The Harkness Table

[Dr. Jorge Olaf Nelson]

If you haven't heard about it, click here.

I sat at one in Evergreen State and it changed my life forever.

"What I have in mind is [a classroom] where [students] could sit around a table with a teacher who would talk with them and instruct them by a sort of tutorial or conference method, where [each student] would feel encouraged to speak up. This would be a real revolution in methods." philanthropist Edward Harkness (circa 1930).

"Harkness learning can vary — most notably between liberal arts subjects such as English, and scientific subjects, like math. There are general principles and goals, however, that go along with this method. The main goal is to encourage students to come up with ideas of their own and learn good reasoning and discussion skills. Depending on his or her style, the teacher may interact very little, interjecting only to guide the discussion."

Sounds like a true GuidebytheSide environment, no?

Now, Imagine a MultiTouch-enabled Harkness Table a la MS Surface - I can.

[Don Jonasson]

This MS Surface immediatley brought back a vision of when I taught grades five and six and would sit students in groups of four - four desks pushed together in a sort of rectangle/square all facing each other. I did this primarily for the purpose of collaboration. I don't know the full capability of the current MS Surface but let's assume that if we can dream it MS can build it. In writing they shared rough drafts and helped each other with editing and redrafting. So now they can download from their laptop/palmtop/miniHD/etc. to the table and immediatley create copies for all participants. With the Edictionary and Ethesaurus they can help each other expand vocabulary and refine meaning. With the connection the the library, not to mention the WWW, they can help each other with research and verification of facts. And all of this can be literally shuffled and passed back and forth at the MS Surface. The original author can select what she/he thinks is appropriate and integrate it into his/her piece. The process moves to the next sharer.

For our photo essays we used to do and collaboratively edit in a similar way, we can now go out and shoot our roll of film - WHOA! No more film limited to 12 - 24 - 36 exposures and a week to get developed!! We now go out and shoot 12-500 shots in an hour or so then directly download to the MS Surface. All four help each other with ideas on quality, theme, croping, special effects, etc. just as they used to do with hardcopy photos. Then a final composition is printed out - or downloaded to the Eframe.

For math when I go to my Ewhiteboard and explain a process it goes directly to each students place and they can download the notes to their personal device. And when they are doing their practice problems they can at will share with each other to collaborate on if their process is correct. How about students sharing their solutions by sending back to the Ewhiteboard and then rebroadcast to the whole class?

I am sort of assuming here that there will be keyboard and voice and stylus/pen/brush input capabilities in the classroom version of this Surface.

[Dr. Jorge Olaf Nelson]

Nice work, Don J.

Hey Don W., let your MS friends imagineer this over in Redmond, please? I want this in Songdo...

[Don Jonasson]

I think Songdo would be a great place to pilot this, then we will send over PBS and 60 Minutes, they can do specials on how the Koreans are leaving us in the dust in education, there will be a great hue and cry from politicians who will send over school superintendants to see how it is done, followed by federal grants to catch up with the Koreans after which MS will have special projects to put them in US pilot schools etc.

[Dr. Jorge Olaf Nelson]

Obama has already talked about Korean education as a model so that may fly!

[Don Jonasson]

It would be so nice to see the education community go global and once again look at and listen to research and best practices and pry ourselves away from the self-serving homilies of politicians. The stuff is out there, the communication infrastructure is in place, and I beleive that there is even a grass roots cadre of willing and capable educators. We just need the political will and leadership to risk moving out of the past.

[Dr. Jorge Olaf Nelson]

And the tide is turning - I am amazed that when I describe the school in Songdo to even the most conservative potential parents that they agree that learning is more important than teaching.