1. 10 Concrete Classroom
Activities that Aim at
Long-term Learning
• If we can't force a student to read a book for Tuesday,
can we give him the will to still be reading years after
graduation?
• We want students to acquire skills and attitudes that will
make them long-term learners and thinkers.
• What kind of classroom scenarios are we striving for?
• Can new technologies furnish us with tools to help make
learning stick?
This workshop will present ten specific classroom activities
and explore the pedagogical ideas behind the learning.
2. Agenda
1. Introduction (15 minutes, including film)
2. Ten Activities (4 minutes each = 40)
3. Questions (10 minutes)
4. Group Brainstorming Session
(10 minutes)
3. What is long-term learning?
There are two ways of looking at this.
2. What are the experts saying?
3. What are my impressions from
experience?
We all know the feeling we get when a
classroom activity works.
Let’s reflect on why…
4. Overview of long term learning:
What it is not-
• Opinion poll: What kind of learning slips in and out of students’ consciousness like a
fish in a fast moving stream?
• Possible answers:
– cramming for tests,
– memorizing without understanding,
– large quantities of information learned without connections to anything in the student’s
reality,
– learning acquired in social isolation.
What it is-
• Our “learning footprint” is unlike the carbon footprint, this one we want to be big, and
to last a long time. What do we know from our own experience in and out of the
classroom about learning that lasts?
• Possible answers:
– reinforced,
– learned in a social context,
– active participant,
– responsible for own learning,
– attitude,
– connections,
– prepared,
– own fields of interest
6. 10 Concrete Activities
• If we can recreate some of these elements
in our learning scenarios we can
contribute to the longevity of our students’
learning.
• The following ten activities come out of our
teaching and seem to support long term
learning judging by student feedback and
teachers’ impressions.
7. Teacher
Shadowing Virtual
Social
Team
Networking
Teaching
Film Virtual
Analysis Window
Long-term
Learning
Right
On-line
Brain
Forums
Drawing
Book
IT
Project
Course
Commercial
8. Teacher Shadowing
• Ten minute video
• Susan Banville is a legendary Biology
teacher at the Cegep de Sept-Iles.
• Let’s look at her at work in her class and
pick out some of the things she is doing
that support long-term learning.
9. Activity #1
• Open up a dialogue about teaching and
learning with your peers in an effort to
continually improve your pedagogy.
10. Activity #2
• Virtual Team Teaching: Teaching in a
social context
• Peer interaction: for students and teachers
11. What is Virtual Team Teaching?
• two or more instructors
involved in the same course
using information technology
tools as their mode of
communication
• at least one in-person meeting
of some of the participants
contributes to the success of
the project
13. Why is virtual team teaching
good for students?
• enhancement of classroom learning
conditions
• improved motivation
• higher level of engagement with the
material
• social interaction modeled by teachers
• opportunity for social interaction with peers
14. Activity #3
The Virtual Window
• a window into another city, another classroom
15. Activity #4
On-line Discussion Groups
• conditions that contribute to success
• gregarious students
• small group interaction combining students
from both locations
• effective on-line activities
• human connection
25. Questions
1. Teacher Shadowing
2. Virtual Team Teaching
3. Virtual Window
4. On-line Discussion Groups
5. Course Commercials
6. Children’s Book Project
7. IT
8. Drawing in Your Right Mind
9. Film Analysis
10. Social Networking
