Innovative Methodologies and Education_participant

Innovative Methodologies and Education

Index

1. Innovative methodologies - a brief introduction

2. The digital culture

3. Digital natives

4. The scientific basis

5. To sum up...

7. Participants' poll

8. Tools to craft digital object

What are innovative methodologies?

Innovative teaching techniques redefine the way we approach learning and teaching:

prioritizing a students' active involvement

creating an environment where students are not passive recipients of knowledge but active participants in the process.

making education more inclusive and accessible thanks to the contribution of technology

stimulating critical thinking and problem-solving skills, equipping students for real-world challenges.

stimulating collaborative skills such as active listening, time setting, respect

How can we integrate these methodologies?

transmission teaching social-constructivist teaching

Change the classroom settings

Organise collaborative activities

Integrate digital tools

Keep curiosity and motivation alive through authentic tasks, and the creation of useful objects that link school to life

Change the classroom settings

horseshoe small groups

transmission of knowledgeorderly rows

building of knowledge

Organise collaborative activities

• Organize small groups (max 5)
• Heterogeneity in abilities
• Homogeneity in personalities
• Written and clear tasks
• Definition of times
• Well-defined roles for each member
• Specify the phases of the work

The Jigsaw method

Role-taking: well-defined roles, assigned by the teacher on a rotation basis, with instructions on the appropriate actions to take to fulfil that role.Provide students with a script.

Organize activities around shared “objects”

The object acts as the “authentic task” that the students are required to perform. From the quality of the final product (e.g., accuracy, completeness, organicity etc.), the teacher should be able to grasp students’ knowledge acquisition and assess them coherently

The object is negotiated between teachers and students at the beginning of the process. Students participate in defining its final shape, functions, and target

Learning activities should lead to the collaborative creation of shared objects intended for actual use

self-assessment and peer-assessment:students are repeatedly invited to self-assess and to provide their colleagues with comments about the progress of the knowledge artefacts to be created.

The objects involve any level of schools and universities. They could be either digital (websites, web apps, eBooks, digital games) or material (booklet, manual of a machine, guide to proper nutrition complete with questionnaires for students and families)

Integrate digital tools

Digital tools allow teachers and learners to deliver content in multiple formats (audio, video, images). The multiple formats fit with the different learning styles. Digital tools help build interactive, dynamic and more engaging activities

It is important to provide students with digital tools and environments able to support the development of skills

...therefore also of the previously highlighted assessment processes: from tools for synchronous and asynchronous mutual feedback to environments to build and apply peer-assessment rubrics, and so on.

Technologies areinclusive

It's your turn...

Let's discuss together... pros&cons

https://www.menti.com/al655n8t9qk2

The digital culture

Our society is defined by multiculturalism mutability globalisation complexity

We live in a society that requires new skills What is a skill? The ability to integrate knowledge and skills, as well as personal, social, and methodological abilities, applying them in work or study situations and professional and personal development with effectiveness, responsibility, and autonomy.

What are today's skills?

Social skills: Interact and collaborate with others; Communicate effectively; Manage group work; Meet commitments and deadlines

Individual skills: Adaptability, Curiosity, Creativity, Metacognition

Epistemic skills: Cultivate critical thinking; Know how to manage and search for information; Collaborate in dialogic spaces; Know how to work in a network; Know how to participate in interdisciplinary groups

Digital natives

How does the way of learning of these generations called "digital natives" change?

What did they get?

Expansion of visual-spatial memory

Rapid reaction time

Lateral thinking

Multitasking

Immediacy in satisfying a need

Lack of depth in information

Attentive capacity

Reflective ability

And what did they lose?

We must be aware that every change leads to something new and some loss.

There are three dimensions of the use of technology

Digital dexterity

the ability to use devices without training, but by trying and exploring

Digital inanity

using technology to harm someone (cyberbullying) or to copy, to avoid effort (copying texts for a thesis)

Digital wisdom

the ability to use ICTs to enhance our capabilities, access information critically, and collaborate with others in knowledge construction

The scientific basis

What is a technology?

...refers to all the objects that enhance work and daily life.

...began when humans invented the first tools to meet their primary needs: feeding themselves, sheltering from the cold, defending themselves...

...changes human lives. It can generate concern... but also creates progress and convenience...

Vygotsky (1896 – 1934) helps us better understand the role of technology in the era we are living in. He was a Soviet psychologist, best known for his sociocultural theory, He believed that social interaction plays a critical role in children's learning—a continuous process that is profoundly influenced by culture and by the tools that culture provides for us.

So, Vygotsky argues thathumans live in an environment transformed by artefacts produced by previous generations.

cultural mediation

Artefacts (made with art) • they are an integral part of our actions • they are the externalised form of our mental processes • they are passed down from one generation to the next but are continually modified and made more complex

Any tool affects the psychic processes and psychological structure of the user and builder

SOCIAL-CONSTRUCTIVIST APPROACH

Bruner (1915 - 2016) was an American psychologist who made significant contributions to human cognitive psychology and cognitive learning theory. He believed that children construct knowledge and meaning through active experience with the world around them. He emphasized the role of culture and language in cognitive development.

Cognitive growth involves an interaction between basic human capabilities and “culturally invented technologies that serve as amplifiers of these capabilities.”

SOCIAL-CONSTRUCTIVIST APPROACH

culturemoulds human minds

To sum up...

How to develop digital wisdom?

Teachers act as digital sages when they set up learning environments where students can use digital dexterity to enhance their skills. In these settings, teachers take on the role of guides and monitor the quality of the process.

Why should we introduce technology in school?

• They are tools of our culture - The school must keep up with the times (cultural revolution), must open itself to the world, using the tools that culture makes available

• School environment must educate in the proper use of technology critically and responsibly

• Technologies can help teachers build meaningful activities

Pieces of a puzzle...

It is important to be aware that technologies should not replace traditional teaching, but complement and enrich it

Technologies are the means to enhance learning, not the final aim

What do you think? Can you recall a time when an assessment helped you understand not just what you learned, but how you learned it?

STEP ONE: Introduce the purpose of the lesson. Divide students into 5- or 6-person home-groups. The groups should be diverse in terms of ability. STEP TWO: Divide the day’s lesson into 5-6 segments and assign each group to learn one segment so that students work with others who have the same text to become expert STEP THREE: Give students time to read over their segment and become familiar with it. First, they work individually, then they discuss with each other the key details or the main idea of the document. Ask them to create an artefact (mind map, a graphic organizer, complete a grid...).

STEP FOUR: Students move into jigsaw groups to share their expert thinking. Each student shares information about his or her document with students in the new jigsaw group. They synthesize their thinking and create another artefact.

The benefit: every student is accountable for their work, and every student deepens the topic and contributes to the final artefact.Jigsaw maximizes interaction and establishes an atmosphere of cooperation and respect for other students.

Teacher's role: prepare, plan, define the outcomes, organize the work groups and the setting in the classroom; circulate to ensure that groups are on task and managing their work well; monitor the comprehension of the group members by asking questions and rephrasing information until it is clear that all group members understand the points.

Social constructivism is a collaborative learning approach that emphasises student involvement, discussion, and knowledge exchange; students collaborate in groups to share ideas, solve problems, or create something new, a useful object. This learning theory stresses active interaction among learners.

Socrates, who was an important Greek philosopher, in Plato’s Dialogues talked about his concern about writing. He lived in the third century BC. Socrates argued that writing would cause the ruin of human memory, it would affect the ability to memorize (before the spread of writing events were told by voice)

What is a script?

The script is a set of written instructions that explicitly define the role and actions to be taken to fulfil it satisfactorily

Perform structured collaborative peer-assessment sessions, including the following steps: a. observing and discussing other groups’ intermediate products assigned by the teacher (i.e., conceptual maps); b. defining appropriate criteria for assessing them; c. for each criterion, providing the colleagues with constructive feedback to improve the product; d. completing of captain's logs, grids and final surveys e. analysing the received assessments and accordingly revising their products.

MUTUAL RESPECTPEACEFUL CLIMATE it is not an "error hunt"

The student self-assessment approach empowers learners to take an active role in their education. It involves students reflecting on their own learning, skills, and progress, and evaluating their strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. By engaging in self-assessment, students develop metacognitive skills. Through self-evaluation, students gain a deeper understanding of their own abilities, enhance their critical thinking skills, and cultivate lifelong learning habits.

students need to be educated about self-assessment

Brainstorm

means share as many ideas on the topic to be discussed Diverging phase • each person expresses their ideas freely • everyone listens, suspends judgment and avoids any criticism or comment • the teacher takes note of the proposed ideas with billboards, whiteboards or LIM Convergent phase • Review and evaluation of the product and material organization

Traditional assessment methods often measure learning as the ability to recall information. However, this approach can overlook the depth of understanding and the learning process. Formative assessments are key in the constructivist approach: they provide ongoing feedback, allowing learners to identify their strengths and areas for improvement and adjust their learning strategies accordingly.

Formative assessments place a premium on the process of learning rather than just the final results. It values the steps taken by learners to arrive at an answer, the strategies they employ, and the mistakes they make along the way as vital components of the learning experience. Feedback is not merely corrective; it is a dialogue that helps learners reflect on their learning processes. Effective feedback under this paradigm is descriptive, specific, and aimed at guiding learners toward improvement and self-discovery.

Transmission teaching refers to conventional practices where teaching means transmitting knowledge from Point A (teacher's head) to Point B (students' heads). This is a teacher-centered approach in which the teacher is the master and dispenser of knowledge and the final evaluator of learning.

Some examples:Google Module can be used to administer the periodic self-monitoring questionnaire, whereas Padlet or LonoIt host reflective brainstorming taking place during classroom activities. Moreover, students can be monitored through an LMS platform, such as Moodle, in which the teacher monitors students’ processes and products

The object must be useful to the wider community, outside the school, and must be connected to a concrete need. It must be multidisciplinary, motivating and interesting.