Recap: in part two we briefly introduced the advantages offered by technology based "flipped classroom" methods learning methods. In this post we'll think about the opposite end of the flipped classroom stick: the role of the classroom in learning.
So if learning is greatly facilitated by the use of individualized technological methods, what role should the traditional classroom setting play in education? Why should we hire teachers, construct schools, and require attendance at all?
Because learning is about more than memorization, and education more than than just learning.
I like the Wikipedia definition of education: "the process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, and habits." Thus learning also by extension defined as the acquisition of not only knowledge, but skills, values, beliefs, and habits. While Duolingo teaches me vocabulary and basic grammar, the skill of fluency comes with much deeper practice. It teaches me nothing of values, beliefs or habits. However, these components are an essential part of an successful education because knowledge must be applied in social settings to the benefit of society if the learning is to be considered successful.
It follows then, that education must be a social experience, in order to prepare pupils for the future. However, sociality is necessary to education for the same reason that it is necessary for future endeavors. That is, every person has a unique viewpoint, unique ideas, and unique talents to share. This diversity is not only beautiful, but facilitates the learning experience.
Many students know the feeling of an "epiphany moment," when they suddenly understood a concept or idea. These moments revolve around understanding not memorization. One of Merriam-Webseter's definitions for the verb "understand" is "to achieve a grasp of the nature, significance or explanation of something." That is, not only do I understand that 2 + 2 = 4, I can visualize that in multiple ways, explain it to others, and, perhaps most importantly, tell you why that's significant. This type of understanding involves making connections between different disciplines, different pieces of information and from different points of view. This is why learning understanding as a social process can be so effective: every participant is different. The students in a team learning environment don't have to have all the points of the connect the dots, but a few, which shared among the students, create a larger web of understanding than any one student alone could have created.
Of course, not everyone learns in the same way. Perhaps some people are good at memorizing things when they are doing it with other people (a little competitive spirit or moral support can surely go a long ways). Some individuals prefer to reason and make connections on their own, rather than with other people. However, I believe that in general, the personalized nature of a distraction-less memorization environment and the sharing of ideas, perspectives and brainpower during understanding is the ideal pattern for most peoples' learning process. I think that most readers, remembering their own "epiphanies" will remember moments not of solitude and memorization, but of engaging conversation in a group.
So, the role of the "traditional classroom setting" is not for students to absorb information, but to put it into place. To understand it. If students come to the classroom knowing that 2 + 2 = 4, but perhaps not understanding why this is so, or how exactly to apply that knowledge to the world around them then the social environment of the classroom will allow them to "achieve that grasp" together. Each student will have some piece of understanding which he or she will be able to "teach" to the other students, allowing them to "learn" it and (just as importantly) more firmly solidifying that understanding in his or her own mind. Every person has something to contribute.
The role of the instructor? To facilitate this conversation, organize students so that these activities are effective, ensure that proper memorization has taken place, and provide directions toward solutions without preventing the students' understanding enhancing interactions.
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