"...modern teachers cultivate curiosity by plowing fertile fields and planting students at the right depth for the root to take hold."
Technology as Curiosity Amplifier
Last week, I was fortunate enough to attend the EdTechTeacher iPad Summit in Boston and heard some amazing keynotes and presentations. One reason I went was to hear Dr. Ruben Puentadura, famous for creating the iconic SAMR model for technology implementation. He did not disappoint.
Not only did he fully explain SAMR (technology as: Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition), but he amplified my curiosity with his discussion of John Seely Brown's theory of technology, especially mobile technology, as a "Curiosity Amplifier." {Of Lively Sketchbooks and Curiosity Amplifiers: Thoughts on the iPad and Learning.}
John Seely Brown explains his principle of Curiosity Amplifier in this video:
According to Puentadura, mobile technology, being "ubiquitous, intimate, and embedded," creates the perfect curiosity amplifier, or device that allows instantaneous access for questions that arise in our lives. Not only that, we are able to continue our exploration to the depths our curiosity requires. Included in his discussion is Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development and how the fertile zone where learning occurs actually increases with More Knowledgeable Others (MKO) or "experts" on the internet whom we consult every time we research a topic on the web. I, for one, am glad MKO's are available; I would hate to go it alone!!
As I listened to Dr. Puentadura's discourse, I was compelled to consider the teacher's role in all this talk of curiosity amplification. Surely, we don't just put an iPad in a student's hand and say, "Here, see what you can do with this, and good luck--test on Tuesday!!"
Yet, I think that's precisely what happens in too many classrooms where technology becomes the teacher, usurping the teacher's natural and rightful place. The modern classroom has teachers who know this and never let the tool become the master.
Teacher as Curiosity Cultivator
So how does the modern classroom teacher fit in? The teacher is no longer a "knowledge silo," where students come to fill their sacks with grains of knowledge. Rather, the teacher is a curiosity cultivator, giving students a full, limitless and participatory role in the growth of their own learning.For one thing, a silo contains only a certain, limited kind of knowledge and none other. Also, a silo creates boundaries and tells students that they may take knowledge from this place and this place only. Modern students know otherwise. Through You Tube, Google, social networks and other learning platforms, students have discovered there are many other places to gather information than the four walls of the classroom.
And many of these places are more appealing for three reasons: the learner's curiosity has been piqued, the learner is in control, and the learner is a part of a greater body of experts on the web. With this in mind, modern teachers MUST understand this "participatory culture" and cultivate curiosity in their students.
Henry Jenkins explain the Participatory Culture in this video:
Understanding this concept of participatory culture, modern teachers cultivate curiosity by plowing fertile fields and planting students at the right depth for the root to take hold. Teachers, knowing their students' interests and capabilities, plant students in rich soil where curiosity takes root.
By carefully designing lessons that individualize learning, teachers ensure that students become active participants rather than passive receivers of knowledge. Teaching is not something that is done TO students; rather, it is something in which they are a full participant. Simply put, learning is active not passive.
In my next blog, I'll explore this topic further and discuss some examples of teachers as Curiosity Cultivators.
