Uh Houston, We're going digital... over

In a face-to-face classroom, I engage my students in a very open dialogue that changes a typical lecture into a natural conversation between students and myself.  I teach both AP Macroeconomics and AP Psychology.  Two classes that students can either really relate to or have questions about since they’ve never had experience in these two content areas.  This type of dialogue is difficult in a digital age.  One thing that actually is beneficial with digital learning is the ability to avoid cognitive overload.  In a face-to-face setting, especially when teachers and students are only given around 50 minutes per class, cognitive overload becomes a problem as students are bombarded with information that is more than their working memory (short-term memory) can absorb.  Students are not given the proper absorption time to practice, rehearse, or apply all of the information being thrown at them.  Digital learning, either blended or completely online, can give the students the appropriate time to reflect, make connections, and allow their working memory to encode. Digital learning also provides opportunities for experiential learning.  Students can create and reflect on their “doing”.  Discussion boards are one way that I plan on creating ways for students to reflect on their experience and apply concepts from class.  In a face-to-face classroom, often the “turn and talk to your neighbor” may only last a few minutes and could lead to cognitive overload.  This doesn’t give the students the chance to really spend time thinking about application and making connections.  Discussion boards that span a few days keep students engaged and provide time for reflection and time to process the information to where it’s more likely going to stay in long-term memory, as opposed to working-short-term memory.  Making connections and understanding relationships and cause/effect are the main tools needed in order to be successful in my courses.  Digital learning with discussion boards provides authentic experiences to develop these skills. 

Resources:

Cognitive overload -- rewire your brain in the digital age | Darren McNelis | TEDxTallaght | Amara. (2020, July 22). Retrieved from https://amara.org/en/videos/JNHMjDiZmYdF/info/cognitive-overload-rewire-your-brain-in-the-digital-age-darren-mcnelis-tedxtallaght/?tab=video