The Order of Lesson Planning  

 

The order of lesson planning got a little fuzzy in the first two decades of the computer explosion in education. There were a lot of teachers, myself being one of the masters, finding awesome new gadgets, websites and software and jumping straight to 'I'm doing a lesson with this tomorrow'. I stopped caring about syllabus content and learning outcomes, while I was awestruck by awesome new gadgets.

 

It was more about me playing with new toys than my students learning.  

 

Education has moved at least a decade beyond this, however we are still often distracted by new toys. If we are truly focused achieving the best possible outcomes for our students then we must always start our planning  with 'what are the intended learning outcomes for this lesson?'. We are always obligated to start with the syllabus, that is our mandatory content. From there teachers can really start to individualise, but if we pick a task now it might be a little random, the outcomes might be blurry and teachers are in danger of content overload (chalk and talk). So after the syllabus it's time to pick one or more 21st century skills. This gives us direction to guide the task.  

 

For example a task a Comparing and Contrasting Literature on Global Issue task has a lot more direction if I choose to make in collaborative or if I choose to make it involve problem solving. The collaborative version might be students working in a collaborative Onenote; whereas the problem solving version might require students to explain how a character in a fiction text could solve a Global Issue that has influenced their life and present the solution online. Both tasks will involved reading a variety of texts, comprehending the information and analysing the messages, however they will have a lot more direction because of the 21st century skill layered over the English Outcome.  

 

Once syllabus content and 21st century skills are selected only then teacher can consider lesson activities and technological tools to aide the learning outcomes. 

 

 

 

Remember the golden rule of using technology in educations. Only use technology if it can improve  student outcomes in the lesson.  

 

As I've previously written technology does not mean computers, or cameras, or robots. It means any device that can help a student achieve a better outcomes. That could be chalk on the concrete, a portable whiteboard, a collaborative Onenote, a 3D printer, Ozobots, Makey Makey or maybe a needle and thread. They all can improve student outcomes in the right lessons, in the right context.