"The evolution of new technologies is inevitable; we can't stop it. But the character of each technology is up to us." Kevin KellyIf Kevin Kelly is right, technologies never go extinct, and, if I am right and the sacred cows I wrote about earlier this week are technologies as defined by the broad definition, then none of these things will ever completely go away. It is possible that over time our use of things like standardized tests and content objectives may diminish but they will continue to exist somewhere. In What Technology Wants Kelly also observes that prohibition of a technology is never successful at making it go away. It always finds a way to exist, prohibition only forces it into subversion. The same is true for the prohibition of anything. At best, a prohibition works to slow the effect of a technology until it becomes obsolete.
But, for a technology to become obsolete a new disruptive technology must emerge. If the sacred cows of the invisible technology of school are to be prevented from causing any more harm (such as destroying subjective values, forcing us into oppressive learning situations), or selling us out to the education industrial complex, then we need to develop technologies that can disrupt these sacred cows. The paradoxical answer, as Kelly suggests, to the problems created by technology is more technology.
One of the sacred cows I think inhibits learning the most is oddly one that teachers have the most control over in their classrooms. Except in schools where teachers are mandated to use and display them teachers usually have a choice whether or not to use content objectives as an overt pedagogical tool. The problems with content objectives are many. First, they set unnecessary limits on what students are to learn. Second, they inhibit discovery and in so doing remove agency from the learner. The learning is not the student's but the teacher's. Third, they help to enable other destructive sacred cows such as standardized tests, multiple choice questions, and content standards. They say to students, "This is as far as I expect you to go and I am in control of what you learn." This is a false notion and one that is toxic in a learning environment. Since these objectives are not the student's, unless they have set an objective for themselves that shoots past the teacher's in its trajectory, most will stop once they reach it.
We need a technology that will either make content objectives obsolete or serve as a counter balance. We need a pedagogical tool in our arsenal that will at least make teachers question the value of setting objectives for their students. We need a pedagogical tool that will empower students to set their own objectives while pushing them in the right directions. We need a tool that will not set arbitrary limits on learning possibilities for our students. I think this technology already exists but no one has bothered to identify it or give it a name. Without a name it has little power. Without a name its identity is unknown. I propose we call this new pedagogical device Content Subjectives.
This is a modest proposal. I know that most technologies fail to reach critical mass but I do think this is one which warrants investment. This idea occurred to me yesterday afternoon and sparked the following conversation in Twitter:
@anderscj
anderscjI love when student projects end up going wonderfully unexpected directions.
18 hours ago via Mobile Web · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@stefras
Shawn Urban@anderscj So much learning comes from the unexpected and unplanned. 18 hours ago via TweetDeck · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@anderscj
anderscj@stefras exactly why I have such a problem with objectives. 18 hours ago via Mobile Web · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@stefras
Shawn Urban@anderscj Objectives are fine. They serve as guide posts. But discovering unplanned learning really brings out the learning. #deepandbroad 18 hours ago via TweetDeck · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@anderscj
anderscj@stefras objectives are a sacred cow unless they are set by students. 18 hours ago via Mobile Web · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@stefras
Shawn Urban@anderscj I don't like that they are mandated. But I don't see how an alternative which will satisfy society's and even students' needs. 18 hours ago via TweetDeck · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@stefras
Shawn Urban@anderscj I am not so sure they should be strictly followed, particularly at the expense of impromptu learning. They are nice as guides. 18 hours ago via TweetDeck · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@stefras
Shawn Urban@anderscj I am not so sure they should be strictly followed, particularly at the expense of impromptu learning. They are nice as guides. 18 hours ago via TweetDeck · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@anderscj
anderscjMight content subjectives be more effective for learning than objectives? 18 hours ago via Mobile Web · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@anderscj
anderscj@stefras that is why I propose subjectives. Points students in a direction but lets them determine the final destination. 18 hours ago via Mobile Web · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@stefras
Shawn Urban@anderscj Hmm. So provide the situation, the context, possibly the problem and let them figure their way out? Example(s)? 18 hours ago via TweetDeck · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
Example 1:
@anderscj
anderscj@stefras swimming 18 hours ago via Mobile Web · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@stefras
Shawn Urban@anderscj Do they know how to swim or are you throwing them in and letting them learn? #ghostsofHughPhillips http://t.co/Vn9gWJA8 18 hours ago via TweetDeck · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@anderscj
anderscj@stefras you can't learn to swim without jumping in. 18 hours ago via Mobile Web · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@stefras
Shawn Urban@anderscj I like that. So true. Hugh described how he taught kids at camp how to paddle before letting them into canoes. #didnotworkwell ... 18 hours ago via TweetDeck · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@stefras
Shawn Urban@anderscj And how he let a second group of campers into canoes before teaching them. They begged to be taught. #workedwell 18 hours ago via TweetDeck · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@anderscj
anderscj@stefras brilliant! 18 hours ago via Mobile Web · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@anderscj
anderscj@stefras perfect example. 18 hours ago via Mobile Web · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@anderscj
anderscj@stefras John Holt says that if I tell u something you will probably forget it but if u ask me to tell you something u will remember. 18 hours ago via Mobile Web · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
Example 2:
@anderscj
anderscj@stefras @garystager's piece a few weeks ago about teaching w/o curriculum 18 hours ago via Mobile Web · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
Here is a link to the blog post I was referring to: Curriculum Not Included
@stefras
Shawn Urban@anderscj Would that be the one on Learning Adventures? http://t.co/0IOpO4of 18 hours ago via TweetDeck · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@anderscj
anderscj@stefras can't open that on my Nokia but I think so. 18 hours ago via Mobile Web · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@stefras
Shawn Urban@anderscj It looks interesting either way, so I will take a look at it. #learningadventures 18 hours ago via TweetDeck · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
Example 3:
@anderscj
anderscj@stefras creative anything 18 hours ago via Mobile Web · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@anderscj
anderscjYou can force a horse to drink but I don't recommend it. 18 hours ago via Mobile Web · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@stefras
Shawn UrbanHa ha ha. RT @anderscj: You can force a horse to drink but I don't recommend it. #horsezen #horsemetaphor 18 hours ago via TweetDeck · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@stefras
Shawn Urban@anderscj Got you. On the same page now. So, then we need to consider when providing help fits our intention or students' wait for answer(s) 18 hours ago via TweetDeck · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@stefras
Shawn Urban@anderscj Arrgh. Wished I had recorded this conversation. It is getting interesting. 18 hours ago via TweetDeck · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@anderscj
anderscj@stefras I'll do it later in a blog post proposing my content subjectives idea. 18 hours ago via Mobile Web · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
I think the technology of Content Subjectives exists already but has gone on without a name. What Stager talks about hints at it, Seymour Papert describes this approach in his work with Logo, the kind of learning environments John Holt describes in How Children Fail and How Children Learn utilize them, the Edvisions schools like Minnesota New Country School utilize them, the Sudbury Schools and unschoolers base their whole curriculum around them, Sugata Mitra's Self Organizing Learning Environments (SOLES) works because of it, the personal learning network (PLN) as teacher professional development model is based on it. It is not enough to just call this constructivism, constructivism is not a tool or a technology the way that content objectives, curriculum, or tests are. It needs a name. I propose Content Subjectives. Are you using content subjectives in your classroom?
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