Transcript Document

Preparing Children for Everything
including
Thinking with Technology
Dr. Deep Sran
Founder, LSG
Co-Founder, Actively Learn
A Vision Quest
We are going to tackle
some of parents’, and
society’s, greatest
mysteries tonight
The Format
• I will present on three related topics and
ask many questions. I will share what I
have learned so you can compare it to
what you have learned.
• I have many more questions than
answers, so I hope we have a robust,
candid conversation this evening.
A sample question
• Should I talk to my daughter’s teachers if I
feel she has too much homework?*
What is better for her?
• It may seem like a simple or obvious
matter, but it could have lifelong
consequences if I intervene too early or
too often
I submit . . .
The questions we discuss tonight are even
more pressing for a gifted student, because
we know they can do almost anything . . .
. . . That they set their mind to (and there’s
the rub).
Quick detour
• What does “gifted” mean, I ask myself?
– A test score?
– An increased cognitive capacity across domains (“G”)
?
– Domain-specific academic work above grade level
(e.g., math)?
– Adaptive mental habits or dispositions (grit,
persistence, optimism)?
– Emotional sophistication beyond chronological age
(charisma, self-confidence)?
– Long-term success?
• Of course, but this measure only works in 20 years
• Is it still useful?
It’s even more complicated,
given that:
• Giftedness is a multi-dimensional construct
– Certain dimensions can be measured with an
instrument (e.g., IQ, SAT, PSAT, NWEA, etc.)
– Unfortunately, the dimensions that matter most cannot
(i.e. those that make for long-term success)
• Students can be advanced academically, and
challenged socially (are they gifted?)
• Students can be advanced in some academic
areas, less so in others (are they “gifted”?)
• Even the label “gifted” can have unintended,
negative long-term consequences on students’
grit, resilience, persistence . . . (should we avoid
the term altogether?)
Where did we end up?
• At LSG, the term “gifted” refers to students
who give evidence of high achievement
capability in areas such as intellectual,
creative, or leadership capacity, or in
specific academic fields.
I also wonder . . .
• What do gifted students need to learn or
experience to get the most out of their
gifts?
• Will my own children be ready for
anything--because I have no idea what’s
coming in 10 or 20 years--when I’m raising
them in a suburban zoo?
Thus, Today’s Topics
• The Paradox of Teaching Self-Reliance
– Can we teach students to be self-reliant, or must they
first experience challenges that require them to be?
• Turning the Gift into Grit
– Can we teach academically successful students what
failure teaches best?
• The Future of Learning, Thinking and Technology
– How does educational technology affect students’
ability to learn and to think?
1. The Paradox of Teaching SelfReliance (or Independence)
Innate Desire for Independence
• As soon as they can, toddlers want to do
everything for themselves
• The same is true of young adults, unless
we do too much, which can disable even
the best students
• The current model, with parents doing so
much for their children, is without
precedent in human history
Historically: Scarcity = Value
In the past, adulthood came very early, and
adolescence did not exist
• 14th Century Europe
– Goodbye at 7
• Pre-Industrial Revolution: Master and Apprentice
– Outside of the house, learning a craft
• The Victorian model of parenting
– Churchill granted an audience with his parents
• No laws to protect children until about 100 years
ago
• Even the current French model speaks to the
virtues of the older model
Is our parenting model the
problem?
• How much do children listen to someone
who is, in effect, their maid, chef, driver . .
.?
• How much do children learn about what
they can do if we do everything for them?
• Can children learn self-discipline and selfreliance without external “old school”
discipline?
First, Self-Discipline
• The ability to delay gratification is the key to
long-term success
– The Marshmallow Study
– French Parenting model
• Even for group success (NY Times article)
• Insecurity
• Superiority
• Impulse control
• For long-term success, the discipline must be
self-discipline
– However, self-discipline begins as discipline
– Parents, this is where you come in
Can children become self-reliant and
independent without actually being selfreliant and independent?*
Self-discipline begins with external
discipline.
In my experience, self-reliance is
different.
Advice: Be Less Helpful
• The less you do, the more they do, and the
more they are able to do
– Start early
• If you wait too long, they will face real, even
insurmountable, difficulty being self-reliant
– Adolescence is a 20th century idea
– Post-adolescence is a 21st century idea
• Encourage your children to be selfdisciplined, rather than parent-disciplined
• The key appears to be an honest, “adult”
conversation with your children when you
want them to understand you
And let them face the
consequences
(pause for effect, and examples)
Easier said than done, of course,
so let’s practice.
What does all this mean on a daily
basis, at least when it comes to
school?
Old Model v. New Model
• Are a teacher’s educational decisions ever
wrong?*
• As a parent, how do you know when to
intervene?*
– Your 7th grader gets a C in Algebra
– Your very capable math student gets a failing
grade in AP Calculus BC in 11th grade
– Your college sophomore fails Organic Chemistry
• Should you ever intervene about academic
matters?*
Anything more?
2. Turning the Gift into Grit
Gifted and Successful
• What do gifted students need to learn or
experience to get the most out of their gifts?*
Moving Beyond Academic Success
“Alongside the academic expertise is the
importance of psychological skills. This is not
just to ensure that gifted children have the
stability to navigate school . . . but also to
sustain their gifts far beyond the academic
walls . . . to work together, to persist through
setbacks, to bring new knowledge creatively to
novel situations . . .”
Deards & Coulianos, Huffington Post, 1/23/2014
Gifted and Successful
• All the literature indicates that academic gifts
are not sufficient for a well-adjusted,
successful adulthood
• Other traits are critical:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Grit (Resilience)
Persistence
Social skills
Collaboration
Hard work
Self-efficacy
Another Paradox
• How do children who do well in school,
and who don’t have to do much else (the
suburban zoo), develop all the traits they
will need for long-term success, when
many of these critical traits are a product
of failure at some level?*
Failure
“The best teacher I ever had”
• Can we let our children fail (safely)?
Failure = Self-Reliance
• Yes! or Not so fast!*
Teaching Grit, Strength and
Indomitable Optimism
• The best way for children to learn these is to
see themselves overcome great challenges
and failures through their own effort and
resourcefulness
• If children don’t face these, I believe it is still
possible to teach in a way that improves the
likelihood a gifted, protected child will grow
up resilient and strong
Some Strategies
• Hear from people with different experiences
• See places that show a world that challenges
their assumptions and expectations
• Read books that expand horizons and require
new perspectives
• Study and ask questions about serious
problems
• Create opportunities for failing, but safely
– This is where parents can help the most
Teaching . . .
• Based on the prior advice, ironically,
technology can help and harm
(foreshadowing)
• How can it help?
• How can it harm?
Anything more?
Now, let’s look ahead to . . .
3. The Future of Learning, Thinking
and Technology
The History of Technology in
Education
•
•
•
•
Writing
The Book
The Typewriter
The Personal Computer and Local
Applications (e.g., Commodore Pet, Commodore
64, Apple 2e, Mac, Windows PCs)
• Internet and Search (Northern Lights?)
• Social Media (YouTube, Facebook, twitter)
• Mobile
The Future of Technology in
Education?
• Personalization and Big Data
• Asynchronous, remote learning
– Learning guardians, instead of teachers
– Computer interfaces, instead of social
interactions
• The end of college in its current form?
Focus
• The discipline of reading and our
accomplishments since Gutenberg
• What happens in a world of tweets, texts, and
blurbs?
• Do we merely graze information for short
periods of time, or are we still going to make
great discoveries?
Time and Effort
• Going through the steps always means more
learning
• What happens when technology allows us to
skip steps?
Writing and Rewriting
• Writing by hand (not typing or copying and
pasting electronic text)
• Outlining, Writing and Rewriting: Incremental
Iteration
• Taking notes in one book, and notes about
your notes in another
– Metacognition
– Synthesis
– The commonplace book
Cognitive Load
• Still only an advanced primate brain with
limited working memory
• Stress and anxiety when the load is great
• How do you contain the flood of information,
reminders, pop-ups?
At the same time . . .
• The unthinkable has already been achieved
• Instant access to knowledge
• People connected in real-time across the
globe
• Equity
• Crowdsourcing
• Is the sun rising or setting?
My work: Actively Learn
• Do what we could not otherwise do
– Beginning in 1999, how could technology address
the limitations of paper?
• Use technology as the solution to technology
• Help students make connections that are
otherwise impossible
Change is the only certainty
• Whatever we might think here, education is
definitely moving away from what we know
• But there are no shortcuts, not with our
current brains.
– This is where parents can help
You are the last generation to
remember an analog world, what
are your thoughts?
Wrapping Up
• Teaching Self-Reliance
– Parents: Be less helpful & let consequences
happen
• Turning the gift into grit
– Parents and School: Help students can learn from
others’ experiences
• Thinking with Educational Technology
– Students: There are no shortcuts
– Everyone: We need to be careful; technology has
changed quickly, our brains have not, and
humanity itself is at stake