A Synergistic Symposium for the Cybernetic Age
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Deirdre Bonnycastle's Page
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- About Me:
- I do faculty development for a medical school in Canada. I am currently researching active learning and am particularly interested in how technology can increase student engagement.
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I developed a model to teach open-ended problem solving in '82 that of course includes creativity as a major component (I teach that at OISE) and have worked out a way where the student essentially marks themselves - some of my students have some difficulty initially but most see how it "works" by the end of the course. It demands a lot of thinking in setting up the activities but it has been used from Kindergarten to Univ so I think it works. I had to develop another model to consider the "place" of this approach - I call it the spectrum of problem solving - my main work is around design thinking.
I think that PS is like the old story of the blind people and the elephant - problem solving is a trunk to some people and a tail to others. Together we may have the bigger picture I think - hence the spectrum. Ironically they use the same tools - I think we can see the differences more easily when we consider the acceptability of the solution. A different approach but it helps tease out what I call "families" - in your medical world you clearly use one family more than the other but we need both especially to innovate - oops - there I go again!
Interesting topics for sure. I like the blog's focus BTW
Re. the blog - looks very interesting - another book I read many years ago said there are only two bywords for future education (he actually selected Secondary but I think they apply everywhere learning takes place) participation and relevance!
Students are so often bored in our schools because the older methods are not "of their time". They are far too academic - I also think that our curriculum is dominated by feeding curiosity and analytical thinking. Creativity tends to be "pushed" into the Arts - in the "real world" we need a balance of skills - another favourite passion! Oops - sorry for getting on a hobby horse.
I am not a "frequent" visitor right now but was flipping through pages and noted you desire to perhaps use technology to increase engagement. I don't have any secret ideas but you may be interested in what Marshall McLuhan had to say on the topic (as I read it) and how it supports your wishes:
"The children of technological man respond with untaught delight to the poetry of trains, ships, planes, and to the beauty of machine products.
In the school room officialdom suppresses all their natural experience; children are divorced from their culture. They are not permitted to approach the traditional heritage of mankind through the door of technological awareness; this only possible door for them is slammed in their faces."
It speaks to grade school really but I believe that technology can help engage people although some adults who were not encouraged earlier in their lives seem to have great difficulty. Without a comfort level of course they cannot be really engaged.
I work at OISE and it is disturbing to see so many candidates for teaching who actually fear technologies. I have found that programs like PowerPoint are excellent to provide me with a backdrop for teaching - I can control it all and enhance my teaching. I have a website for some of my research into the topic plus some presentations I have given on that topic. http://fcis.oise.utoronto.ca/~gday/PowerPoint
My background includes ICT so I confess a little bias!