Inspiration to Guide Mindful and Adaptable Learners with Cloud-Based Technologies

  • Is it possible to establish sustainable learning in a time of chronic technological change?
  • What does the research literature tell us about how to create sustainable learning?
  • How might cloud-based tools help structure contemplative and purposeful learning procedures to establish sustainable learning?

Here is my journey from identifying learner and facilitator needs to unfolding the answers.

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"...observation inspired me to incorporate learning ritual techniques that would help students navigate their academic life"

Literature Review Highlights 

Frequently, students complain that school-work isn’t preparing them for the real-world; they feel that school is merely a maze of dead-ends that will not help them in the world of work. Facilitating learning means to replace the maze of yesterday’s education experience with a labyrinth of learning -- a labyrinth, as Pink describes, is “a spiral walking course. When you enter, your goal is to follow the path to the center, stop, turn around, and walk back out -- all at whatever pace you choose” (Pink, 228). This description is the same process of learning; when one truly learns deeply, they walk through the design of knowledge, play with ideas and others, listen to and tell stories, develop understanding and empathy, and create big picture concepts from the symphony of all experiences. In other words, the process of walking through meditational practice is the same conceptually as the educational or learning process of any knowledge and its applications to the world.
[Fran Grace] concludes this discussion with the successful change within her students, who develop the “capacity to observe their mental phenomena... [allowing them to] no longer [be] the victim’s of their mind’s knee-jerk reactions to the ideas of others or their own life conditions. Struggles such as test-anxiety, attention problems, panic attacks, past resentments, or eating disorders begin to lessen their hold, and students express a new confidence as learners and sense of moral freedom as humans 
Patton wonders if applying this ritual aspect of “contemplative studies could challenge how we frame our classrooms at both their entrance points and their exit points” and proposes that “we might connect the act of sustained attention with the disposition of rigorous analysis. We might begin and end our daily acts of learning with declarations of contemplative intention, either verbal or nonverbal.” She suggests that “creating academic rituals”  might best be done by studying the rituals and learning outcomes of those experienced in contemplative studies and applying them to the regular classroom.
In the process of improving my teaching practice, I did a needs assessment of my current students with an eye on my long-term teaching needs regardless of my present campus or student body. I surveyed students on their learning styles and needs, technology skills, and Common Core support skills, and then applied the results to my content and product design in response to meet the three over-arching concerns that lead to my driving question:

Equitable Education & Access
  • Problem 1: Students may be “digital natives” but they are not innately “digital masters” (experience watching YouTube videos and texting does not ensure digital success in the classroom), nor does grade level assure mastery of prior level academic or behavior skills. Students live in a mediated world and require mediated education. 
  • Proposed Solution 1: Provide access to mini-lessons in a variety of formats to meet various learner needs. 

Adaptable Facilitation & Learning Environments
  • Problem 2: Course content varies by course, subject, and shifts as history or perspectives unfold; students require education that prepares them for change and future possibilities. Students also may lack productive work habits or have habits that are not conducive to learning or the learning environment, or are otherwise distracted from academic advancement. 
  • Proposed Solution 2: Provide technology enriched opportunities to access and share knowledge learned, allowing for exploration of tools and reflective application of skills practiced. Focus on learning processes and interaction skills, especially in regard to learning habits.

Creative Inspiration & Freedom
  • Problem 3: Students frequently avoid what they do not already know how to do, choosing the path of least resistance rather than the challenge of unknown project outcomes. Students are also frequently assigned standard singular outcomes (everyone write an essay), resulting in repetitive and generic products as well as hindering creativity. 
  • Proposed Solution 3: Model innovative use of technologies and various product outcomes. Provide structured learning units with open-ended project outcome options. 

Resources Page (AKA My Product Outcome)