We all know how it feels to begrudgingly sit
through an uninteresting, plain lecture perhaps with a generic Powerpoint
presentation containing upwards of 100 slides of words. It’s boring, and
exhausting. And I don’t think I’ve ever really taken away a true understanding
of the material when learning is facilitated this way.
Enter Active Learning.
Here’s where the real learning takes place.
The doing.
The moving.
The making.
The being.
Just as the name implies this strategy engages
students through technology and components that connect the real world to the
classroom. It is through these experiences I believe that students can build on
skills that perpetuate lifelong learning. As Bonnel & Smith (2010) put it,
active learning is learning how to learn.
The glue that ties this theory together is
technology. This allows students to engage and be active in the facilitation of
course content. We can appeal to multiple learning styles using technology,
too. Which just sweetens the pot.
As an educator, I will take risks and maybe
incorporate off the wall or outrageous experiences to make learning memorable
and exciting. I mean, why NOT? As I’ve reflected in past courses, I aim to be
the educator that uses humor and understanding to build connections with
students. I will keep the classroom up to date and relevant. I believe that
active learning encompasses both authentic and experiential learning and
assists with subsequent applied learning. In other words, engaging students in
active learning so they can easily relate to clinical practice.
Again, as I have once reflected, I view educating
as being similar to raising a child. For a more specific example, I would
utilize technology and active learning to evaluate student learning and several
points of a lecture/presentation with the use of clickers. After a number of
slides, a question is posed to the class who must participate using the clicker
and then a short debriefing will occur. Just as I would start out
teaching my child ABC before DEFG. I’d make sure he got the hang of the first
three letters before I moved on to the rest. And every few letter I will re
evaluate how he is learning.
This picture says it all. Why would one want to
be passive about anything? You get out what you put in, and so as a
student or an educator we should strive to active!
“Go
big or go home.”
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