New Culture of Learning

Technology for the sake of technology will not transform learning outcomes.  As Harapnuik and Thibodeaux (2023) explain, “Learning technologies are just tools that we use to enhance and empower learning. The best technology empowers creation and ultimately disappears” (p. 82).  Just placing technology in a classroom won’t change how teachers teach nor will it change how students learn.  Meaningful change requires intentionally designing the environment in which learning occurs.  This perspective has important implications for my work with Pre-K teachers and for my innovation plan.

My innovation plan focuses on using Seesaw digital portfolios in Pre-K classrooms to capture authentic evidence of children’s learning throughout every component of the school day.  The primary goal is to help teachers embed assessment into the learning process so that less instructional time is spent pulling students away from meaningful learning experiences just to complete isolated assessment tasks.  However, simply implementing Seesaw as a digital platform will not automatically accomplish that goal.  “When truly integrated, uses of technology and media become routine and transparent—the child or the educator is focused on the activity or exploration itself and not on the technology” (National Association for the Education of Young Children [NAEYC] & Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media [Fred Rogers Center], 2012).  For success, a culture must be created where teachers value developmentally appropriate practices, authentic experiences, and hands-on student centered active learning.  Furthermore, in this culture, teachers need to see themselves as designers of learning.

When I consider my innovation plan, many of the same principles should be reflected in professional learning for teachers.  As opposed to falling into the trap of merely transferring information to teachers, a better approach for me might be to give them the opportunity to choose a genuine classroom problem that they would like to work on.  “If you really want to help people embrace an ever-changing future you need to help them learn how to learn… [by giving] learners choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities”  (Harapnuik & Thibodeaux, 2023, p. 12).  This approach would also create an opportunity for hands-on authentic learning where they can try strategies, collect evidence, reflect, and revise their practice.  This changes professional learning from sit and get to active, self directed participation in a culture of learning.

Thomas and Brown (2011) also emphasize the importance of the collective.  When individuals interact with one another about what they are learning, learning becomes more dynamic.  Across our district’s Pre-K classrooms, teachers are constantly developing solutions and discovering effective practices, such as:

• Documenting vocabulary during dramatic play

• Capturing mathematical thinking during centers

• Recording student explanations

• Using Seesaw during small groups without disrupting instruction

• Finding better ways to involve children in documenting their own learning

The problem is that those discoveries often remain isolated inside individual classrooms.  However, what a significant learning environment could do is to use PLCs, collaboratives, coaching, professional development, and digital sharing spaces to help teachers share:

• What they tried

• What worked

• What did not work

• What they noticed

• What they would change

Another important idea from A New Culture of Learning is the relationship between freedom and restraint.  Thomas and Brown (2011) describe learning environments in which individuals have freedom to explore within boundaries.  This balance is important for both children and adults. For instance, the connection between play and learning is also important when considering adult learners. One of the characteristics commonly associated with play is agency—the learner has some control over what to pursue and how to pursue it. Pink (2011) argues that human beings have an innate drive toward autonomy and that people are more engaged in their work when they have meaningful control over it. In this sense, the principles that make play such a powerful learning experience for children also have implications for professional learning with adults. Teachers may not literally be “playing,” but when they are given meaningful problems to solve, freedom to experiment, opportunities to pursue ideas that matter to them, and permission to revise their thinking, they are engaging in the same kind of exploratory learning that Thomas and Brown (2011) describe. The boundaries provide direction, while autonomy creates room for imagination, creativity, and discovery.

Furthermore, freedom within a significant learning environment does not mean eliminating expectations or standards.  Teachers still need clear outcomes.  Children still need purposeful learning experiences.  Our district still has responsibilities for assessment, instructional quality, and student growth.  The difference is that we do not have to prescribe every step to reach those outcomes.  As Thomas and Brown (2011) explain, “students learn best when they are able to follow their passion and operate within the constraints of a bounded environment” (p. 79).  For example, rather than telling every teacher exactly how Seesaw must be used during every part of the day, I could establish a shared expectation that teachers will regularly collect meaningful evidence of children’s learning and then allow teachers to determine how that can best occur within their classroom.  This reflects Harapnuik and Thibodeaux’s (2023) concept of guided discovery, which “provides learners the appropriate freedom to engage in authentic learning opportunities while at the same time providing the necessary guidance” (p. 97).  This gives teachers room to experiment.  For instance, they might document a child’s mathematical thinking while building blocks, record a conversation during dramatic play, capture a child’s explanation of a science investigation, or allow a child to photograph and explain something they created.

However, even when Pre-K teachers believe in developmentally appropriate, play-based learning, they do not always feel that they have permission to prioritize it. Increased expectations for data and formal assessment can unintentionally communicate that observable, measurable tasks are the “real” learning while play is something secondary. Some teachers may begin to think, “We do not have time for play because the children are already behind.” Thomas and Brown (2011) describe this tension when they note that play has historically been viewed as contrary to serious learning. Creating a significant learning environment requires changing that perception. If teachers can capture meaningful evidence of vocabulary, problem solving, mathematical thinking, collaboration, and communication while children are engaged in authentic play, then assessment no longer has to compete with developmentally appropriate learning.

One risk is that technology, even digital portfolios can easily become another box to check in their list of compliance requirements.  If teachers are only asked to ensure that a certain number of posts are uploaded to the portfolio, then they can easily make sure they meet the quota while neglecting quality simply for the sake of compliance.  Yet, the ultimate goal is not to proliferate assessment samples, nor is it to simply create better assessment practices; rather, it is to transform the entire learning experience.  When teachers and students can record genuine learning experiences that would otherwise be difficult to capture, this frees teachers to encourage and facilitate genuine early childhood learning.  For instance, if most of the learning happens in play-based centers, then how does one capture a learning experience where students are working together to build a zoo in the block center?  How can a teacher capture hands-on learning experiences in independent stations unless they use a worksheet?  This is where the digital portfolio comes in because learning can be captured with photos, audio, and/ or video.  This creates the opportunity for teachers to collect data, which the district requires, but data that is relevant to the learning.  Teachers no longer need to ask “How do we find time to assess children?” and instead can ask, “How can we design learning experiences that naturally reveal what children know and can do?”

The greatest challenge to this work will be changing long-established beliefs about teaching, assessment, and professional development.  Teachers may worry that authentic assessment is less reliable than traditional assessment.  Some may feel uncomfortable experimenting with new practices when they are unsure whether they are doing them “correctly.”  Others may initially see Seesaw as just another requirement added to an already demanding workload.  There is also a risk that we could implement a technology without changing anything else.  Teachers could simply replace a paper worksheet with a digital worksheet, post a large quantity of low quality posts for the sake of compliance, or use Seesaw primarily as a repository for completed products like a glorified scrapbook.  If that happens, we will have adopted new technology without creating a new culture of learning.  Addressing these challenges will require modeling the kind of learning environment we want teachers to create. Professional learning should provide teachers with opportunities to make meaningful choices, solve authentic problems from their classrooms, collaborate with colleagues, experiment with strategies, examine evidence, and reflect on their practice.  Teachers need both support and permission to learn.

Creating significant learning environments also requires us to think more broadly about educational change.  Harapnuik (2015) argues that educators should intentionally design the entire learning environment rather than focusing on isolated components.  This perspective is important because innovations rarely succeed or fail because of one factor.  Thinking broadly means asking how all of the parts of the learning environment influence one another.  For example, if we tell teachers that play is important but require assessment systems that continually remove children from play, we are sending conflicting messages. If we encourage teachers to innovate but professional development gives them no choice or opportunity to experiment, we are modeling the opposite of the culture we hope to create. If we provide technology without reconsidering the learning environment, the technology may simply reinforce existing practices.  The goal, therefore, is not to change one practice. It is to create conditions in which better practices can grow.

Ultimately, creating significant learning environments is broader than my Seesaw innovation plan.  It represents the type of educational environment I want to help create.  I believe learners develop deeper understanding when they are given meaningful opportunities to explore ideas, solve authentic problems, interact with others, make decisions, create, receive feedback, and reflect on their experiences. I also believe that these principles apply to adults just as much as they apply to children.  Thomas and Brown (2011) describe a culture capable of responding to constant change through imagination, inquiry, play, and participation. That is increasingly important in education. We cannot prepare teachers—or children—for every challenge they will encounter by simply giving them more information.  We can, however, help create environments in which they learn how to learn.  “In a world of near constant flux, play becomes a strategy for embracing change, rather than a way for growing out of it” (Thomas & Brown, 2011, p. 48).  That is the larger purpose behind my innovation plan.  Seesaw may provide the technological tool for capturing and sharing evidence of learning, but the real innovation is creating a culture where learning is authentic, visible, collaborative, reflective, and continually evolving.  If we can create that kind of environment for our teachers, they will be better equipped to create it for our children.

Harapnuik, D. (2015, May 8). Creating significant learning environments (CSLE) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ-c7rz7eT4

Harapnuik, D. K., & Thibodeaux, T. N. (2023). COVA: Inspire learning through choice, ownership, voice, and authentic experiences (2nd ed.). Learner’s Mindset Publishing.

National Association for the Education of Young Children, & Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media. (2012). Technology and interactive media as tools in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8 [Position statement]. https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/PDFs/resources/position-statements/ps_technology.pdf

Skene, K., O’Farrelly, C. M., Byrne, E. M., Kirby, N., Stevens, E. C., & Ramchandani, P. G. (2022). Can guidance during play enhance children’s learning and development in educational contexts? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Child Development, 93(4), 1162–1180. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13730