother me," yet I encounter that quotidian statement in pretty much every article I read regarding the issue. It probably doesn't help that the name itself sounds like some street-level pejorative but we use the words we have, not the ones we want.

As a fairly-new construct of how knowledge is delivered, MOOCs would naturally be controversial based on their relatively recent introduction to the education field. However, aside from stale arguments that MOOCs can't deliver what classroom instruction can (an argument that has existed since the introduction of the first online course), most of the arguments I've encountered against MOOCs have been specious, at best.

Probably the most contentious issue surrounding MOOCs is their potential for social and economic equality (as I argued for in the this paper) and it's funny how ironic arguments from the Left and the Right cavil about the death of the academy, the Left squealing about how universities should be opened up to everyone, the Right whining about  the death of elite institutions.

Putting matters of delivery aside, MOOCs are the first step in an educational revolution, where learners decide what knowledge matters to them and that knowledge is delivered to them as it matters. For the first time in human history, learners have the capacity to attain knowledge no matter their circumstances or geographical isolation (provided they have a broadband connection). The potential for economic and social justice is here and it's about to be manifest.

Are MOOCs a nostrum? Not at all -- the problem of income inequality has to be dealt with, first and foremost. However, the potential to undercut the current system has begun with MOOCs, especially as learners from marginalized populations take advantage of their educational opportunities an use that position to bring up brothers and sisters.

Indeed, the potential for social and economic change is huge due to the possibles afforded through informal learning opportunities. That possibility will be dealt with in a later post.

Crossposted at The Firebird Suite

My first Prezi

Please be kind.... and cross-posted at The Firebird Suite (under the Portfolio tab).

John Hunter: Teaching with the World Peace Game

Let me start this post by saying that Gamification is not a new idea it is simply a new term. As any teacher will tell you they use some sort of game to teach concepts or make learning more fun for students. John Hunter's TED Talk shows the successful use of and evolution of his World Peace Game.
Students today participate in online games like World of Warcraft, Minecraft, and Grepolis, which require critical thinking skills, collaboration, and problem solving. So, why are we still using static textbooks and worksheets to teach concepts like economics, geopolitics, history, etc.?

So why aren't we talking about Connectivism?

Not meaning to get too intellectual, here (because it seems that doesn't lead to ANY discussion) but when we say that "Open source learning is here to stay," I am apt to think of Michel Foucault's masterpiece, "The Order of Things," and the notion of the "episteme," that how we think about the world is determined by the time in which we reside, that intellect collectively evolves as we add to what and how we know.

Open source learning and the collaborative nature that guides it will only accelerate what we know. The more open source learning becomes the norm, the more human thought will evolve (especially since so much of how we solve questions is facilitated by the same computing power that allows distant minds to connect). Whereas researchers and scientists were once isolated in their offices or laboratories around the globe, they can now openly collaborate on questions about the universe; more than that, problem-solving (and problem-posing) is suddenly a globally participatory function, rather than a discrete and local endeavor.

And how would YOU use the Socratic Method?

... in response to a question posed in class ...

Before discussing how the Socratic Method can be used in the classroom (and which teaching methods promote self-directed learning and independent learners), I was compelled to have a little fun with this after stumbling across a website about how to Use the Socratic Method to Easily Win Arguments during my search (there's a better site about How to Argue Using the Socratic Method that's more comprehensive and isn't focused on "winning" an argument) as it brought to mind this scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) that makes hilarious sport of the Socratic Method:

Sir Bedevere: There are ways of telling whether she is a witch.
Peasant 1: Are there? Oh well, tell us.
Sir Bedevere: Tell me. What do you do with witches?
Peasant 1: Burn them.
Sir Bedevere: And what do you burn, apart from witches?
Peasant 1: More witches.
Peasant 2: Wood.
Sir Bedevere: Good. Now, why do witches burn?
Peasant 3: ...because they're made of... wood?
Sir Bedevere: Good. So how do you tell whether she is made of wood?
Peasant 1: Build a bridge out of her.
Sir Bedevere: But can you not also build bridges out of stone?
Peasant 1: Oh yeah.
Sir Bedevere: Does wood sink in water?
Peasant 1: No, no, it floats!... It floats! Throw her into the pond!
Sir Bedevere: No, no. What else floats in water?
Peasant 1: Bread.
Peasant 2: Apples.
Peasant 3: Very small rocks.
Peasant 1: Cider.
Peasant 2: Gravy.
Peasant 3: Cherries.
Peasant 1: Mud.
Peasant 2: Churches.
Peasant 3: Lead! Lead!
King Arthur: A Duck.
Sir Bedevere: ...Exactly. So, logically...
Peasant 1: If she weighed the same as a duck... she's made of wood.
Sir Bedevere: And therefore...
Peasant 2: ...A witch!

Having had my fun, I'll begin by stating the obvious (which I assume will be repeated here, ad nauseum, if others participate in this discussion) that the Socratic Method is effective in teaching critical thinking, and refer to the site that gives the most comprehensive explanation for the Socratic Method (http://www.socraticmethod.net/) and describes, by implication, how it is used in the classroom (or, in Plato's case, The Symposium). For anyone unfamiliar with the Socratic Method, I recommend using that site as a quick guide for getting up to speed.

The first part of this three-part question, "Locate several websites that describe the Socratic method and how it is used in classrooms," seems redundant since, at least in all the websites I visited, the Socratic Method was described before any discussion about how it is used in the classroom. Having said that, all the sites I looked at and liked discussed how the Socratic Method promotes self-directed learning due to the method's emphasis on A), critical thinking and B), using questions to get students to probe deeper into a topic. Likewise, all the sites suggested that the Socratic Method promotes independent learning due to how it causes students to question themselves and the validity of their answers -- an existential dilemma that forces a learner to confront what they think they know by further researching their beliefs and the extent of their knowledge. Finally, none of the sites advocated any particular or unique method for using the method (other than contextualizing it) but rather made distinctions between the "classical" vs. "modern" approaches.

This site about using the Socratic Method in a third-grade math class was very interesting as far as it illustrated how critical thinking skills can be taught to even young learners. On the other hand, this site about the failure to use the method in a secondary English class was a nice reflective piece on teaching methods and how she would do things differently. Finally, there are some excellent strategies for using the Socratic Method in the classroom at ReadWriteThink -- one of my favorite websites.

Of all the sites I viewed, my favorite was from Stanford as it was more explicit about the self-directed and independent learner benefits of the Socratic Method. I highly recommend it.

A witch!