Though the placemat at the Chinese restaurant I frequent may declare this is the year of the snake, I declare it to be the year of the sabbatical. It begins with classroom research and then tapers off into seven months of reflection beginning in May. Usually I lay my courses out fully and methodically with the entire 15 weeks planned out to the smallest homework assignment. This semester, I am being true to my Freirean roots and beginning the semester by listening to the needs, interests, and goals of my students.
The central question will be can students harness/tame the online environment to serves these needs, interests, and goals instead of being driven to distraction. Can they direct information to serve their values? I hope by building a curriculum with the students instead of for the students that I will not only be empowering them but increasing their motivation. In Drive, Daniel Pink highlights three key motivators: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Integral to these motivators is students having an interest and a personal investment in what they will be learning this semester.
After taking in the desires of the class, the challenge will be integrating those desires with the key skills sets and literacies that are integral to becoming critical prosumers in the digital age. Let the intellectual puzzle begin...
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