But I think most of us, if told we can research anything we want, might be stumped for a little while if it was that open ended. I think that you’re right about setting clear objectives.

And I think it is more than just the fact that kids are used to having defined assignments. Even the assignment to “do whatever you want” is still an assignment–it’s not their own motivation driving them, it’s ours.

I think somewhere in there, we all know what we’d like to know more about, but it’s hard to start that “cold”. I think any kind of prompts, strategies, and discussion we can use to help students start thinking about their own interests is helpful.

Having them clip newspaper or magazine articles on some topics ahead of time—having them bookmark three websites that interest them ahead of time–brainstorming with the whole class–all these are strategies that help them get started on realizing they do have interests.

Carol Kuhlthau has some interesting work on the research process, and part of what she talks about are the emotional stages students/all of us go through during the research process. The anxiety at the beginning of a project and inability to think of something is one of the normal stages she defines. We all get more confident as we catch on to an idea and then start researching it, and our motivation gets stronger to do more. I think her work is really helpful in helping understand how students feel and why they don’t perform the way we might expect, especially in the beginning stages, and why they need some scaffolding to internalize the process.

I share your frustration! I have just given my students the opportunity to study any topic they choose in Science for their wiki pages we just started. Short of one pair of overachievers (that I mentioned in my blog), the group seems very apathetic.

However I think “choose your own topic” can be very difficult for students who have spent years being fed criteria checklist style assignments. I am constructing a post now (in my mind- & hopefully on my blog this long weekend) that looks at the pedagogy involved in such assignments. As Carolyn says (above), “it’s easier if the content comes first and then they are using the technology to communicate the content.” …But I think it is more than that, it is setting clear objectives, ‘ownership’ of the criteria, and clear expectations around expected outcomes… So much to consider!

I think that I am guilty of seeing the value of using technology in guiding learning, but not effectively guiding learning in my technology use.

I run across that fairly often in the library when classes can “pick their own topic.” Some tricks I use–maybe they’ll help–

Have kids bring in a few newspaper or magazines aboutsomething they are interested in, to get the brainstorming going.

Use Inspiration software or just brainstorm with Word ideas the class could do for the school. Maybe there is some video the campus needs? Like how to be safe online, or a video tour of the school?

Like I said, as with anything, I think it’s easier if the content comes first and then they are using the technology to communicate the content.

I do agree though–for some kids just because it’s “school” it’s hard to get them to engage.

Maybe that’s what the videos should be about–how they would redesign school??