Naked in Front of the Class

Many teachers have had “the dream” – you know, the one where you are naked in front of the class. Have you had the one where you ask if anyone has questions and face a sea of silent faces?

Oh. That wasn’t a dream.

Here’s a way to avoid that nightmare, and at the same time, receive valuable information about your students’ learning and your instruction: The Critical Incident Questionnaire. 

Stephen Brookfield, author of a number of books on teaching, critical thinking, and the importance of reflection to instructors, originated the CIQ. It’s a short questionnaire completed by students anonymously at the end of the last class of the week. It asks students to reflect on the following five questions:

•  At what moment in class this week did you feel most engaged with what was happening?
• At what moment in class this week were you most distanced from what was happening?
• What action that anyone (teacher or student) took this week did you find most affirming or helpful? 
• What action that anyone took this week did you find most puzzling or confusing?
• What about the class this week surprised you the most? (This could be about your own reactions to what went on, something that someone did, or anything else that occurs).

Students keep a copy of their responses and are asked to refer to them at the end of the semester when they write a reflection on their learning in the class, so they have a vested interest in completing the questionnaire well. The instructor summarizes the trends in comments and discussion at the beginning of the first class the following week. And, since the questionnaires are anonymous, students are more likely to reveal issues they are having with the topic or the class.

Brookfield has written an in-depth discussion of the CIQ as a teaching tool; check it out here. For now, I’ll mention just a few of the benefits he has seen as a result of using this tool and reflecting on his own teaching.

• It alerts instructors to problems in the class or areas of misunderstanding before they blow up. 
• It encourages students to be reflective learners, and thus encourage deeper learning. 
• It opens the opportunities to discuss that students learn in a variety of ways and to consider the ways culture, history and personality can inform perspective and learning.
• It builds trust in the classroom.
  It provides suggestions for development to the instructor.
• It can help instructors understand and respond to resistance to learning.

I strongly encourage you to learn more about CIQ by reading Brookfield’s article or his book Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher.

Learning Through Technology: Second Life

We educators often encourage our students to be life-long learners, and we are typically life-long learners ourselves. In my experience, one of the most immersive and entertaining sources of life-long learning occurs in Second Life.  Second Life is a “virtual world” – a computer simulated online environment in which users can interact using self-created virtual representations of themselves (avatars).  Below is a picture of me with a group of virtual friends, none of whom knew each other before meeting in Second Life.

Universities and other schools use Second life for classes and encourage students to explore the educational benefits on their own. Second Life is a paradise of constructivist learning, where students can not only see and hear but experience what they are learning! I recommend Second Life for students college age or older, as there are some areas you may stumble upon that may not be suitable for younger students

Teaching a language? Encourage your students to learn by speaking to native speakers or online language teachers, perhaps interacting in virtual representations of various countries. Your students can converse in Italian as they tour Virtual Rome by bicycle or horse carriage, taking in marvelous representations of the Coliseum, Spain square, Trevi fountain, and St.Peter's square. Or they can practice French in virtual Versailles of 1774. Just about every language is represented in Second Life.

Discussion groups abound. I’ve attended discussions on everything from World Religions to book discussions to politics, and have been amazed at the diversity and intelligence of those who attend. It’s a pretty good chance that your students can find a group that’s discussing your latest topic or current event. I’ve even attended a meditation group on Second Life. (It can be done.)

If discussion groups don’t spark your students’ interest, suggest they explore areas created especially for learning.  One of my favorites is the Indian build at Dark moon, when the objects you touch give you notecards explaining the culture of the subcontinent.

Love the Stars? Check out the 3D astronomy sim where you can actually be among the stars as you trace the constellations.  Want to learn how to do a Japanese tea ceremony? Learn from the experts, then invite your friends to experience one as you don traditional Japanese clothes and conduct the ceremony.

Love music? One of my favorite experiences has been to go to Virtual New Orleans to listen to American Blues played by two musicians linked by technology -- an Australian living in Japan and an American piano player in Louisiana. Your students can learn about the Blues and then hear them live! Even more fun is that Komuso is a cyborg in Second Life. Find the right people and possess the right technology, and your students too could jam with musicians from around the world. Talk about an educational experience!

Komuso in Second Life

Komuso's animator in "real life"

Just about anything your students want to learn can be learned somewhere in Second Life. It's an immersive, fascinating microcosm of humanity, culture and learning.