Learning Styles 2.0: Digital, Social, and Always On

Under the Interactive heading in the "Digital Learning Experience
Attributes" section, I really liked Baird's idea to have "students
expect to pick and use various types of media and create a
personalized 'mash-up' of content." It reminded me a lot of projects
in college and in the work place are often presented, where one is
given a lot of choice, and a big part of the task is to choose a path
that is appropriate to the task, but also the strengths of the
individual. Encouraging kids to make these types of choices perhaps
lessens their dependency on authority figures and gives them practice
in making choices.

In that same vein, I disagreed with Baird's premise stated under the
"Authentic" heading that "learning and knowledge acquisition takes
place only when situated in a social and authentic context"--meaning
that if one isn't in both a social and an authentic context, learning
can't take place. I absolutely agree that a social context can be
essential for many types of learning, and I also believe that it is
essential to have kids become accustomed to working in social
settings.

However, the way it is written made me cringe a bit. I often feel that
the concept of group work is considered the best, and the only best,
way for people to learn. For me, working in a social setting is often
not the most authentic or efficient environment for me acquire
information or to produce quality work. I am more easily distracted
when other people are around and I think I also need time to really
think about assignments or concepts before I'm able to feel like I am
able to be an authentic, contributing member of a group. The time I've
spent as a student at Bank Street I've struggled with the frequency
and intensity that group work is considered the best way to approach a
topic. In these situations, I often feel like I can either be
authentically social or authentically productive.

I wonder how much of a person's ability to feel both authentic, social
and productive has to do with his or her educational history, or his
or her genes or natural temperament. I think either way, technology
can be used well, it just takes a thoughtful teacher to make sure that
the way technology is used is best for all students and learning
types.

STEPHANIE DOBLER