Actions Speak Louder than Words: Active Learning for the 21st Century

As an elder millennial I could not be more thrilled that Gen Z and, increasingly, Gen Alpha, are moving to centerstage in articles about today's workforce, classrooms, and culture. I really needed a break from the spotlight so I can help my generation defeat the final boss: Chilis, we're coming for you.

Generational memes aside, I really am very excited about the focus on understanding and meeting the learning needs of today's young people. As an academic librarian I feel strongly about my responsibility to steward access to information, and of equal importance, making sure it is useful and contextually appropriate. We are collectively preparing students for a quickly changing world - one that will look much different than it does today in a matter of years and decades - and it no longer makes sense to rely on banking methods of education. Our students are not passive listeners waiting for us to fill their minds. They are learners in every sense of the word, and participants in their own knowledge growth.

Image Source: Author

Inquiry, Invention, and Collaboration

Active learning is an approach that steps away from lecture-first, traditional banking methods of teaching that is outdated for the needs of 21st century learners. It is a strategy, not a cookie-cutter process, where educators create opportunities for learners to think and engage with curriculum and information while also practicing skills for critical assessment, learning, and application of knowledge.

There are a huge array of activities, techniques, and projects that educators can use to bring active learning opportunities into classrooms - and they don't necessarily require an overhaul of your syllabus. Simple and short activities such as time-boxed reflective writing, group brainstorming sessions, and informal discussion interspersed throughout your lecture fit the bill. The chart below, from University of Minnesota's Center for Educational Innovation, shows how flexible active learning really is:

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Digital Pedagogy Should be Active

Active learning and digital pedagogy go hand-in-hand: it's the active part that sets the use of technology in digital pedagogy apart from technology tutorials and skills training. Frankly, you could leave this blog and Google "digital humanities projects" or "digital humanities lesson plans" and find some really solid examples of active learning in the digital space. And I think you should (after you finish reading this post)!

Active Learning Example: StoryMapJS @ University of Dayton

Image Source: Screenshot of Class Storymap

An excellent example of a digital pedagogy project with all the best pieces - collaboration among librarians, archivists, course faculty, and students - can be found at the University of Dayton. 

In the Spring 2020 semester, a section of the university's ENG-114 class undertook the project of creating an interactive and educational online tour of downtown Dayton, OH using StoryMapJS. Despite the mid-semester change from in-person to virtual course meetings, the group completed their project and the map is available today to the public.

This class project is an excellent example of experiential learning - one of the most complex forms of active learning. It hits several aspects that create an active learning experience:

• Experiential learning, including site visits
• Centers real-life scenario
• Structured, team-based learning experience
• Completed through collaboration with peers
• Hands-on technology paired with interactive lectures

while also wrapping some key elements of digital pedagogy:

• Interdisciplinary, bringing history and social science into the English classroom
• Participatory and collaborative
• Creative and productive
• Delivers a new knowledge product for public use

You can find a brief breakdown of the project on my Padlet if you prefer consuming information that way.

Staying Active

In my post earlier this week, I wrote: 

The way today’s learners and researchers need to receive, produce, and engage with information demands new approaches to the delivery of curriculum and the ways in which data is collected, analyzed, and interpreted in research - across all disciplines. 

This is where digital pedagogy is taking shape - and this is where active learning can step in. We are going to have to stay more informed than ever and move forward with our learners at the center of all we do. We're simultaneously preparing for and creating a world we couldn't have imagined just one generation ago, and action matters.

Additional Resources and Readings

Curious about StoryMapJS? Here's some links to check out:

• StoryMapJS Website
  
• StoryMap JS Tutorial (from SDSU)
  
• ARC GIS StoryMap Gallery
  

Want to learn more about active learning? Start here:

• E-book (24 pages): Active Learning: The Perfect Pedagogy for the Digital Classroom
• Webpage: Digital Pedagogy // Active Learning
• Video: Active Learning at MIT