5 Why’s Students Love to Curate w/ eWorkbooks Engaging Screenagers

Dr Warren preparing to speak on Mobile Learning Engagement IMLF 2017 Conference

5 Why’s Students Love to Curate w/ eWorkbooks Engaging Screenagers

Did you ever wonder why as humans so many of us spend so much time on social media?




Why are apps like Facebook and Instagram so popular for Engaging Screenagers (aren’t we all Engaging Screenagers nowadays)?
The act of curating (searching, finding, commenting, sharing, and getting feedback on) artifacts (pictures, videos, stories, etc.) and examples is very appealing because Engaging Screenagers collecting reminders of these Moments of Growth experiences.
Around 2010, I started seeing my Engaging Screenagers students explode their time on the internet with Facebook, and I wondered how I could get them to be engaged (like on Facebook) in my classroom.
Back in 2010 I started asking students to search the internet and bring back examples using their smart phones, and they were to use what they found to support their arguments in their term papers and speeches in class.
As normal, at first the students resisted but after a few seconds the classroom was full of energy as the students were engaged in curating.
Dr Warren preparing to speak on Mobile Learning Engagement IMLF 2017 Conference
Dr Warren preparing to speak on Mobile Learning Engagement IMLF 2017 Conference







Although in-class games like Kahoot! are more intense for short periods, curating engagement can last much longer as it isn’t as stressful.
Over the past few years we’ve struggled with different ways to guide and monitor this in-class curation (paper worksheets, group worksheets, etc.)
We found that using eWorkbooks (made with Google Forms and completed using a mobile device) was a quite effective when we asked clear lead in questions, gave clear curating instructions, and monitored their curated artifacts (which appear automatically in the responses spreadsheets.)

When we used the eWorkbooks, we could add a few extra questions to get feedback from students as to why they liked curating and here are their answers.
Why 1) searching
It seems once they develop their skills to quickly and effectively search with their mobile devices, the students reported that they enjoyed searching. (optimal engagement)
One student mentioned searching the internet was more fun than searching Facebook because there were more places to look and her results were not just “what’s popular today.”
Soon after they developed their skills, students seemed to make it a habit to search with their phones whenever they had questions as I was teaching (that was before I learned to lecture less and walk around to answer more questions.) 

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
Why 2) finding
The students reported they felt happier when they found new, different, unusual examples (that none of their classmates had found.) (optimal engagement)
Often in class, you could see the students get a little competitive as they tried to find more interesting, and unusual examples.
Why 3) commenting
When students reported they enjoyed commenting, it was surprising as we had spent some time at the beginning encouraging them to share their ideas. (optimal engagement)
This seems related to Remixing Literacy that my friend Mark Pegrum mentioned in his book, Digital Literacies.
As we look around, we can see Engaging Screenagers want to express themselves if they are not going to be judged or penalized, and when you can see this in the explosion of memes around us nowadays.
Why 4) sharing
Watching how much Engaging Screenagers shared when they were on Facebook, I was not surprised when they reported they enjoyed sharing what they found. (optimal engagement)
In schools don’t we see less and less sharing as we push students to learn more facts and compete for grades?
When they are in a safe space and feel trust, I could see how much Engaging Screenagers liked to share what they had found, and it was inspiring for me too.  
Why 5) feedback
The students reported that immediate feedback was a feature they really enjoyed. (optimal engagement)
They liked getting feedback from their peers right away when they found examples and shared with those sitting near them in the classroom.
Also, they liked getting my feedback as I wandered around answering questions as they were curating.
Surprisingly (for me at least) was students said they liked getting the auto reply emails sent to their inbox, so they could check (and I saw them sharing with friends too) what they had submitted.
Another method they reported liking was when the teacher showed some (exemplar) examples to the class so they could compare what they had curated.
Quite often students mentioned how in the past they would usually for weeks without getting any feedback from the teacher.
They said that after a few weeks the feedback was usually in the form of a missed question on a quiz or a low mark on a paper.
Isn’t that feedback too late?
What do you think?
These are some reasons why students love to curate using eWorkbooks and when they do, you can engage, interact with, learn from, and collect student information and you can help your students even more.
I’m sure some teachers are saying, “Even if it only takes a little time to create an eWorkbooks, I don’t have time to deal with all these curated artifacts and examples.”
That may be true that time is short, but in the long run won’t you know so much more about your students and their strengths and opportunities for improvement?

Right now, some of you are asking, “Why can’t I just use Facebook?”
That is a good question, and it has been our practice that when students curate from Facebook, that turns into a party of distraction that is almost impossible to stop. (junk engagement)
As this new digital world is upon us, once you adopt a new technology it is hard to see where you were before.
Teachers, wouldn’t it be great your Engaging Screenagers could curate examples and share their happy and fun experiences in your class?
Can’t you see how valuable this practice and the information could be to support your learners?
Isn’t it a share there are teachers out there who are have not adopted eWorkbooks to help their students enjoy learning in their classrooms and all because those teachers are not willing to try eWorkbooks?

Have students curate with eWorkbooks for enjoyable 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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