On the Trails

Teach people HOW to learn and not WHAT to learn; this is the cornerstone of my educational philosophy. In the world of today it is apparent that HOW we educate children is more important than what we do to educate them.

How should we be teaching children how to learn? My approach to this question is to make the design of instruction student centered.  As an adjunct professor, for the past 6 years, I have written curriculum, which I call Trails of integration, that I use to teach teachers how to effectively integrate theory and technology into lessons for the benefit of children.

As an educational computing strategist, for the past seven years, I have witnessed the frailty of the adult ego. My integration strategy is to mentor teachers over time through modeling until teachers feel that they can use technology as easy as they can use a book.  Training key people who can duplicate my efforts increases the amount of mentoring.

The underlying strategy to help teachers is the use of a creative problem solving approach to instructional design. I have been trained to facilitate the Creative Problem Solving process through the International Center for Studies of Creativity at Buffalo State College. Whatever the challenge, I know how to facilitate the solving of that challenge in a systemic way.