In coordinating our peer led discussion of the chapter we chose from Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology, our group did an excellent job of suggesting questions and directing the focus of our discussion. In fact, and as Professor Boyer noted, we probably had too much content prepared for an effective in-class discussion. I beleive this is mostly the result of our number of group members (4). Other groups had only two members.
We presented questions to the class, organized and fostered discussion, collected group input via internet/computer access, and attempted to foster further discussion by exploring group contributions. I recall our discussion time went very quickly, especially because of how we shaped the discussion around each member leading a topic. We had a lot of materail!
Overall, I beleive we did a fairly good job of engaging chapter material and invoking class thought beyond the direct content of the chapters. We engaged them by challenging them to think about how they would achieve certain tasks such as communicating with and engaging parents/guardians and students. (This is one of my goals. I envisions parents/guardians and students teaching one another and sharing in the experience of learning.)
As a future educator, I will look back upon this and other experiences and remember the benefits of the challenge presented by having students shape and lead discussion (learning). Many of the best learning experiences, outside of my failures, have occured as I attempted to explain my understanding of material to others. I love it!!
No comments:
Post a Comment