Forum Posts

• November 19, 2018 4:54 PM GMT

  in the topic Does learning improves when every student gets a laptop? in the forum Teaching Methodology

  This topic can be tackled from a couple of different angles but I think that it would be unwise to generalize the question so much. Some students absolutely require computer-aided assistance to get learning tasks done because they have developmental issues that require them to have aid. For instance, individuals who are slow readers can hugely benefit from using a laptop in school to improve their reading speed as there is a correlation between reading speed and typing speed. Beyond this, a student who is slow to understand homework materials may benefit by using a computer-aided software program as that program can make it easier for them to understand the homework. 

  On the flip side, I don't think that it always improves every students' learning. I think that this is completely dependent on the student and factors like responsibility, and technical knowledge of laptop use (knowing how to use a laptop properly/computer properly) play a big role in the overall impact it has on the student's learning. If a laptop is given to a student to use while in class, then yes, this can aid them. But if a parent has to buy their child a laptop to use, it may end up becoming a crutch which can hinder learning in the long-run. 

  I do think though that regular computer use for homework and research does positively impact how technologically savvy a student is with being resourceful. Again though, if they use this resourcefulness as a crutch, they can become dependent on things like Google Search and Quora Answers, which can negatively impact critical thinking skills. All in all, it really comes down to each individual student and the parameters around how that laptop is used specifically for learning. 

• November 19, 2018 4:52 PM GMT

  in the topic What Do You Think About The "Feed Forward" Feedback Method? in the forum Teaching Methodology

  Teachers are constantly providing feedback to students and their colleagues, but sometimes this feedback doesn't always go as planned and people end up getting defensive and everything blows up in your face. According to Marshall Goldsmith, there's a better way to give feedback and it's called "feedforward" and the basic premise is to focus feedback on their future development rather than their past mistake.  Do you think that if young professionals, teachers, and students all learned how to provide constructive "feedforward," it would have a huge positive effect on how quickly and intelligently students move forward in their learning development? 

  To give a scenario. If a student is working on a book review and the teacher just grades it and gives it a mark, do you think the student would garner as much positive feedback and learning from that grading as they would if the teacher provided input during the actual writing process? 

  Do you think that maybe we should combine constructive feedback with this new method of providing "feedforward"? I personally think that feedback that focuses on future development is a lot easier to take and it expands ones possibilities as it looks at what you can do in the moment rather than what you "should have done" in the past. I think we can learn from the past but the way we go about it can be all too limiting. 

  What do you think?