Empowering Learning Outside the Classroom

Empowering Learning Outside the Classroom
Nermeen Dashoush and Nneka Bolden explore how digital media can expand horizons for young learners
Today’s digital technologies have the potential to transform and enhance learning opportunities for children, particularly those from underrepresented communities. The innovative strategies used in digital education can support young learners from a wide variety of backgrounds, providing access outside the classroom to high-quality resources that address diverse learning needs.
For this Conversations with the Dean session, Dean Penny Bishop is joined by BU Wheelock’s Nermeen Dashoush, clinical associate professor in early childhood and Nneka Bolden, senior digital producer and partnerships director, Mighty Picnic.They draw from their experience working on projects such as the PBS KIDS’ series, Lyla in the Loop. “We really try to connect with families and communities with our resources, trying to make sure that we’re meeting them where they’re at,” explains Bolden.
Highlights from the Conversation
Creating access to STEM for everyone
We know our teachers are doing a great job doing the best with what they can, but they’re also grappling with schedule needs and balancing, fitting in and meeting demands of certain time allocations for certain things. And science continuously gets put on the back burner, with large majority of our children not getting regular instruction in science. And when they do get regular instruction, it’s about a fourth of the time of other subjects . . . . We have to tap in informal learning education to help fill in some of those gaps.
Nermeen Dashoush
Informal learning happens in many places
We have been working on developing installations for museum. What would that look like? How would that work for kids and families with mixed ages and different types of caregivers? We’ve thought about resources that families can take with them on the subway or on the bus as they’re on the go for those moments during travel. When you just need five minutes, there’s an opportunity that you can play a quick game with your kids. No materials needed. We think about the after school space and young people who are working in the after school centers, how can we help them understand how to teach kids and have fun games for them? We also have resources for specifically being at the library. There’s a lot of books around, it’s a little bit more of a quiet space. We’ve been thinking about all these different environments and how to really meet communities when they’re at these spaces.
Nneka Bolden
The role digital learning can play
A lot of people, when they think about screen time or they think about digital learning for young children, there are a lot of misconceptions and there are a lot of reservations around it. And . . . we should be asking those questions: What are children learning? Who is behind it? What is the message being sent? . . . digital experiences for young children in no way replaces any kind of off-screen experience. But in many ways, it actually fills in the gap for some lack of access to certain quality experiences.
Nermeen Dashoush
Conversations with the Dean are a series of webinars hosted by Dean Bishop that explore some of the most pressing topics in education. Learn more about Conversations with the Dean.
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