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Coyer's Analysis 1. what did you find 1.1. interesting about the article? Most people found the explanation of the differences between the different types of education to be very interesting. In particular, a few people found the concept of the community of learners to be extraordinarily interesting. "It was interesting to read about the differences between the adult-run, child-run and community of learners education." - Jodi 1.2. not interesting about the article? Most people mentioned the usual: repetition, irrelevance, etc. "We all know that "adult-run" education is the norm and I felt it a little annoying for me as a reader for the writer to keep repeating this argument." - Joseph 2. what do you consider the main message of the article? Most people said that the main message of the article was the explanation of a new model of teaching, the "community of learners" model. People also mentioned that parental involvement in their children's school lives is a necessary component of a successful education. "That there exists a third model of teaching/learning, which rather than just being a middle ground between adult-lead and child-lead learning, represents a third, seperate style of learning. In the OC, this model has proved very effective." - Scotty 3. analyze your own educational experience and 3.1. provide a rough estimate in percentage points for each category and Most people said that the majority of their educational experience was adult-run, and very little of it was child-run. "I would estimate that 90% of my education has been adult run or expert run rather than student run. The remaining 9% has been guided instruction. I have taken 1 classes so far that would really resemble the guided community of learner approach at CU (Mouse Davies' Object Oriented Programming class)." - Phong 3.2. one example for each category (in case you have encountered all three approaches) Most people mentioned similar examples: Adult-Run is a lecture, Child-Run is a free-for-all (like art class), and, for those that have encountered it, seemed to be a class with lots of interaction. "adult-run: pretty much every class I've ever had. Teachers design the syllabus, write the exams, and assign the homework. child-run: extracurricular activities, learning outside of school community of learners: My wireless sensor networks course with Rick Han last semester. Since the nature of WSNs is itself relatively new, it wasn't possibile to have a strict process to follow in order to learn the material. Our instructor was learning right along with us. The students of the course chose what we wanted to do for the course project and also what particular aspect of the project we wanted to focus on. The instructors (professor and TAs) facilitated our work." - Doan 4. which technologies are used / can be used /should be used to support 4.1. adult-run education The internet was mentioned frequently because of its efficiency of information exchange. In this case, the majority of information flows from the professor to the students, so one-way communication methods (Power-Point, mailing lists) are also mentioned frequently. "Technologies which support effective presentation." - Magill 4.2. child-run education Since the majority of child-run education involves some sort of engineered 'fun' (like art class or music, or even physical education class). So, it follows that the best technologies for this sort of education should be of the sort that facilitate fun. "Internet, squeak, games" - Sandersi "Technologies which support structured play." - Magill 4.3. community of learners education Any technology that facilitates communication would be effective in this setting, because the majority of learning takes place as a function of the group members communicating with each other. "Technologies which support communication, collaboration, and community building." - Magill 5. analyze our course from the three dimensions: 5.1. adult-run education A significant part of our course is spent in a lecture-format, so it follows logically that many people said that they felt our course utilizes a lecture component. "The lectures in class and the assigned readings help us learn new information we probably would not stumble upon on our own as "community of learners" would imply." - Doan 5.2. child-run education Our research projects and independant research are at least partially guided by ourselves, so a significant component of this course is child-run education. "The independent research group projects are going to be defined by the students themselves. How we chose to analyze/research/present the information on our topic is completely up to us." - Doan 5.3. community of learners education The EDC simulation stood out as an example of this type of education, and most people mentioned that we've been exposed to this type of learning in class. 6. which possibilities do you see to effectively integrate adult- and child-run education? Most people were in favor of the integration, and there were a few interesting examples. The general opinion was that as soon as the children were at a certain level of education, the integration would be beneficial. "I am a strong advocate for guided hands-on activities, especially for K12 education. This not only creates an environment of active learners, it also provides guidance and structure from the teacher." - Jodi "I think having a time where facilitators are allowed to motivate students and share some basic concepts or instruction is certainly essential. Once the children are motivated and ready to begin discovering on their own, a child-run process can occur. I think a great example of the integrating of these models was in the squeak classroom in the video we watched a month ago or so. The teacher facilitated and motivated the students, and then they were able to use technology and physical discovery to learn some important concepts." - sandersi
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