Do you think these kids are actually learning something?

[fma001]

I came across these videos on Youtube showing 2nd graders working in groups. I find it hard to believe that these kids are really learning very much. The projects seem incredibly inefficient. A lot of time is being spent to learn very little. Is this really the best use of class time? Can kids really learn with all the noise, activity and distractions around them? Does this explain the rapid rise in homeschooling? What do you think?

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/la7-hkdO9wM&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/la7-hkdO9wM&rel=1</a>
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/bPZcBGb7Tlw&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/bPZcBGb7Tlw&rel=1</a>

[Dr Miles R Jones]

I think you already know the answer to your questions.  Schools are nothing if not masters at wasting time.  Yes, the students are learning something but not much. Traditional methodology worships right brain learning (higher order thinking, creativity, teamwork, hands on activities) and tends to marginalize if not demonize left brain learning.  Do you think any of those children know their times tables?  Probably not but there is plenty of time to cut and paste. 

[TeachingMyToddlers]

It's unfortunate that they have to make such an effort to be heard (literally). 

[fma001]

I went to college in the US but not K - 12. I had a very traditional education. I have read a lot of criticism of American education methods (like Why Don't Students Like School by Daniel Willingham and E.D. Hirsch's books) but didn't fully understand what they were criticizing. So these videos really shocked me. The kids don't seem to have a good understanding of what they are even doing. Higher order thinking seems completely laughable to me now. How can anyone think at all with all that noise going on around them? Yet the teacher must believe in her methods, otherwise she wouldn't have put this on Youtube for her students' parents to see.

[waterdreamer]

Wow I only watched half the video. That teacher must be oblivious. That kid who is at the wrong table is not there because her job is done, she is there because she'd prefer to color instead of whatever her other job was. 
Not only is this activity not educational, she is turning disobedience into something positive. 
I think at this age children should be taught to work hard at their studies. I would call this edutainment, people tend to be worried about a child not having fun. When in reality if they are taught to learn properly they would find higher learning fun. 
We sugar coat a child's life and wonder why they fail as adults. 
*Slap forehead* This made me realize I need to find a way to get my son of public school. 

[fma001]

Oops, Waterdreamer, you made me realise that I forgot to put in the explanation from Youtube. The kids are supposed to be learning about goods and services.

"This mock shoe factory learned a valuable lesson on their product. They discovered while packaging that shoes come in pairs and they should match each other. They worked as a team and redirected their thinking to accomplish the task of producing quality goods that consumers would buy."

I'm going to teach my 1st grader some basic economics, so I was looking for videos on economics concepts. That's how I came across this. I seriously doubt that this classroom activity will do anything to prepare kids for high school or college level economics.

[Dr Miles R Jones]

"Students discovered while packaging that shoes come in pairs and they should match each other.
They worked as a team and redirected their thinking to accomplish the task of producing quality goods that consumers would buy."

Are you kidding me.  Do you really think kids don't know that shoes come in pairs?
As far as "producing quality goods that consumers would buy", that is just so much intellectual gum beating.
They probably could not even repeat that sentence, much less explain what it means. 

[Kerileanne99]

Ohh, this topic is so close to my heart!
And what I hate the very most is that the behavior they learn continues on to University! On both the part of student and instructor...
My husband teaches chemistry now at the same university where I did my chemistry undergraduate, so we are very good friends with many of the professors, both young and old.  One of the biggest concerns/complaints is consistently that 'students get dumber every year!' Not simply in the amount of material they know, or come into the class with, but their logic skills...and the absolute biggest deficit is that they don't actually know HOW to learn.  They want to be entertained, hand-held, fed the material in specially-wrapped little tasty bites...Edutainment...
Don't get me wrong...there are many professors that just can't seem to adapt to the new age of technology, of showing a quick YouTube clip to demonstrate a concept or point, and insist on showing either incessant PowerPoints of images ripped directly from the book or tediously handwriting out examples from the book itself...but my husband does not sit up until the wee hours of the morning answering questions about a specific problem or issue...he gets very generalized questions like, "I didn't understand the lecture today".  And it inevitably comes downt to either a failure to understand what they are reading (or not bothering to read at all!) or the most common problem of not knowing how to do the math!
He insists that he doesn't have time to teach real chemistry because he is too busy teaching math that they should have learned in sixth grade...

The worst part of all is the end of the semester when the pleas begin..."I really did work hard, and if you give me an F, I will lose my scholarship, have to drop out of school completely, and will end up working as a greater at WalMart! And it will be all your fault because YOU won't give me any extra credit!"

There is something to be said for making learning enjoyable...But I think our goal as parents and EL parents especially is to teach our children HOW to learn and HOW to find enjoyment in the process itself....

[Kimba15]

The sheer noise in the background made it extremely difficult to even understand what the teacher was saying. I don't have a problem with group activities I do however have a problem with the teacher. That little girl in the first video should have been made to go back to her team and finish her exercise with them instead of being allowed to 'colour' because that is what she 'felt like doing'. Sorry but that is bad discipline on her teacher's part. Also with all that noise how can children concentrate???

I agree with you Kerileanne. Students are dumber every year and its happening all over the world. I think discipline should be taught at a young age so when they growinto the higher levels at school they can be left unsupervised to do their work and know they understand it. Interestingly enough in Australia it is the children who attend the prestigeous private schools who do worse in the first year of university because they have been spoon fed so much. So the schools academic performance does not go down and the school can still show excellent academic results for the prospective parents who are thinking about their little ones who will be attending will be getting a 'good education'

[fma001]

Dr. Jones is completely right. I've read some examples of the kinds of group projects given in schools and they always sound like they're way beyond the capacity of elementary age kids. The basics have to come first. But a lot of educators don't accept that. A child would have to have a very good understanding of how business and markets actually work before they could comprehend the need to provide quality products. And "quality products" goes far beyond two shoes that match. These projects are supposed to be "real world" but they are very far from reality.

Kerileanne99,

I saw exactly what you described when I went to college. Many middle class students I did projects with didn't understand the simplest concepts we were covering. If they didn't understand the basics, then obviously almost everything covered over the semester went way over their heads. When I went to school, I spent most of my time learning supposedly useless factual knowledge. Yet I ended up having to do most or all of the work in some projects because the others students didn't have a clue. Any teamwork skills they learned were completely useless because they didn't know very much.

[Mandabplus3]

You know I don't have a problem with the activity itself. My issue was with the teacher! Oh boy how much more wrong could it get! She basically told them what to think, so not only were the kids given a package project but packaged thinking too.
I know I could do this activity with a class of kids  ( preferably grade 1) and have them learn heaps!. This teacher during the video did not ask the right questions to get those kids thinking and problem solving for themselves. And to be franc for grade 2 the out put quality was very very low.
In fairness the noise level probably wasn't as loud as it appeared, the mike probably accelerated the background noise some what. It happens here with me even at home. Plus I need to consider the possibility that she already asked the right questions before the video was introduced. But if she did the kids didn't get it all the same.
A wise teacher once told me, "it is perfectly ok for kids to have some time during their day where fun becomes a priority over learning." the knack she says is to ensure you get the learning done also and preferably first!
Oh and don't shoes come in boxes not snap lock bags?

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