During the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ll confess that my attention span took a real hit. In an effort to both decompress and to reconnect, I focused in on short stories and poetry books, and was really drawn to exceptional true-life storytelling. It may come as no surprise that my search for texts fitting this description lead me to Richard Wagamese, an Ojibway Anishnaabek journalist and author.
In one part of his 2013 curated reflections, Embers, Wagamese invokes a quest for his reader. He talks about the three strands of braiding sweetgrass, and asks the reader to reflect on the types of values, principles, and ethics that may be invisibly woven into the way we approach life and our pursuits. It took me a bit of soul searching, but I’ve pretty confidently settled on these three for myself:
Curiosity
I approach an issue, a tension, a conflict, a question with curiosity first. I’m not even really seeking to understand, just seeking to learn and remain curious about where it will take me. I’ve struggled in the recent past with this and perceived it as indecision. But it’s actually just a curiosity to what might be possible if I stay open to learning, and remain true to my own values while I explore.
Empathy
No one’s experience is the same as mine, and the world- local and global- is made richer by that reality. I’m sure many of us have experienced a feeling of disconnection in our lives recently- we don’t listen to one another, we have a hard time sharing and talking with each other when we’re on different approaches to an issue. It’s maybe seen as simpler and safer to stay firmly in our lane with people who think like us and know the worlds we know. So it’s an act of boldness to stay empathetic, to retain the ability to understand and share the reality and the feelings and the motivations of another.
Joy
Seems simple enough. Joy means “a feeling of great pleasure and happiness”. Happiness is a state of being, joy for me, is a series of choices that isn’t predicated on being happy but is a feeling experienced in the pursuit. I choose to pursue things in my life with joy. Even the line at TSA.
Connectivism
The connectivist theory in education brings learning into the 21st century, recognizing how digital technology has changed the way we take in and process information. George Siemens, who developed this theory, sees learning as connecting different pieces of specialized information, much like connecting dots. In our fast-paced world, connectivism suggests that knowing how to learn is more valuable than what you already know. It’s about spotting patterns and making sense of information from various sources across large networks. This approach puts learners in the driver’s seat, actively creating and sharing knowledge. By focusing on how people link different information sources, connectivism offers a way to understand learning that fits our highly connected, tech-driven world. It’s a fresh perspective that adapts to the realities of how we interact with information today, especially with the ever-changing world that AI is unleashing on the job market and our traditional and non-traditional learning spaces.
We are active participants in our learning, and we need to make plain for learners that the abundance of information available to them online is one piece of the puzzle to discovery. Knowing how to connect the pieces of information, evaluate the sources, reveal patterns and networks, and incorporate expertise from all over the place is how we can harness all that the online world has to offer, but in a productive way toward learning something useful.
GETAMEL
Teaching a new technology isn’t just about the tech. It’s in fact very little about the actual tech itself, in the end. You can get the buttons and the menus and the taxonomy soon enough, but in order for students and learners to meet you there, they have to trust you first, and they have to understand why its important that they learn this tool and for what purpose.
In designing my workshops and support materials, I have kept the General Extended Technology Acceptance Model for eLearning (GETAMEL) from Abdullah & Ward (2016) at the forefront of my design. GETAMEL builds on the Technology Acceptance Model context that there are external factors that influence whether a learner will latch on to learning a new technology: Self-Efficacy, Subjective Norms, Enjoyment, Computer Anxiety, and Experience. A learner’s willingness to engage with the new tool is additionally influenced by their perceptions of Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness.
My aim is always to lead with “why it’s useful for you to know this/ use this” and incorporate increasingly independent & supported opportunities for learners to prove to themselves that the tool is easy to use. Through this scaffolded effect, learners can develop their own applied understanding of how the tool is useful and productive in their own environment.
Productive Failure
I’ve had excellent mentors in my own educational and professional journeys. The culture of productive failure, pioneered by Manu Kapur, at a most consequential time of career growth meant that I got a supportive first hand look at how the ability to break something and put it back together, how to mess up and recover, and how the end result of a messy process can often produce the most impactful and useful learning opportunities- and result in the greatest of outcomes for most.
Productive failure is a counterintuitive approach to learning that turns traditional teaching methods on their head. Instead of giving students step-by-step instructions, it encourages them to tackle complex problems head-on, even when they lack the full skill set to solve them. The idea is that struggling with a problem, and even failing to solve it initially, creates deeper learning opportunities. When students grapple with challenges, they’re forced to draw on their existing knowledge, think creatively, and identify gaps in their understanding. This process primes their minds for learning, making subsequent instruction more effective. After the initial struggle, when correct solutions are finally presented, students are better equipped to grasp and retain the information.
I’ve adopted this model based on years of hearing from employers, community partners, and leaders in various sectors that our students have miles and miles of book smarts, and still lack the “soft skills” that employers need them to have in order to work in a team, and communicate effectively, deal with tension, and follow a project through to fruition. While it might seem frustrating at first, productive failure builds resilience, enhances problem-solving skills, and leads to more robust, long-lasting learning outcomes. It’s a powerful tool for preparing students to face real-world challenges where clear-cut solutions aren’t always readily available.