research

//The Problem //   The American education system is quickly approaching obsolescence. When we walk through a school hallway or enter a classroom in the United States, we see a major disconnect between the lives that students live today and the place we call school. Outside of school, children have access to a wide array of communication tools, which they use to form and grow relationships and access new and relevant information. All of these tools are like oxygen to children today, meaning that these tools are completely natural to them. This revolution in communication and information presents a profound opportunity for learning, yet most schools don’t allow access. Driscoll (2000) defines learning as “a persisting change in human performance or performance potential which must come about as a result of the learner’s experience and interaction with the world.” This definition encompasses many of the attributes commonly associated with behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism – namely, learning as a lasting changed state (emotional, mental, physiological (i.e. skills)) brought about as a result of experiences and interactions with content or other people (Siemans 2004). According to Vygotsky (1978), people learn by first doing with others what they cannot do as well by themselves. Known as the “zone of proximal development, people negotiate meaning and co-construct knowledge and the meaning of intelligence.” (Vygotsky 1978). The issue is the way that schools limit the definition of “other people.”  If we consider the entire world as our classroom, we must ask, who is my teacher? Who can I learn from? How does this change teaching and learning? This revolution is upon us and schools are getting left behind. This presents profound opportunities for student learning in a “Flat World.” The problem is that these tools are not allowed in our schools; nobody is teaching and modeling effective use and students are feeling very disengaged from school.  //__Rationale of Study __// This research is being done to uncover the reasons why social media technologies are not being incorporated into teaching and learning. Based on many other works of research and my personal experiences, I know the American educational system is quickly facing obsolescence. Teaching every student in the Digital Age will provide greater opportunities to engage students. We have many obstacles to get over as we travel that road, which is the purpose of this study. George Siemans asserts, the “Internet is changing the way we communicate and therefore learn.” Through his concept of Connectivism, Siemans presents a model of learning that acknowledges, “Learning is no longer an internal individualistic activity. As knowledge continues to grow and evolve, access to what is needed is more important than what the learner currently possess” (Siemans 2008). Although not regarded as a learning theory, Connectivism provides insight into learning skills and tasks needed for learners to flourish in a digital era, and yet we do little in our schools to cultivate this. To avoid getting left behind, schools must change. Ironically, the major part of this change involves learning to change. Schools must not be a place where students come to watch teachers work, but an environment where instruction will provide real life experiences, so that students can perform real life tasks with real life responsibilities under the guidance of the instructor. The purpose of this research study is to uncover the issues and reasons for why schools are slow to accept this innovation. The hope is that by better understanding these issues and identifying the instructional benefits, we can create a strategy for bringing these tools into students lives while at school.