Active Learning

What is active learning?

Active learning is an interactive way to teach your students. When students are active in their learning they are engaged and interested in the topic that is being taught. I know when I was a student (still am) but having a teacher just reading from a powerpoint makes learning hard. A lot of students do better and are actually interested in learning when it is fun. Not all students learn the same way. Some students may like being taught by learning from a powerpoint, but for other students that doesn't work. Being flexible with your teaching is important because as a teacher I want to support my students, whatever way that is, for them to learn. 

For this assignment I explored the QR code mystery example. I thought this was a great idea and such a fun activity. For black history month, the teacher printed out famous quotes from African Americans and left out a mystery word from each quote. The teacher also put QR codes around the room that were a missing word from a quote. Students worked in pairs to solve each quote by scanning the QR codes. Afterwards, students learned about how to make their own QR code. Students then picked their own quote to use and made a QR code for their mystery word. 

This activity was an example of active learning because it was engaging and fun for the students. They got to work with a partner and use the iPads to explore the classroom to look for quotes and QR codes. This activity was student centered and hands on because afterwards students got to create their own QR code mystery. Overall, I think this activity was such a fun idea that the students would have really enjoyed. 

Why use active learning?

In preschool I find it so important for my students to have active learning. Having my students sit down and me "lecture" would never be developmentally appropriate. Even at this time of the year it can be challenging for them to even make it through a story. My students learn best by play-based or hands on experiences. I am constantly looking for new activities and things for them to play with that help me embed that learning into their playing. I find myself letting my students lead with the activities by letting them pick what they play with, and then I embed instruction in that play. By letting my students lead, they are more interesting in the activity and don't even realize that they are learning! Even for older kids, I think that active learning is so important. Students will be more interested and have fun with the learning when they can make a personal connection or when it's something they want to do. Active learning allows instruction to be done in multiple ways with lots of learning opportunities, so it is not a one size fits all.