What does "Organic Learning" mean?

 

When I talk about organic learning, what I mean is that all humans learn naturally in basically the same way.  We learn when we need information to create something, when our interest is stimulated, when we are motivated in a way that makes learning desirable to achieve an end that's important to us. This is an essential understanding for any teacher.

 

Depth: Students can analyze, synthesize and create with the information and skills they gain--or even better, they gain information so that they can create.

 

Breadth: Well-designed digital learning covers many objectives in one extended project.  

 

Reality: Answers the legitimate question "How will this help me in the future" with projects that students understand have real-life application.

 

Retention: Students remember because they have used the learning in ways that demonstrate mastery.

 

                                                         The "Start with Create Principle": When I                                                                                    was in college preparing to be a teacher, I was 

                                                         introduced to Bloom's Taxonomy.  What you see

                                                         at left is the version revised for the 21st

                                                         Century.  

                                                         It seems that in education, we usually begin by 

                                                         giving out information and then using work-

                                                         sheets, quizzes and tests to check for under-

                                                         standing.  Notice that the diagram--I didn't create it--has an arrow telling us that as the higher levels are more difficult than the lower ones.  

I think that's wrong.  In fact, in most human endeavors we start by wanting or needing to create something, repair something, or make use of something.  Then we learn.  That is, we start at the highest level of Bloom's and then we find a way to learn whatever we need to accomplish the task we have set ourselves.  In fact, we often don't even think about learning.  We just do it naturally, organically.

In my workshops and sessions with teachers, I often ask what is the last thing they learned that they were sufficiently excited about to tell someone else.  Then I ask how they learned it.  As you might imagine, it's usually from YouTube, or they Googled it, or they called a friend or relative to ask for help.

If you ask kids the same questions, you'll probably get the same answers.  In fact, you may find that teens are better at finding the information they need to learn than are adults.  

And this goes to an important point.  I often hear teachers say that their students, "don't want to learn anything."  This is manifestly untrue.   In fact, kids of all ages love to learn--they just don't like our methods and they are often not excited about the subject matter.  Our job as teachers is to find methods that actually work and create learning environments that help students engage with our important content.

4OrganicLearning trainings and presentations are intended to help teachers leverage the natural drive to learn that resides in every young mind.