Professional Development

Plugging into Student-to-Student Learning

As a Computer Education teacher, it will come as no shock to you that today's young people are engaged in peer-based and self-directed learning online. That is also the conclusion of The Digital Youth Project, a recent three-year study of more than 5,000 hours of online observations and more than 800 interviews with preteens and teens. The study, which was part of a $50 million initiative funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, clearly showed that young adults are developing technical skills and media literacy on their own.

Self-learning and student-to-student learning is a natural result of our friendship-driven and interest-driven online climate. According to the report, it is a good thing. "By exploring new interests, tinkering, and 'messing around' with new forms of media, [young people] acquire various forms of technical media literacy," says the report's findings. After learning through this exploration process, students then pass on their new-found knowledge and skills to their friends. Areas of developing expertise include customizing social networking pages and creating videos.

This point of view counters the concern of some teachers and parents that young people's online pursuits are without real educational value. These online activities appear to be honing preteens' and teens' technical skills, even as they enjoy the enhanced sense of play and social opportunities that they provide.

Now the question becomes, how can Computer Education teachers transform this friend-to-friend learning into student-to-student learning, and still maintain the role of teacher? The answer lies in peer teaching. The experience of working with peers is naturally more interesting and motivating to students. In Computer Education classrooms, teachers can strategically pair students, two to a computer, so that students with a particularly strong skill can serve to bolster the skills of their partners. Critical thinking activities, which call for deliverables, are particularly effective in this endeavor. Additionally, students can have the opportunity to swap and evaluate each others' work, using rubrics that they can fill out and exchange.

Rubrics such as this one from Glencoe Computer Concepts in Action give students the opportunity to evaluate each others' work using a consistent set of criteria.