Ben, who didn't quite hear me, casually asked, "Did you say we're going to watch a movie, or make a movie?"
I stopped in my tracks.
His matter of fact tone was the arresting part. Either making or watching was fine with him. Even more, his tone implied, either watching or making a movie could be expected on the agenda in science class. In his eight or so years of schooling, Ben and his classmates have come to expect a wide array of ways to acquire knowledge. These students also have come to expect a wide array of ways to demonstrate, integrate and cement their understanding of what they are learning in school.
Our school makes this array readily available to students because the internet, media and media making tools are available to all students, all day long. As I stopped to explain to the class why Ben's comment made me so happy, another student said, "That's why our school is so awesome!"
Ben's matter-of-fact question also told me that he anticipates that in any given class he will be expected be a consumer of knowledge-- as watching a film will facilitate. Clearly, though, he has also come to expect that he will be asked to show what he has constructed of his understanding, or be a creator of knowledge-- as making a movie will facilitate.
As it turns out, just a few weeks ago, Ben and his lab group did make a movie in science class. Students were asked to propose and promote a law that would improve a community's water quality. Having learned that motor oil drips from automobiles and then runs off into surface water, Ben's group proposed a law to mitigate the harmful effects of motor oil. Their law required "green," or "G-oil" to be available for purchase, instead of just traditional oil. (G-oil is an actual product.)
Here is their promotion for their law:
Consumers and creators both!
Reading this entry made me very happy. Knowing how to produce information or making a visual exploration is the basics for creating curiosity and life-long learning.
ReplyDeleteThank you, David! Having a great Director of Technology certainly helps me as a teacher.
ReplyDelete