Creating powerful and meaningful learning environments
July 1, 2009 by gaildyer
Gladwell’s keynote addressed THREE BIG IDEAS he wanted all attending NECC 2009 to understand it is important for students and teachers to understand them.
1. WORK HARD
Put in the effort and success will come your way.
2. RESILIENCE / PERSEVERANCE
It’s okay to make mistakes so long as you learn from them.
Trying harder brings greater reward and develops in the individual a respect for things that are difficult and require perseverance to achieve.
3. EXPERIMENTATION / EXPLORATION
Learning is not linear. There are many paths to the same place. Gladwell quoted Gayleson who believes there are two kinds of visionaries / innnovators / geniuses.
a. Conceptual – those who have bold ideas and change the world view quickly eg Picasso.
b. Experimental – The innovator who explores through trial and error, makes mistakes and through perseverance finds a way to genius and innovation, eg Cezanne
Key to learning from mistakes is the quality of feedback given. The feedback MUST be
- Timely
- Targetted
Technoogy is a wonderful facilitator for feedback eg. twitter, facebook, SMS etc.
It’s not the “where ” of learning it is the “how”. Students need teachers who are energetic, enthusiastic, and creative. Teachers who promote learning and make it meaningful.
The video clip is from an excerpt where Gladwell is saying the American Education System is great for the top and the bottom.
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