As educators, our ultimate objective is to engage students—to capture and maintain their attention. To do that we must realize that our delivery is just as important as the content. How much truly great content is lost due to an uninspiring delivery? Ken Robinson, in his book Out of Our Minds, states:
What we become in the future is deeply influenced by our experiences here and now. Education is not a linear process of preparation for the future: it is about cultivating the talents and sensibilities through which we can live our best lives in the present and create the best futures for us all.
If our present day experiences can truly be this formative, then it is imperative that teachers are as positive and engaging as possible. Connie Dieken gets to the heart of this question when she states, “In today’s demanding, distracted world, you either engage quickly or get ignored.” In her book Talk Less Say More she stresses the importance of being fully present to your listeners; “Staying in their moment means fully focusing on what your listener needs and values as you are communicating.”
Recently, I began using understoodit.com in my seminars. It was quite an illuminating experience not only because it revealed to me how well or poorly my students were understanding the content but because it forced me to be hyper-aware of how I was delivering that content. During my Buddhism seminar I found that I was constantly evaluating my word choice; would this or that particular word be more effective or better understood than another? As the status bar indicated the percentage of the class that was understanding my content, I was forced to evaluate, moment by moment, how relevant and effective my language was. Was there another word or phrase that would convey my message with more impact? Should I vary my tone of voice, move around the room a bit more, create simpler slides, focus on only a few key concepts rather than trying to cram too much information in? These were great questions that led, over the next few days, to more engaging seminars.
At a recent conference for educators, I presented two workshops where I began with a question using the "Poll" feature of understoodit.com. "Engaging students in the creative process is challenging because...?" There was a palpable excitement in the room as participants were hurriedly tapping in their answers on phones and tablets, eager to see them displayed on the screen. I am convinced this was because they knew that they could offer honest feedback without the fear of being judged. This was extremely valuable because it not only helped me to understand where these teachers were coming from—what their experiences were, what they were looking for in my seminar—it also enabled me to tailor my workshop to better suit their needs.
Teaching is not just a one-way flow of information. It can, and must be so much more. It should, as Ken Robinson states, be about shared experiences which empowers teachers and students to grow and to be open to greater possibilities. Educators are now talking about “co-creating learning goals” with students. Understoodit.com is aptly named not just because student learning is enhanced but also teacher learning as well. In the past, our system of education has taught us to provide the "right" answer. If we don't have the answer we don't want to raise our hand and venture a guess because we don't wish to appear stupid. We now know that the fear of being wrong shuts down our process of inquiry and imagination that often leads us to a solution. To quote Ken Robinson again, "If you’r not prepared to be wrong you'll never come up with anything original."
Understoodit.com eliminates the fear. Students can safely and anonymously let the teacher know they need a concept repeated or explained again or in another way. They can give honest feedback and ask questions without the fear of judgement. Teachers cannot only evaluate how well they know the subject matter but also hone their presentation skills through self-evaluation. With more cool features and ways to implement understoodit.com on the way, everybody wins.