5-for Curating Authentic Discussions Engaging Screenagers

DrWarren sharing research on tracking learning and engaging Screenagers in the classroom

5-for Curating Authentic Discussions Engaging Screenagers

A few years ago I was asked to teach a business communication course in my university for junior level (year 3) undergraduates.

That course textbook was designed to teach students how to write business correspondence, (letters, memos, [remember those?] etc.) and give presentations.
Other than the obvious fact that business students had been already learning these skills for the last 3 years, the focus of that textbook was a little behind the times.
As with many university courses, this one was focused on academically assessable tasks that are gradable skills and not focused on helping students learn to work together and solve authentic problems.
Reality check—Isn’t business communication mostly about working together and solving authentic problems? (As opposed to discussions about made-up and out-dated case studies.)


As a professional speaker for Fred Pryor Seminars and Careertrack Seminars in the USA, I had taught a variety communication seminar topics for improved business efficiency.
In seminars the focus is learning usable skills to take back into the workplace improve effectiveness as well as solve problems more efficiently.
In the professional seminar world, we gave participants workbooks so they could follow along and engage with the content in their own way.
Back in university, at first I created paper workbooks for students, but they were not too interested and I couldn’t assess the workbooks’ value or student learning. (junk engagement)



DrWarren sharing research on tracking learning and engaging Screenagers in the classroom
DrWarren sharing research on tracking learning and engaging Screenagers in the classroom









I began to search for alternatives and I struggled testing new apps, etc., until I found eWorkbooks, and after testing began to use them full time in the class.
Then we used eWorkbooks (Google Forms with the training slides as well as interactive questions, curating links and tasks, example images and videos, etc. which students (Engaging Screenagers) completed using their mobile devices) for interactive learning.
Students used eWorkbooks to answer questions, interact, etc. while I lead the opening discussions, and after they submitted their answers, they would get their responses sent to their inbox so they could review their learning Moments of Growth. (optimal engagement)
Something interesting happened when the students started using those eWorkbooks.
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At the beginning, the students didn’t know what to think of using their mobile devices to learn with eWorkbooks.
The students’ phones had mostly been toys for communication and entertainment (which included curating on Facebook, Instagram, chats, etc. for 10+ hours a day.) (junk engagement)
After about 3 weeks into the course, the students realized how valuable it was to get feedback, to compare with others, and to see exemplar answers.
Also, the students were able to curate real-time examples related to their interests which lead to authentic discussions about real ideas and issues. (optimal engagement)
After 6 weeks into the course the students were asking me to ‘train their other instructors’ to use the eWorkbooks in the classroom.
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In the past the ‘A’ students and ‘B’ students would ask questions, and only rarely would the C students ask questions.
When curating with eWorkbooks, the classroom became more Socratic but with the students leading the questions instead of me, and they were having authentic discussions about real-time issues.
In Hong Kong students have grown up having strict classrooms with social pressure to be quiet and not ask questions.
Interestingly, although the ‘A’ and ‘B’ students engaged well, it was the ‘C’ students who began to ask the most questions as they became most involved in curating, discussing, and sharing. (optimal engagement)
I felt this was because they were curating on Social Media more than others and had more highly developed curating, discussing, and sharing skills.
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Often we hear that some students don’t care about learning and developing their skills for the future, but I think everyone has caring in them.
When we change the learning to a different style with curating, discussing, and sharing, doesn’t that engage different styles of learners?
Often, those who are successful in an discipline like teaching, become teachers and they teach they way they were taught, but when I trained to be an instructor for Dale Carnegie, I learned there are many more styles that effectively engage learners. (optimal engagement)

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By letting go of my control when we used eWorkbooks, the students were able to show their caring in different learning styles and this seemed to encourage more authentic discussions.
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One of the most surprising outcomes of using eWorkbooks was when students could use the eWorkbooks they could curate examples based on their own interests. (optimal engagement)
As the business communications course was for all business students, there were several students who had a wide variety of business career aspirations.
Following the eWorkbook guidelines, the students were to curate examples based on the learning module content and related to their interests and career aspirations.  
When students could curate based on their interests, they became free to pursue their own passions in authentic discussions and they loved it.
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When I attended university, if students were sick they didn’t come to class, and near the end of class we all started packing our belongings (often quite noisily.)  
But when we used eWorkbooks, there were times I told students to go home because they were so sick, but they didn’t want to miss the authentic discussions in class.
Also, when using eWorkbooks the students wanted to stay after class and keep working on their curation tasks and projects. (optimal engagement)
As the instructor I would stay as long as I could so they could keep working, and learned to plan to finish my own work while they worked in the classroom before I was to lock the doors.
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One day a “friend” pointed out that only I could teach with eWorkbooks because I had so much experience with a wide variety of industries and job functions while I was a trainer and consultant.
My response was that anyone who was willing to try and make a habit of using eWorkbooks and who was willing to let go of control and learn from the students could teaching using eWorkbooks. 

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Isn’t that a big part of learning, for example students learn to read and then students read to learn.
Isn’t that what we are doing, but now because they are in a monitored environment, they can focus and be more efficient in their growth.
Wouldn’t it be great if students could use eWorkbooks with their Engaging Screenagers classmates to curate ideas for authentic discussions?
Isn’t the world changing so fast that students want to be curating real-time examples they can use for in-class discussions?
If the sum total of human knowledge is going to double in less than a year, then won’t we penalize our learners by not letting them curate and have authentic discussions with real-time examples?

Curate for authentic discussions to get better learning.

You can see examples of screen innovations for Optimal Experiences at JOIN THE CURATION: Google+.
Remember to engage tomorrow.
Following with you.
Keep it simple.
All the Best, Warren
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Dr Warren LINGER © 2017
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