Read this Forbes piece, Two News Stories From Abroad Suggest American Education Is On The Wrong Track? It coincides with some of the other exciting stuff I’ve been reading (i.e. Hattie, Schmoker) on certain points:

Still, cognitive science has revealed certain principles that underlie the basic human learning process. For example, it’s well established that, especially when students don’t know much about a topic, the most effective pedagogical approach is explicit instruction—having the teacher directly provide basic information.

In spite of our best efforts to overcome our built-in programming, how we’re wired or setup, it appears that we are stuck with how we approach learning. And, this means that approaches that involve throwing students into learning may need rethinking:

…educators say explicit instruction not only fails to provide children with meaningful knowledge and skills, it also renders them bored and miserable. Rather than having the teacher talk, the argument goes, it’s better for students to learn through inquiry, projects and largely self-guided group work.

I’ve made that argument myself many times. But the research again points to a different reality. A reality that better reflects how human beings actually learn, not how we wish we did.

But last year, a researcher at Helsinki University warned that the new Finnish curriculum—which also encourages greater use of electronic devices—was having negative effects, especially for students with less self-discipline and less support from home. “Proponents of this method have claimed it would even out the differences between students with various [academic] backgrounds,” the researcher observed. “But in light of the research it looks like exactly the opposite has happened.”

“It was hard for me that the teacher did not teach at first, but instead we should have been able to learn things by ourselves,” Aino said. “I didn’t learn anything.” 

That’s the way it goes, I suppose. EdTech’s emphasis on project-based learning may be mis-placed. Maybe it’s time we head back to drill-n-practice, where the technology does all the talking.
😉