Anecdotal evidence says that many children, teachers and parents are stressed due to NAPLAN and that NAPLAN practice books are big sellers. The Edutopia video says that a child under stress cannot learn as the brain goes into protection mode and only takes in information that it vital for survival.
I found it interesting that the video talks about bad stress, distress, but did not talk about good stress, eustress. The lack of stress in our lives leads to boredom and a lack of motivation. Children require the right amount of stress to be challenged.
I liked the idea of novelty being the key to engagement but like all things in life, we have to find a balance. For something to be novel means there has to be moments of "normal" for the novel to be contrasted against. I did like the idea of HERE/ME/NOW - so long as there is balance. There has to be some onus on students to realise that there is one teacher for 25+ students and it can't always be about me.
Teachers need to incorporate movement into their classrooms and give students opportunities to digest what has been taught/learnt. Students also need time for their brains to rest before moving onto the next topic.
Students who find ICTs novel would be engaged by the use of ICTs in the classtoom. However, those students who are constantly in front of screens at home may not find ICTs novel and might benefit more from human interaction and tactile learning experiences.
Hadn't heard of Eustress before! That completely makes sense though. I see it in my own children.
ReplyDeleteAnd your comment about children that use ICT all the time is very valid. We are seeing this more and more, so the problem becomes not so much the use of computers in general as some teachers seem to think...but how and when to use ICT. What programs or apps... will facilitate learning? Engage tech savvy students?
We need to be sure we are not just using it for the sake of using it. And this can be difficult if we ourselves are not tech savvy and/or aware of the plethora of apps etc out there. This course is already enlightening me to the range available.