A new culture of learning
The Industrial Revolution began in the mid-1800s in Europe and later spread to the United States. The changes involved in this revolution included technological, socioeconomic and cultural. (Britannica). Education during this time reflected the needs of the world and in this case the needs were addressed in a factory method of education. “The introduction of the factory system created a void in both areas. With households and neighborhoods destroyed as centers of production, only the schools remained available as agencies to provide this basic grounding in real-world experience and social responsibility. This was the challenge set for a "progressive" education.” (International Journal Of Progressive Education, 9(1), 73-83).
Today we are faced with another type of Revolution, a technical one. With the invention of the internet and wireless technology, we as a society are much more connected with information in every field of interest. We have access to anything we want to know or learn at our fingertips and there’s very little effort we have to make to access that information. With a few keystrokes, we can obtain knowledge at a moment’s notice. “Indeed, many cell phones now have more computing power and Internet access than the average home computer did in 2000.” (Thomas & Brown pg. 42). With this in mind, the concept of the traditional classroom seems almost obsolete. It is no longer feasible to expect students to remain engaged in the traditional teaching method where knowledge is transferred from teacher to student when the student can access the information when they need it, where they need it and at a faster rate. Shifting to create a significant learning environment is needed to keep pace with today’s students.
Modern day students have outpaced the traditional education system with their access to information via the internet. Although John Dewey’s writings about education were focused during the depression and mid 1900s, his writings are still relevant today. “Dewey insisted that the old model of schooling—students sitting in rows, memorizing and reciting—was antiquated. Students should be active, not passive. They required compelling and relevant projects, not lectures. Students should become problem solvers.” (Gibbon 2019). With the onset of technology access in the classroom, Dewey’s educational philosophy is more relevant today perhaps than at any other time in history. For those reasons along with the easy technological access to information by students and the general population in general, it is crucial to create a significant learning environment that can enhance the learning and cater to tech savvy students rather than continuing with the mechanistic approach where, “learning is treated as a series of steps to be mastered…” (Thomas & Brown pg. 35).
Dewey's ideas on education emphasize the importance of adapting education to the changing needs of society. “The progressive education movement is the outgrowth of the realization by educators of the fact that our highly complex, rapid, crowded civilization demands and has been met by changes in school subjects and practice; that to make these changes effective something more is needed than simply the addition of one subject after another. The new subjects should be introduced with some relation to each other and the ways in which they operate and integrate in the world outside of school.” (Dewey). There’s no doubt that the educational needs of today’s students have changed and continue to evolve but the classroom has stayed largely the same. In A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of Constant Change, Thomas and Brown state that, “the classroom as a model is replaced by learning environments in which digital media provide access to a rich source of information and play…” (Thomas & Brown pgs. 37-38).
Adapting education to the changing needs of society by creating a new culture of learning is the foundation of my Innovation Plan. “When individuals become part of a new culture, they are generally the ones who are transformed.” (Thomas & Brown pgs. 36). As a foreign language teacher, I strongly believe in utilizing all available resources to enhance the learning environment for Second Language Learners (L2 Learners). Nowadays, there are numerous L2 teaching strategies that benefit greatly from technology resources. Our teaching strategies are significantly enriched through the integration of technology. “Embracing change and seeing information as a resource can help us stop thinking of learning as an isolated process of information absorption and start thinking of it as a cultural and social process of engaging with the constantly changing world around us.” (Thomas & Brown pgs. 47).
One effective strategy that combines technology and language teaching is Movie Talk. In this interactive lesson, the teacher uses presentation slides to introduce scenes from a movie. Through Comprehensible Input (CI), which involves explaining each scene in the target language using gestures and encouraging audience participation, students are actively engaged in the lesson. Students bounce ideas off one another to predict what is happening in the slides or to interpret the teacher’s words and actions. This level of engagement and comprehension wouldn't be achievable without the incorporation of technology in the classroom. “Peer to peer learning is amplified by emerging technologies that shape the collective nature of participation with those new media … In a new culture of learning, people learn through their interaction and participation with one another…” (Thomas & Brown pgs. 50).
Creating an environment of belonging through participation is also a goal of my Innovation Plan. Thomas and Brown describe a collective as “a collection of people, skills, and talent that produces a result greater than the sum of its parts … In a collective, people belong in order to learn. Communities derive their strength from creating a sense of belonging, while collectives derive theirs from participation.” (Thomas & Brown pgs. 52). Creating that environment with the use of content gamification fosters participation and sense of belonging through competition. Furthermore, L2 teachers are increasingly incorporating content gamification into their lessons. This involves using game-like elements to reinforce concepts or review material.
Students respond positively to content gamification in the classroom as it makes learning more interactive, enjoyable, and memorable. The use of technology facilitates the implementation of these gamified activities, leading to enhanced learning outcomes through engagement. “ …the teaching based approach focuses on teaching us about the world, while the new culture of learning focuses on learning through engagement within the world.” (Thomas & Brown pg. 38). In addition, students “learn by doing, watching, and experiencing.” My students were born into the digital age and most have been technology savvy since they were toddlers. They are not afraid to use technology, “They just start doing it, learning by absorption and making tacit connections. And the more they do it, the more they learn.” (Thomas & Brown pgs. 76). Adding content gamification to the new learning environment can also foster learning inquiry where students are encouraged to ask questions. “It creates motivation to learn and provides a set of constraints that make the learning meaningful.” (Thomas & Brown pgs. 83).
In my Innovation Plan, I have addressed the need to create a significant learning environment for my L2 learners by implementing blended learning in the foreign language classroom. Adding a digital component to the Spanish language program as part of the curriculum, will incorporate digital tools that will enhance the learning experience and encourage a shift in students' mindset from a focus on grades to valuing effort and progress. I have also planned to integrate the DuoLingo application into student Chromebooks assigned to the Spanish classroom. DuoLingo offers a gamified learning experience that allows students to progress at their own pace while engaging in friendly competition with their peers. This gamification element has been shown to boost motivation and participation in language learning. "As we watch the world move to a state of near-constant change and flux, we believe that connecting play and imagination may be the single most important step in unleashing the new culture of learning.” (Thomas & Brown pgs. 117-118). Keeping this in mind, I'll employ content-based gamification platforms in my new learning environment to enrich and review previously taught lessons. Despite the success and growing popularity of content based gamification, “some educators continue to dismiss games as frivolous or time-wasting entertainment…” (Thomas & Brown pg. 107).
The last step of my implementation plan is to launch a new digital-based curriculum in the classroom beginning next fall. This curriculum will incorporate diverse digital tools that enable students to input written and spoken responses directly into the platform, all while delivering content online. These resources are tailored to enrich the learning experience, foster student engagement, and promote success in the Spanish language program. “Imagine an environment where participants are constantly measuring and evaluating their own performances, even if that requires them to build new tools to do it.” (Thomas & Brown pg. 106).
Resistance from other teachers and administrators has already been a challenge to implementing the innovation plan. They are accustomed to traditional teaching methods and see the new approach as potentially burdensome for teachers and potentially distracting for students, as it involves learning technical skills alongside the lesson content. Overcoming this challenge may require showcasing the benefits of this new approach, addressing concerns about time management, and demonstrating how integrating technology can enhance learning outcomes and student engagement.
Ultimately, my innovation plan aims to show that establishing a significant learning environment through blended learning will be advantageous for all students in the foreign language classroom. This approach enables for easier differentiation, fosters interactive and engaging lessons, and engages students in ways that traditional classroom methods cannot achieve. The goal is for the Foreign Language classroom to become a model for other classrooms, inspiring them to adopt some or all of the changes made to establish a blended learning environment that resonates with "digital natives" and transforms their approach to learning. (Szabo & Kopinska, 2023, pg. 1). Leading by example is crucial in persuading other teachers that a blended classroom can create a significant learning environment. They must grasp the broader vision of education's future rather than solely focusing on their familiar day-to-day routines in the classroom. Given that my Innovation Plan aims to establish a blended foreign language classroom with engaging and interactive experiences, I believe the steps I've taken in implementing this plan and my broad perspective on learning can serve as the foundational framework for developing my own learning philosophy; a philosophy that embraces multiple learning theories, reflecting the diverse environment I am focused on creating.
References:
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2024, April 5). Industrial Revolution | Definition, History, Dates, Summary, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica.
Dewey, J. (2024). Why have progressive schools? Current History (1941), 123(849), 40.
Dewey, J. (2013). The Challenge of Progressive Education. (2013). International Journal Of
Progressive Education, 9(1), 73-83.
John Dewey: Portrait of a Progressive Thinker. (2019). Peter Gibbon, HUMANITIES, Spring
2019, Volume 40, Number 2.
Gibbon. (2019). John Dewey: Portrait of a progressive thinker. (2019). Humanities,
Thomas, D. D., & Brown, J. S. (2011). A new culture of learning: cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change.
Szabó, F., & Kopinska, M. (2023). Gamification in foreign language teaching: a
conceptual introduction. Hungarian Educational Research Journal, 13(3), 418–428.
danieljbmitchell. (2007, August 1). Progressive education in the 1940s [Video]. YouTube.
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