Watering Holes
Educators on ISTE’s Australian Study Tour discovered how
to create new learning and teaching environments where
curriculum and instructional tools meet the digital age.
The campfire is a space where people
gather to learn from an expert. In the
days of yore, wise elders passed down
insights through storytelling, and in
doing so replicated culture for the
next generation. In today’s schools,
the experts are not only teachers and
guest speakers, but also students who
are empowered to share their learning
with peers and other teachers.
The watering hole is an informal space
where peers can share information
and discoveries, acting as both learner
and teacher simultaneously. This
shared space can serve as an incubator
for ideas and can promote a sense of
shared culture.
The cave is a private space where an
individual can think, reflect, and
transform learning from external
knowledge to internal belief. Schools
across Australia had both posters
and places to encourage this private
individual time.
Students visit the campfire to hear
the story we want to tell through our
instruction. They are able to share in
this experience in person or via technology in a flipped classroom.
The watering hole used to be the walk
home after school or the phone calls
after dinner. Now students gather with
peers online using Facebook, Edmodo,
blog posts, or text messages. Their opportunities to share have multiplied
astronomically and can benefit from the
guidance provided by school-created
platforms for discussion.
Increasingly, studies of the brain
and learning indicate the need for
metacognition, which takes time,
practice, and a quiet space to reflect.
The cave becomes not only inviting,
but also essential. As students reflect
on the meaning of their work, the
content cements, and a new cycle of
goal setting and achievement begins,
allowing students to engage, socialize,
communicate, create, and collaborate
in meaningful learning that reflects
the world in which they live.
The cave is perhaps the most challenging venue for students as they are
called upon to reflect by themselves.
But technology can inspire students
through the examples offered in student blogs. Private thoughts made
public demonstrate that personal
reflection is valued, every opinion
matters, and knowledge rests at your
fingertips within a search box.
At the Carey Baptist Grammar
School Library in Melbourne, the librarian has been experimenting with
her use of space. The school is on the
cusp of constructing a new library
media facility. It was here that we first
came across the idea of cave, campfire,
and watering hole. She explained that
as she planned the school’s new facility, they would use Thornburg’s concepts. She noted that one of the ways
she experiments with the cave concept
is to take desks and chairs and place
them in corners and crevices that are
off the main floor of the library. Inevitably, she finds these spaces occupied
and even coveted by students and
teachers in search of quiet and reflection. These isolated study spots are
excellent examples of cave zones.
The Northern Beaches Christian
School provided us with compelling
examples of spaces that could simul-
taneously accommodate learners
in multiple phases of their learning
quests. The classroom demonstrates
how a campfire space to the rear con-
joins with a comfortable watering hole
space where students can easily move
around and work next to each other in
a social way. The students also created
a cave-type environment by reconfig-
uring the removable furniture.
Personalizing Instruction
What does this concept mean for
teachers? How can it transform learning and teaching? This construct of
learning spaces allows teachers to
adapt the learning to meet the needs
of students—to personalize instruction and allow students to explore
different modes of learning.
If the class uses digitized content,
and students are empowered to access
the content through the media that
makes the most sense to them, then
teachers can move throughout the
classroom zones of campfire, watering
hole, and cave, both personalizing and
individualizing instruction.
At Carey Baptist School in Melbourne, we saw examples of teachers
collaborating on a Shakespeare unit
by posting their best lessons and
resources on a website. All teachers
maintained a blog for students to read.
Students collaborated both in class
and online. Formative feedback from
students and teachers occurred in the
physical and virtual watering holes.
Students and teachers vetted and
shared final projects publicly. Creating this culture requires tremendous
up-front planning, but once teachers
make the content accessible through
the ubiquitous learning platform, they
are unrestricted to meet the needs of
all learners.
