The Savvy Technologist

Teaching tech-savvy students

In an article (subscription only) in today’s Wall Street Journal, reporter Kevin Delaney highlights some of the really cool work that a couple Hopkins teachers have been doing with online forums over the last year or so. John Unruh-Friesen and Molly Wieland have been engaging their students in authentic and engaging conversations about things that really matter.

Meanwhile, students in John Unruh-Friesen’s advanced-placement government class at Hopkins High School conduct running debates on an online forum outside of the classroom. The students, mostly 12th-graders, tackle issues including the presidential election, the possibility of a military draft and the Middle East conflict.

What the reporter doesn’t mention is that John’s students’ work on the forum is extra-curricular. Here’s an example (from memory): Last year at one point, posting on the forum hit a bit of a lull. One of the students wanted to ignite some debate so he posted a new thread entitled “Ronald Reagan was the greatest president of the 20th Century.” Not surprisingly, a number of students took the “bait” and a lively discussion ensued. What did surprise me was the nature of the debate. One pro-Reagan student found an interesting graphic showing the growth of the U.S. economy during the Reagan years and used it to support his argument. Soon after, another student posted a graphic showing the growth of the U.S. debt during the same period. That’s the kind of learning and thinking that doesn’t take place during a regular class period.

Thanks to the language support built into Moodle, the online learning tool that our teachers use to supplement their face-to-face courses, Molly’s French students interact in a forum where even the menus are in French.

The fact that they’re writing for an audience larger than just their teacher makes a difference, and what they’re saying tends to be more conversational and relevant to the students’ lives. A recent exchange between the students involved college choices and the wisdom of rooming with your best friend in the dorm—all in French.

I know that Molly’s students write more now that they’re writing for each other and not just their teacher.

I have to say that it was pretty cool to be interviewed for an article in a national newspaper. Congrats, too, to my blogging colleagues Will, Tim, and Thor who were also interviewed.

Tags: moodle