" how do we teach these courses in a way that adds to the personal experien=
ce, personal grounding, personal perspective, personal growth, and personal=
values of the students?"
Wonderful question and gets at the center of what most (but there are few i=
n existence) good online programs can do. I along with several others at UN=
T (University of North Texas) are currently exploring alternate reality gam=
ing as an effective learning environment (NOT a video game). By weaving the=
learning experiences into a narrative based in fantasy and centered on the=
essential questions of the course (core material) with learning experience=
s focused on the 6 facets of understanding (Wiggins), it might be possible =
to bring in much of what an independent school offers in the way of charact=
er development, personal growth and value development. ARG's incorporate co=
nstructivist learning through narrative driving environments where students=
engage collaboratively with other students and characters from the story t=
o solve problems central to the discipline of study. This might be one way =
that independent schools can add some of the elements that makes them uniqu=
e learning environments for our children.
Chris Bigenho
Director of Educational Technology
Greenhill School
4141 Spring Valley Road
Addison, TX 75001
Ph. 972-628-5479
Fx. 972-628-5279
bigenhoc@greenhill.org
www.greenhill.org
AIM: chris bigenho
Yahoo: chris_bigenho
Skype: chris_bigenho
Tapped In: ChrisWB
-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for independent school educators [mailto:ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.=
EDU] On Behalf Of Peter Gow
Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 9:44 AM
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Re: Independent School Online Courses
Early summer gathering, count me in, probably--college visits for my kid
may impinge. NECC not possible for me.
I, too, have been swamped and wanting to give this issue more thought, and
appreciate Chris's resource offerings. I've been looking into course
development lately and know there's a great deal to doing it right. I've
also had some turn-off experiences in a couple of on-line courses in the
past and would want to do this oh-so-right.
I've also been thinking a whole lot, with few conclusions, about ways to
build in some of the affective, personal, character-focused aspects of
what independent schools tend to do especially well. Anyone can learn
algebra or C++, but how do we teach these courses in a way that adds to
the personal experience, personal grounding, personal perspective,
personal growth, and personal values of the students? (If it's just about
content transmission, why should we bother, in other words? That would
seem like giant steps backward, toward the "shopping mall high school"
model.)
That's a big part of what I'd like to be discussing with congenial peers
and colleagues from the teaching realm, anyhow--Peter Gow
Peter Gow
Director of College Counseling and Special Programs
Beaver Country Day School
791 Hammond Street
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467
www.bcdschool.org
617-738-2755 (O)
617-738-2747 (F)
petergow3 (Skype)
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