Active Learning: A Workshop in October 2019
Facilitated by Professor Hayo Reinders
Head of Education
Unitec, Auckland
New Zealand
Date: 1 October 2019
Venue: Maker Space at DPU, Bangkok, Thailand
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His talk on that day was on 'active learning'.
He presented altogether TEN rules for making active learning a reality.
"Do something, It's better than doing nothing."
His talk, workshop, lasted for 90 minutes, centered around the notion of active learning.
He suggested 10 rules, rather 10 principles. Ten rules for us to encourage active interaction.
How to make students an active learner do I know what would engage my students - active activities
1. One way is to listen to them stories
Students love stories, traditionally
Story-telling works because students love to listen to good stories.
You may wonder what I am doing here. I am a workshop participant., aiming to learn about active instruction.
2. Create an environment of trust
What should we do to create such an environment? Lots of research - rapport
3. Slow and Steady
What is your plan? Be consistence. Know your learners.
4. Recognize all types of interaction
I can speak very much without being engaged.
Critical listening is important.
How to engage the rest of the class - possible manifestations of active learning
5. Give learners agency
Agency = responsibility, ability to achieve things, to feel achieved
Like for example, give them ability to publish their research works
What do you do to let them affect events? You need agencies.
One may ask what agency is. Agency refers to " the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices."
By contrast, "structure is those factors of influence (such as social class, religion, gender, ethnicity, ability, customs, etc.) that determine or limit an agent and their decisions."
Freedom has limitations.
This learner to develop more agency (autonomy)
8 stages to be autonomous
- setting goals
- Plan your learning
(I could only remember TWO of them)
6. Responsibilities / Accountability
Care about my learning
7. Teach them interaction strategies
Students may not know how to negotiate for meaning.
Encourage mistakes
Learning ecology
In class, just one of the opportunity,
Here is not actually a new concept....Ecology
Opportunities for students to practice skills.
Giving students tasks.
Turning on and off the subtitles.
Out of Class Language Learning (OCLL)
- linking with interface classroom interaction
- How to document and acknowledge these OCLL units
8. Could not remember what was presented.
9. Could not remember what he said
10. Extended the classroom
I have learned a few more things:
1. Agency how to put it into practice
2. Ecology and OCLL - how to incorporate that into in-class instruction
OCLL can be formal, semi-formal, or informal
Students learn MOOC, online lessons, --- evidence
Turn them into active learning, homework should be structures.
Come back to the class and justify your topic of choice.
You need to structure your task, structure, and assessment.
Practice
Ten rules
Each rule should cover these two points:
- Evaluation
- What's Next
How to make sure that your classroom is effective?
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Digital storytelling - sharing, multi-media
In an attempt to create participation and agency
My personal mission on this - to link students' agency development and Service Learning
This is what I plan to investigate.
References
Profile of Prof Hayo Reinders
Reinders, H., & Benson, P. (2017). Research agenda: Language learning beyond the classroom. Language Teaching (Vol. 50(4)).https://hdl.handle.net/10652/4171
