Broken equation

Posted by: Dr Ashley Tan on: March 29, 2018

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Hot on the heels of Apple’s recent education event came this tweet from @AppleEDU:

When you make learning fun, students are more engaged. And nothing makes learning more fun than exploring, creating and collaborating with iPad. https://t.co/3biHCHd1HI pic.twitter.com/fSOe3UhAkh

— Apple Education (@AppleEDU) March 27, 2018

Here was a critical response:

This silly equation of fun=engaging= learning isn’t just wrong, it’s potentially counter productive. And you don’t need any of this to produce the same learning outcome. https://t.co/yjxYyo8bqI

— Tom Bennett (@tombennett71) March 28, 2018

I agree. The equation of fun = engaging = learning is flawed.

Something that is fun might be engaging, but does not mean that the right gears are in play.

For example, a teacher might introduce a mobile or online game to teach a math skill or language concept. A student might play the game — typically a quiz in disguise — to get a high score, but learn little, if anything at all.

This happens when the teacher focuses on the game or content instead of factoring in the learner’s prior knowledge and cognitive schema. Doing the latter activates the right gears in the learner before they start a meaningful learning journey.

Something engaging still does not guarantee learning. When a teacher tries to engage learners with iPads or Chromebooks, this is an external hook or lure. The stimulus comes from without.

Empowerment comes largely from within. It might start with an engaging hook, but the teacher must also provide learner choice and agency. A teacher teaches; only a learner learns.
 

"Studying (59/365)" (CC BY-NC 2.0) by Jack Amick

 
Entire school districts might commit to Apple’s new offering. They might also opt for the technical training it offers for teachers. But all these are pointless if there is no socio-technical professional development (PD), i.e., one that focuses on both pedagogy and technology. Such PD is about activating schema and empowering learners with technology. It is not about putting one above the other, i.e., pedagogy over technology, or technology over pedagogy.

Video source

Here is some free PD: The video above and the one embedded in the AppleEDU tweet hint at what empowered students look like. They learn by doing and they create.

However, neither video shows the teacher’s role in all this. Neither video shows what the gaps are, how wide they are, or how to bridge those gaps. This is PD that school administrators and policymakers need to plan and pay for. This is PD that teachers must demand. This is PD that people who live in the nexus of pedagogy and technology — people like me — can provide.

Tags: apple, broken, engaging, equation, event, fun, ipad, learning