The Joy of Facilitating Learning

The Joy of Facilitating Learning

Anyone willing to be a teacher is an extraordinary person, by definition. Despite the dearth of tangible rewards, many decide to become teachers just to experience the "joy of facilitating learning." Sadly, after a few years of hostile or indifferent administrations, parents, or students, many conclude the price of indulging this passion is too high. Many of those who stay on in the profession continually resist "burn-out"; some successfully. And the "joy" becomes ever harder to find. What if teachers could restore to themselves some of the "joy of facilitating learning" by improving their own contribution to the educational process significantly and permanently across the curriculum?

Socrates specialized in asking just the right questions to lead the student to "discover" the answers for himself. It's hard work, but experienced teachers do it all the time. It can be exquisitely effective, and peculiarly motivational. And the Socratic method is easily employed in interactive media with their optional responses and branching programs. When the student is offered the "dialog" nature of an interactive medium, in which he is challenged to respond as in a conversation, he summons up a high degree of focused attention, because the computer can be made to emulate a challenging and stimulating "tutor", expecting a thoughtful "conversational" student response within a clear line of inquiry.

Another technique called "discovery learning" uses an interactive multimedia tutorial to place information in the student's path. Providing images, sounds, and text, with which the student can interact, allows the student to acquire new information at his own pace and in his own way. Research shows that both motivation and recall are improved.

Perhaps the biggest, single advantage of interactive multimedia learning materials is their capacity to offer the student immediate correction or confirmation of his responses. The game quality of this technique appeals to most learners. Encouragement grows with success and praise. Caution: This happens only when we have prepared their multimedia learning materials to include all possible, reasonable responses! Otherwise, frustration and discouragement grow, instead!

The best of our experienced, inspired, and inspiring teachers "wing it" through many classes, with a general plan in mind for what to teach, but allowing serendipity full play, as appropriate. This teaching style is most successful when it draws on a large fund of subject-matter knowledge. Each class session can be a never-to-be-repeated tour de force performance for both teacher and student. What if some of the magic of many such learning sessions could be captured and concentrated within a multimedia tutorial? Teachers would get the chance to experience much more of the "joy of facilitating learning" as students work with such materials and enjoy their "tutor" always in top form.

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