Joy of Learning

Last night my girls and I went for a walk (we went for ice cream and I figured if we walked I could eat ice cream without guilt). On the way, my four year old discovered dandelions. She was fascinated by them as we noticed them along the way. I finally stopped and picked one to show her the seeds and how you can blow them. She had some trouble blowing the seeds at first, but eventually figured it out. We talked about what was happening to the seeds when she blew them and what would happen next. She was so excited about them that she carried two home to show her dad. She also wanted to keep them but we convinced her that we could always get more.

This whole experience struck me because of how much she was learning and how much fun she was having. She asked question after question. She learned a lot about seeds and plants through our discussion. She explored the dandelions in many ways, blowing the seeds, touching the different parts, smelling them. When she finally managed to blow the seeds on her own she was so proud of herself.

I want her learning to always be this way. I want her to continue to ask questions and get excited about new things. Will that continue once she starts school in the fall? How long will it take before she looks at learning in a totally different light?

Do children naturally outgrow this joy in learning or do schools push it out of them?

Personal Learning Environments

The tech guru at our school has been thinking hard about how best to work with students and technology. He's pushing us to push the boundaries and meet students' needs in the best ways possible. This morning he shared an epiphany with me. He's been mulling over the idea of 'personal learning environments' and has created a working definition for himself. (I'm sure he'll correct my explanation if I'm missing something, at least I hope so.)

Here's an example: students are working on a study of oceans. In a group they could have a specific focus, say ocean currents. Their group would create a wiki as a base for all their research. They would create a group delicious site full of relevant links, a bloglines collection of feeds, and a blog that they write to share their thinking and their synthesis of their learning through the research. All of these sites would be linked in their wiki.

My question is, what else is a possibility? My feeling is that no piece will make sense for every group and for every project, but these seem like a good starting point. What other tools could help students research and/or pull their thinking together?