Blog #2 – Innovation in a Classroom

As I reflect over the video about Salman Khan’s dialogue about innovative learning and chapter 4 in “Innovative Teaching Strategies in Nursing,” I am reminded that as an educator I need to strive in my planning and implementation to be deliberate.  I also need to have ways to measure my effectiveness as an instructor and the effectiveness of innovative learning in a classroom.

The reason I think being deliberate is important is that an instructor’s primary role is to be an effective communicator to students.  When an instructor looks at the course content and objectives finding a clear way to communicate key objects and concepts are critical for students in laying the foundation.  Bradshaw and Hultquist in “Innovative Teaching Strategies in Nursing” call this step assessment.  When assessment occurs the strengths and the weaknesses of the strategies are addressed.  As this occurs I the instructor have the opportunity to be selective and deliberate with what I choose to use in my method of instruction.   Measurement, evaluation and reflection of innovative strategies is paramount in determining if the process was helpful for students in understanding the objectives given prior to the task.  Just as a student has a better chance of understanding new material if they take the time to reflect over the experience I would find it critical to take the time in reflection to help determine if the innovate teaching strategy was effective.

All of this is a foundation of operation that I find valuable when considering how an innovative classroom can work.  Innovative teaching requires that I am able to be familiar with different methods in education and be able to read the classroom and students in hopes to use different strategies for different learning styles of students.  An innovative classroom is a dynamic classroom.  I believe that an innovative classroom puts more responsibility on students to actively learn and participate in learning information.  It takes preparation on my end by being well versed in different methodology and clearly delivering expectations to students.  What I find exciting about considering using different innovative strategies in learning is the hopes that students learn critical thinking and mastery of subject matter so as to make them a professional who seeks life-long-learning.  In Salman Khan’s description on how he sees benefits of using an innovative classroom he made the remark that innovative learning works best when students take the time to learn the material and work on mastery.  Students can’t expect to benefit as much from an innovative classroom when they expect to learn the information passively.

I think that different subject matter lends itself to different ways of innovation in learning.  One method that intrigues me is the Problem Based Learning (PBL) and I think it could be valuable in a number of dental hygiene education classrooms.

Finally, I think it is most important that I keep my mind open for the possibilities in education and to be in relationships with others who value innovative learning experiences and continue to strive to make the most out of a classroom for students.  Having a place to go to for troubleshooting and support would be critical in sharpening these skills.

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