K-12 School Computer Networking/Chapter 25/Distance Learning and Extracurricular Activities - Christine Zaremba

Using Distance Learning to Re-Invent Extracurricular Activities

It is well documented that extracurricular activities are vital to a student’s overall performance in school and can be linked to their later successes. Extracurricular activities provide an avenue for self-expression in a “safe” environment, encourage development of a broader range of interests, teach responsibility and carry on the work of education after traditional classroom time has ended.

Further, many activities, sports and student government in particular, encourage the development of integral leadership skills and abilities, healthy competitive drive, and help development key interpersonal skills.

Extracurriculars as Informal Learning Spaces

Drawing on concepts introduced by Henry Jenkins in the paper Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture, connections can be made between distance learning and the “non-curriculum”, informal learning environment of clubs and activities. A program that revolves around the concept of informal learning would need to be one of “participatory culture” or one in which every child or student would play a role. By its very definition, a participatory culture is the perfect medium for expression within an extracurricular activity. Of Jenkins’ five key elements, most brick and mortar extracurriculars meet or exceed each expectation:

1.	relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement 2.	strong support for creating and sharing creations with others, 3.	some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices, 4.	members who believe that their contribution matters, 5.	members who feel some degree of social connection with one another (Jenkins, 5-6)

Jenkins cites James Gee when discussing the related topic of affinity spaces, which can be used as a main component of such a learning program, both distance and traditional brick and mortar. Using affinity spaces(a digital center of informal, voluntary learning) to translate a brick and mortar participatory culture into a digital one, children can be taught higher level thinking, can move at their own pace and can develop the skills of their choosing.

Why Distance Learning?

Generally speaking, most schools’ clubs and activities meet either after classes have let out for the day, at lunchtime, or in the morning. This schedule theoretically works well for all involved: moderators (generally a teacher), students (who are already in the building) parents, and administrators who need not worry about opening the building on a non-school day. However, moderators face any number of unforeseen challenges when working with this schedule. At 3PM, students are looking to unwind, to socialize, to decompress, and some higher achievers are seeking to complete their homework. The success of any planned activity will often depend solely not on the skill of the teacher, but on the performance level of the students involved.

Researchers in the Health, Emotion, & Behavior Laboratory at Yale University have created a program dealing with Emotional Literacy. It is their belief, currently supported by extensive research, that emotions and mood play key roles in the success of interpersonal, creative, and academic endeavors. A component of the program as introduced to K-12 students is the Mood Meter, whereby children are encouraged to rate their mood on an XY axis chart( Energy scaled -5 Low to +5 High, Feeling scaled -5 Low to +5 high). Mood will fall into one of four categories or colors: Blue, red, yellow or green. Yale researchers have found that each quadrant can be associated with a variety of activities. For instance, a student who ranks in the blue quadrant, that is, one who ranks both their feeling and energy level as less than zero, will be less likely to do well at experiential learning (Yale - eischools.org) and more likely to do well at an activity that deals with repetition and less active learning. At the same time, a student who ranks both their feeling and energy as more than zero(yellow) will find sports, or other high energy activities, “including” experiential learning, as more to their liking. At the end of a school day, it is difficult to maneuver all participating students into the proper mood and energy level for the kind of learning necessary to a specific club. Moderators have two choices when faced with students who are all over the Mood Meter graph (or for non-participating schools, very simply put, with children who are either excited to be there, worn out from the day’s activities, stressed, cranky, etc, or generally being children or young adults); A moderator can force the students to work past their sometimes counterproductive or clashing moods, or they can create a variety of activities that appeals to all participants and their chosen degree of participation. The pitfalls of this approach are evident to any experienced classroom teacher. It is for this reason that the Yale researchers have set about designing a program that will not only help alleviate these common classroom issues, but will help moderators and teachers get the highest level of participation from their students.

Emotional literacy can and does tie in with both James Gee’s concept of affinity spaces and Jenkins’ idea of participatory culture. Both tout the idea of voluntary learning as being one of the most effective methodologies of education. A child who is self-motivated will naturally seek to succeed more than a child whose only motivation is to get through the assigned work. An extracurricular or club should be a place of participatory culture: it should be fun, it should be interesting, and the students are there of their own accord. Ideally, each student should be allowed to proceed at their own self-directed pace, but within traditional time constraints, this is not always possible.

However, when you make the shift and transfer the extracurricular activity to a digital environment, the playing field is suddenly leveled. The robotics student who was too stressed from an exam to concentrate on engineering in the lab can choose to concentrate on a task that suits their mood at that moment. That same student can then sit down at a PC at 9PM, log onto a group website, and upload a sketch of a mechanical concept, critique the designing that occurred in the lab that day or offer valuable input that might have otherwise been lost.

Continuing to draw on the concept of affinity spaces, that same student can begin a critique and realize that they lack the particular term or knowledge about a specific area. With their mood now firmly in the proper emotional mood quadrant, they can then seek out a digital learning environment online, research the concept that interests them, reformulate their opinion based on newly acquired knowledge, and pass that on to the rest of the group.

In a traditional setting, this sequence of events might have occurred, but the structure does not encourage the same level of self-directed learning. In the newly envisioned environment of participatory culture, this methodology will be taught and become second nature to all students. All will be aware of and treat the digital world as a vast compendium of resources, information and even entertainment.

Further, valuable discussion can be saved and added to in the future. It is a simple task to record audio of planned brainstorming sessions, post the audio file for members to listen to, or to create a transcript as a jumping off point for a forum discussion.

In the same vein, using Smartboard or other interactive whiteboard technology, sketches and concepts can be saved and rebroadcast to the entire group. In this way, learning can become a time efficient blend of both brick and mortar and distance learning. The structure would ensure that both methodologies are utilized to their fullest extent.

Structure of a Participatory Culture Model

Drawing on personal experience, it is easiest to lay out a foundation for this approach with a familiar topic: robotics.

Based on ideas above, a social network can be created for the group: for instance, on Ning.com. Ning is a free service that provides for forums, blogs, images, music and chat. A moderator can post ideas for discussion, pertinent documents, upload whiteboard images, post audio transcripts of podcasts, create lists of links, and create their own virtual compendium of knowledge. Students can alter and add to this compendium – it has the ability to grow along with the needs of the group.

Topics can be posted for discussion: the students who cringe at the thought of public speaking can find their voices, take time to think about their words, and contribute valuable material to ongoing dialogues at their own pace.

In terms of research, a space such as this will hopefully eliminate instances of “I found this great piece of research, but I forgot it at home (or didn’t have a printer)”. Links and articles can be quickly added and accessed from all locations. Affinity spaces can be utilized to their full extent, as they can be found and included nearly instantly.

All of this can then be accessed at a time when a student is most capable and ready to handle the wealth of information available, to do their most effective higher-level thinking, and is in the proper mindset to solve problems.

Works Cited

Jenkins, Henry. Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2009. Print.

ei-schools.org. Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC, 2007. Web. 21 October 2009.