Continuing Research

Hello fellow bloggers!

So, I have finally started to do some research in order to answer my Genius Hour Question!  It's about time, right!?

Teaching has become a major part of my life... and I'm not even a teacher yet!  I've spent the last four years studying child development and education. Since I am in my final year of my teaching degree I felt that it was important that I prepare myself as much as I can by understanding how to get students engaged in their learning experiences (how to motivate them, what strategies to use, etc.).

Just a reminder, my Genius Hour Question:

What instructional design elements can teachers use to create engaging learning experiences for students?

When I started my research I was focusing a lot on instructional design elements that create effective lessons that students will love.  But I started to find that was more of the theory behind everything rather than actually putting it into practice.  So, instead of focusing on academic papers for research, I started looking at blogs and other teacher strategies webpages.  The information that I have collected so far has been so helpful for my personal knowledge as well as my Genius Hour Question (which is basically the whole point, right?!)

Momentum -- NOT Motivation
One thing that I've learned through my research is that motivation (while very important) can be the result of something different than trying to get students excited about learning.  Momentum in learning can really helps students "take off" with their learning.  When students have momentum in their learning they are already striving for the next thing they can learn.  In other words, rather than trying to push students into being motivated, allow them to find something they love and let them run with it.  Once they have momentum and are enjoying what they are learning, they will be intrinsically motivated to learn new things -- which will help them be more engaged in their learning experiences.  It all flows together kind of nicely, don't you think?

New Thoughts
Over the last few weeks of using technology for learning AND learning new things through technology, I can tell that my thoughts have completely changed.  Of course I would love to think that I knew what I was doing with technology and how beneficial it can be... But the last few weeks have been such an eye-opener!!  The amount I've learned from being guided through my technolgoy course and the amount I have learned by trying new programs and using new ideas -- it's been incredible! I've learned more than I would have thought and it just makes me think that there is so much more that I can learn (strong momentum makes me motivated to learn more... interesting!).

My Next Steps
Continuing on with my learning involves synthesizing the material that I've gained in order to create a deeper understanding of my Genius Hour Question (and future knowledge of technology). From here I hope to be able to understand even more strategies and techniques for instructional design that will help students become engage in their learning experiences.  Another thing I hope to do is start talking to real teachers and real students to understand what they think.

After all, I want to know what will help get students more engaged, who better to ask than students themselves?  

Plus, asking teachers will hopefully give me a more realistic idea of what I can and cannot do, what is easy and what is more challenging to do.  I would love to think that all options are easy to do and won't have any issues, but teachers will hopefully be able to help me understand the best options!

Well that's all for now!

- Kathleen :)