Engaging Education

Active; energetic, lively, dynamic, sporty, hard-working, involved, enthusiastic. When we think of synonym's that go along with the word active, why wouldn't we want to include such an awesome adjective in our learning and teaching styles?! Active learning is when students are engaged through reading, writing, discussion, or problem solving to enhance their educational experience. Students are no longer expected to listen to lectures for hours on end in a classroom, but to be active learners in their educations. Getting students to DO the learning is a major part of this new education fad. To learn more about Active Learning, use this link on Active Learning.

This image of a brain in motion comes from BYU's Center for Teaching & Learning. 

I love the question that Nicole proposed in her Prezi presentation, "would you want to be a student in your classroom?" I think this is a great way to analyze our teaching and reflect on how engaging and exciting we really can be when presenting new knowledge to our students. If I was in a classroom, I would want to be involved in the process, not just a bystander. 

This week I reviewed a Thinglink lesson that required students to actively research the regions of the United States and then create a website using Thinglink to display their work. 

Thinglink allowed students to be an active learner in many ways. This assignment resulted in real student work, also providing students with the opportunity to have ownership and pride in their web presence. This assignment required student participation, student creativity, and for students to be interactive with the Internet. It also allowed for problem solving strategies to be used. If students came across an area of the assignment that troubled them, they would have to use their problem solving strategies to find the answer. There was also a digital enhancement to the assignment, since students were creating a web page.

Creating a Padlet to explain this assignment, allowed me to be an active learner myself. I had to create something of my own while being creative and participating. I had to problem solve by playing around with Padlet and finding which button allowed me to create new posts. I definitely think active learning should be part of all lessons in a school setting. Teachers need to consider Nicole’s question I mentioned earlier, “would you want to be a student in your classroom?” I think the only way to answer that question with a “yes” is to include active learning in your lessons. It’s engaging and it makes learning FUN!

To view my personal Padlet, look below, or use this link: Padlet - Thinglink