Theory into Practice

I have been reading a great deal of Marlene Scardamalia’s work in preparation for my final two papers, finding all sorts of interesting links between her theories of knowledge-building and my own observations and thoughts about teaching theatre literacy in the grade 12 classroom. I have also been reflecting on some of the struggles expressed in previous blogs about how I can integrate technology into my classroom in more effective and helpful ways, and what a renewed classroom environment will look like come September.

In her work, Knowledge Building: Theory, Pedagogy and Technology (2006), Scardamalia writes that in a genuine knowledge building community, “the Internet becomes more that a desktop library and a rapid mail-delivery system. It becomes the first realistic means for  students to connect with civilization-wide knowledge building and to make their classroom work a part of it” (p. 98).

A walk in the lovely, late evening prairie gloom brought to mind some of the tools and approaches that I could see supporting my practice:

1.       Post course materials and move toward a paperless environment.

2.       Pool student online research around key questions.

3.       Allow peer teaching as students hone each other’s papers before showing them to me.

4.       Create an online discussion board, and the expectation of a reflective student blog.

5.       Post short instructional videos by me on common teaching trouble spots such as how to write a thesis statement.

6.       Post expert lectures for additional background.

7.       Create links to online simulations like StageStruck.

8.       Create links to supplementary materials like backstage interviews with actors and directors.

9.       Allow for a greater variety of work to be posted in an e-portfolio.

10.   Engage in collaborative learning with students overseas.

11.   Allow for research around problems.

12.   Engage in online debates, possibly with a sister school in India.

13.   Create more varied online presentations and epistemic artefacts such as videos and artworks.

14.   Provide the opportunity for students to ask questions of experts in the field, such as questions about how they might have tackled certain staging issues in their production of a Shakespeare play.

I’ll look forward to trying out a few of these approaches as the months unfold, keen to put them to use in the creation of a knowledge-building community modelled on the practices of literary scholarship. Should be fun!