Didactical challenges
Creative/innovative processes
Opening up creativity with unusual answers and suggestions can be challenging for many pupils, who are used to having to provide correct answers and now have to show what they do not know or know in a different way than others. “Not-knowledge” as well as the opportunity to make mistakes is central in relation to divergent thinking and creativity.
As a teacher it can also be a challenge to open up the pupils’ creativity and innovative work. The attitude should preferably be ‘YES, try and let us see, what happens’.
Control
It is a didactical challenge to keep focus on the targets and at the same time provide the pupils with the opportunity to solve tasks individually. It requires that the teacher can provide opportunity for the pupil to, for example, choose a technology which is unknown to the teacher, but that the teacher at the same time sets academic standards for the quality of the assignment. For example, it is fine that some pupils use Voki and record something for their blog. However, if it is not audible or understandable, it is not good enough and must be redone.
Additionally it is a challenge to lead a highly controlled process while at the same time giving the pupils time and opportunity to be creative and innovative.
Learning environment
To encourage the pupils’ innovative skills, the learning environment is planned with great understanding for the opportunity to make mistakes, give encouragement, etc. Additional reading about a learning environment that promotes innovative skills is found in the book “Innovative Pupils”, chapter 1, from page 17.
Contact outside of the classroom
Not all pupils have tried being involved with people outside of their own class in connection with a lesson plan. Making contact and going through with this can cause nervousness and might possibly require scaffolding by practicing before the actual contact is undertaken.
Collaboration
Collaboration is central in innovation. Therefore the pupils are put up to actually collaborate, not just formally. For this reason we have suggested pairing the pupils to create a binding collaboration.
Solving tasks
The pupils must be shown some “models” consisting of various blogs, yet at the same time they must not think that their own blog has to be similar to the models. One of the points is that the pupils must be innovative in terms of how their own blog is going to look and work.
Scaffolding
Teachers must scaffold the pupils’ learning appropriately, and this scaffold must be differentiated in relation to the individual pupils’ learning needs. It is a balance to determine when and how to scaffold appropriately so the pupils both receive the immediate support they need and so they are not interrupted in their learning processes.
The Australian language researcher Pauline Gibbons defines scaffolding as follows: [1]
- A temporary help that assists a learner to move towards new concepts, levels of understanding and new language
- Enables a learner HOW to do something so that they will better be able to complete a similar task alone, geared towards student autonomy, giving skills to become autonomous. Students have to know HOW to do things
- Future oriented – what a learner can do with support today, s/he will be able to do alone tomorrow
[1] Gibbons, P. (2002): Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning. Teaching Second Language Learners in the Mainstream Classroom. (Portsmouth: Heinemann)