Educators complain of many barriers to incorporating technology into middle level instruction. Using an engaged learning approach can help teachers overcome these barriers and enhance their students' education.
Over the past several years, I have been fortunate to work with hundreds
of preservice and inservice teachers in southern Illinois to integrate technology
into K-12 classrooms. My colleagues and I at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville
have also worked in specific ways to bring engaged learning approaches to
classroom teachers. This article proposes to briefly describe technology-enhanced
engaged learning, to discuss barriers to this type of learning that must
be overcome, and to describe strategies for bringing technology-based engaged
learning experiences to middle school students.
Engaged Learning Models that are similar to the engaged learning model addressed
here have been around for a long time, most notably in the writings of John
Dewey and his followers, Jerome Bruner (discovery learning), and Howard
Barrows at Southern Illinois University (problem based learning). The constructivist
learning model is closely related, too.
In the field of K-12 education, the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory
(NCREL) has provided the terminology, model, and educational outreach for
engaged learning, and has put together a complex website that addresses
these issues: Pathways
to School Improvement.
Ideas about engaged learning have recently been pulled together into two
WebQuests, one for school administrators (www.siue.edu/~jandris/engaged/engaged.html)
and one for preservice teachers and administrators (www.siue.edu/~jandris/engaged/engaged2.html).
NCREL's eight-point model of engaged learning views learners as responsible
and energized by learning; tasks as challenging, authentic and interdisciplinary;
assessments as performance based and interwoven with curriculum; instruction
as problem based; learning contexts as collaborative and knowledge-building;
grouping as heterogeneous; teachers as facilitators and colearners; and
student roles as explorers and producers of knowledge. Jones (1998) also
presents an overview of the engaged learning model.
Beyond Limitations
Three aspects of middle level schools can be seen as closed doors to technology
integration. Alternatively, engaged learning can be seen as a key that unlocks
these doors, transforming them into opportunities for technology integration.
Technology
The limited view. A wonderful new evolution of networked technology
has forever changed our lives and the lives of our students. But as I travel
to various school districts I repeatedly hear not about how technology has
enhanced education but about how limited is access to technology in the
classroom. I hear complaints that classrooms have not enough computers,
computer labs are difficult to schedule, networks frequently malfunction
or are slow, technical support for problems is minimal, software is old
or too expensive, and the Internet is too dangerous for students.
Unlocking the door. The lack of an engaged learning model, with its
emphasis on collaborative, project-oriented student work and teacher as
facilitator, is a barrier to incorporating existing technology into classrooms.
When teachers view their role as delivering predetermined content to students
who are all working on the same tasks, having only one computer in each
classroom does indeed seem like an insurmountable barrier to technology
integration. But when teachers are comfortable using rubric-evaluated collaborative
small groups that cycle through a number of classroom learning stations,
one computer is one of many valuable classroom resources.
Stress on Standardized Testing
The limited view. In Illinois, students in grades 3, 5, and 8 are tested
on their reading, math, and writing skills, and students in grades 4 and
7 are tested on their social science and science skills. The Illinois State
Board of Education is clear that these tests measure achievement according
to the Illinois Learning Standards (ILS) and encourages teachers to teach
to the standards, rather than the test. Nevertheless, in some schools and
with some teachers, there is a high level of concern that students must
be prepared to "succeed" on these achievement tests, and a relatively
large amount of directed instruction focuses on aspects of the content being
tested. This focus can discourage the use of both engaged learning techniques
and technology in classrooms.
Unlocking the door. Focusing on only standardized testing overlooks
two essential parts of the ISBE plan for K-12 education. First, woven in
and across the content areas of the ILS are five applications of learning--problem
solving, communicating, using technology, working on teams, and making connections--designed
to deepen and demonstrate students' understanding of basic knowledge and
skills. These five applications of learning are essential components of
engaged learning strategies.
Second, the ILS provides a series of detailed age- and level-appropriate
benchmarks for each of the standards in the seven content areas. For example,
almost every benchmark for middle level school social science standard achievement
is couched in terms of "explaining how." Everything educators
know about science education advocates using an inductive, problem-solving
approach for generating meaningful answers to How questions--in short, using
an engaged learning model of some kind. Therefore, at least in Illinois,
we must augment directed instruction approaches to the curricula with engaged
learning approaches. Further, we must strive to find the kinds of assessment
appropriate to engaged learning that will complement the standardized testing
we now have in place.
Middle Level Learners
The limited view. Early adolescence is a period of major
transitions, during which students learn new roles, deal with rapidly changing
bodies, and experience new expectations (McEwin and Thomason 1989). Decreases
in motivation and performance among middle level students can be rationalized
as inevitable consequences of pubertal changes, fanned by an increasing
influence of peers. This could result in an even greater emphasis on effective
classroom management strategies and controlling school rules and climate.
Unlocking the door. Anderman and Midgley (1998) have used attribution
theory and goal theory to suggest ways to control middle level learning
environments for enhancing student motivation. Anderman and Midgley conclude
that student motivation is related to students' beliefs of their chances
of success (attribution theory). Structuring the learning environment to
enhance success is a significant factor in improving student motivation.
The authors also suggest that fostering task goal orientation creates more
adaptive patterns of learning than fostering ability goal orientation (goal
theory). In task goal orientation, the purpose of achievement is personal
improvement and understanding; in ability goal orientation, the purpose
of achievement is demonstration of ability.
Anderman and Midgley suggest that a number of strategies help create task
focus in middle schools: grouping by topic and frequent reformation of groups,
cooperative learning, alternative assessment to testing, grading for progress
and student involvement in grade determination, emphasis on learning for
its own sake, opportunities for student choice and decision making, encouraging
problem solving, and peer tutoring. These suggestions are clearly compatible
with and implemented by a technology-based engaged learning approach.
Strategies for Engaging Teachers
The conditions for getting middle level teachers to use such strategies
with their students vary. A whole continuum of middle school teaching exists,
from teachers who already have a toolbox full of engaged learning strategies,
to teachers who are just beginning to incorporate engaged learning techniques
into their lesson plans, to teachers who resist the concept and practice
of engaged learning. Many current middle school practices already encourage
engaged learning, particularly the use of thematic units and projects.
With the single exception of teachers who are already committed to some
use of an engaged learning approach, teachers can learn to appreciate the
power of engaged learning strategies in their own classrooms if they can
experience this approach as engaged learners. Teachers must become responsible
for their own learning, work collaboratively with other teachers, create
their own engaged learning units or methods, try them out, and evaluate
and modify their own work. They must see their instructor acting as facilitator,
rather than source of truth.
I model the use of engaged learning techniques in a traditional three-semester
hour, on-campus course. Class participants, about 90 percent of which are
inservice teachers, receive a rubric on the first day of class that specifies
beginning, developing, advanced, and expert levels of performance for about
15 general but useful topic areas of network use. Class participants are
required to demonstrate by the end of the course an average level of advanced
for 10 of those areas. For part of the course, they work in collaborative
groups of about four, with distinct roles and responsibilities, to develop
an authoritative website on some topic of their choice. They are even given
the freedom to define how and where they will meet for part of the time,
including meeting in cyberspace. Over the years, several classroom teachers
have remarked that this opportunity changed their lives.
I also modeled the use of engaged learning is during a professional development
site for preservice teachers housed in an area middle school (Andris, Crooks,
and Hawkins 1999). Ten student teachers and five classroom teachers participated
in workshops on one particular form of engaged learning: Bernie Dodge's
WebQuest (http://edweb.sdsu.edu
/webquest/webquest.html). The participants developed, taught, and evaluated
their own WebQuest.
Two colleagues of mine worked with different engaged learning models. One
of these colleagues coached two middle school classroom teachers in the
use of the simulation software called STELLA. The math teacher developed
a simulation for the correct dosage of ill animals, and the science teacher
developed a simulation for bungee jumping. The students could then explore
these simulations. The second colleague planned for months to develop a
schoolwide media day for local media professionals to explore with teachers
and students the effects of media on our lives. What was common across each
of these three approaches was the opportunity for coaching and collaborative
development, for teachers to practice the role of facilitator rather than
giver of knowledge, and for guided reflection or product development.
I collaborate in a series of engaged learning institutes given to at least
25 school districts within a 50-mile radius of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville
(SIUE). These institutes were jointly developed by SIUE faculty, the Illinois
Area 5 Learning Technology Hub, and area teacher trainers and are the equivalent
of three semester hours of college credit. Five to seven engaged learning
strategies are modeled for a group of about 20 inservice teachers over a
period of weeks. The strategies include learning communities, learning by
design, problem-based learning, software evaluation, spreadsheet data collection
and analysis, and WebQuests.
Participants also gain technology integration skills. As they become more
skilled in engaged learning strategies, they collaborate in engaged learning
units that were ultimately taught and evaluated in their own classrooms.
A project template specifies characteristics of the unit, including activity
name, subject or grade level, technology requirements, (Illinois) learning
standards met, interdisciplinary component, description of learning tasks,
nature of group and group activities, teacher responsibilities, student
responsibilities, assessment and evaluation procedure, and time frame for
unit. Hundreds of engaged learning units have been generated using this
model.
Strategies for Engaging Students
WebQuests Professor Bernie Dodge (http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/)
of San Diego State University maintains a website that contains some of
the clearest examples of engaged learning activities. What is especially
good about Dodge's model is that it combines engaged learning with clear
structure. The extensive online resources on his website identifies nearly
250 middle school WebQuests--webpages that define an engaged learning context
for the students--in 11 categories. Each WebQuest has six essential components:
introduction, task, resources, process, evaluation, and conclusion.
The heart of a WebQuest is a doable and motivating task, usually accomplished
by collaborative group work with distinct roles for each student, that results
in a product. WebQuests are structured in two ways. First, the process section
contains teacher-provided directions that are carefully designed to scaffold
sequences of problem-solving behavior without specifying a solution. Second,
the resource section provides preselected and prescreened resources relevant
to the task at hand. Ideally, evaluation is rubric based and at least partially
student generated.
For example, Mr. Culbert's Adam
of the Road WebQuest requires students to read Elizabeth Janet Gray's
book by the same name on life in the Middle Ages. Students write four letters
to a classmate pen pal, describing home, family, school, and friends, and
the world in the Middle Ages. Mr. Culbert provides excellent Web-based resources
and evaluation criteria are provided. Students are taught to write from
the point of view of a character and improve their writing skills in editing
sessions with their peers.
Christine Winstead's A
Cell Is a Small City is an example of a science WebQuest. Groups of
six students assume the roles of city planner or architect, city builder,
or reporter. They must help one another answer questions about the components
of a cell. The city planners draw up a diagram of the cell as city, the
builders then construct a model, and the reporters make a newsletter on
the process. Web-based resources and specific process guidelines are provided
for each of the group roles.
E-mail Projects
Over the past 10 years, middle level educators have used e-mail to enhance
engaged learning. The Global Schoolhouse Network
(GSN) has facilitated e-mail-based projects for the last decade. Now sponsored
by Lightspan.com, GSN maintains an Internet
Projects Registry Page, among many collaborative
learning resources. Educators from all over the world can register their
proposed e-mail projects with a project description, an e-mail contact address,
and possibly a project URL. Many of these projects have all the earmarks
of engaged learning activities. GSN also maintains a mailing
list that will "drop projects right in your mailbox."
An equally valuable classroom tool is the epals.com
Classroom Exchange. Tools include a translator, Web mail, discussion boards,
and chat. This site supports collaborative learning with tools and contacts.
It even has a search engine that lets users click on an area of a world
map to receive lists of contacts from that part of the world. Classroom
Exchange also advertises itself as the leading solution for providing safe
e-mail for K-12 education.
There are other Web-based resources for technology-based engaged learning
models in the middle school. Margaret Johnson has built an extensive
list of links. NCREL has provided a particularly useful brief overview.
Still other excellent engaged learning resources don't identify them as
such. For example, the Journey North Project has students from all over
the world collaboratively studying the migration patterns of animals (www.learner.org/jnorth/).
Conclusion
Engaged learning with technology promises to make middle level education
meaningful and authentic. Comparisons of engaged learning techniques to
directed methods of instruction have yielded little helpful data, anymore
than comparative studies of apples and oranges would help us decide which
is the better food. Students are best served when educators attempt to balance
their approaches to instruction.
References
Anderman, L., and C. Midgley. 1998. Motivation and middle school students.
Champaign, Ill.: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education,
ED 421281.
Andris, J.; S. Crooks; and G. Hawkins. 1999. Disseminating engaged learning
strategies in the middle school through technology. Available online: www.siue.edu/~jandris/SITE99boyer.html
Jones, B. F. 1998. Learning with technology: integrating new technologies
into classroom instruction. Oak Brook, Ill.: North Central Regional Educational
Laboratory, ED 440636.
McEwin, C., and J. Thomason. 1989. Who they are--how we teach: Early adolescents
and their teachers. Columbus, Ohio: National Middle School Association.
James F. Andris (jandris@siue.edu) is professor of instructional technology
at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. PL