We went to a lovely little rural school last week, as part of a series of visits to see what actually goes on in schools around here, in the way of e-learning. Tural, Jin Kyang, Yun Yu and me.
We watched a class of first years working with some e-learning technologies in the course of their busy active day. Su, their teacher is immensely skilful, good humoured (even with a terrible cold), and the kids all love her. When she wants to them to stop talking (5 year olds only speak when they have something important say, which is all the time), she says "speaking!" and throws them a look and they all shout "LISTENING!!!" and shut up.
The best thing we saw was when everyone in the class squashed down all together on the carpet in front of the interactive whiteboard. At that moment they turned into a kind of single organism, like a big happy jellyfish, focused intently on the board and on Su. They play maths games, design a monster, and love every minute of it.
Su says that her school is by no means the best around at using technology and there are definitely days when she thinks that the easiest thing to do with a computer is not to use it. There is a lot of guilt for schoolteachers, I think, tied in with using technology - some sense that they always ought to be doing more than they do, and a realisation that if only they had enough time and space, they could really get their heads round opening the box, taking out the technology, reading the instructions and trying it out for themselves. Meanwhile, Su concentrates on running a class of 37 kids aged between 5 and 7, constantly using little bits of technology to make a good day even better, and she makes it all looks so easy and natural.
Would you call what we saw going on there e-Learning ? I couldn't swear that I saw anyone actually e-learn anything in particular. But I do reckon we saw a wonderful technology-enhanced hour of school for these kids, who then went off went to the school hall for a few singing-enhanced minutes, while outside the final yellow and red leaves of this extraordinary autumn got ready to fall across the English countryside. We drove back to Oxford feeling enhanced, that's for sure.
2 comments:
That is a great experience I think and especially that the kids are still in the kindergarden and they are using the whiteboard. It seems i must try it.It is embarrassing to be student in elearning and not to write on it.In addition to that,to be able to run a class with 35 or 36 kids,the teacher is a survivor:))))))))I have 7 nephews and 2 neices and i can hardly survive with them...joking;)
I should have been there with you guys! It must be very interesting. I also wish I were a student there…
Sometimes I was thinking how we know we have learned in a school. Can I say that after we read a paragraph in a text book? Can I say that after we write an article about it? Or after we tell others what it is about? I don't know the answer. Learning for me is a continuous process of doing triggered by all the evidence shown at school. The result of learning is not a simple mapping from this process, but a complex reflection of doing. At this point, how technology can play a role to enhance learning then? I see technology as my friend, collaboratively working together. I got to know this friend when I was in secondary high school. My dad brought back a laptop, showing me how to set up a role play game on it. I was amazed by using that small mouse to control my character on the screen, which showing a beautiful island I have never been in my real life. Also others in that game talked to me, even that ugly snake. I liked it a lot and wanted to know more about it. So I start to get to know my new friend. From that time, she helped me write my own game by programming; she helped me make my editor’s dream become true; she helped me organise my schedule more clearly… On the other hand, I was trying to help her improve her capability as well (did I?). I think this is what friends suppose to do, sharing with each other.
They looked so happy from the picture, playing with their technology friend!
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