Agile for Learning – Part 3: Encourage Questions

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Our students are growing up in a much more complex and fast-paced world than previous generations. They are exposed to more news, information, and technology than any other generation of humans. Our students will grow up having AI like Chat GPT help them brainstorm ideas, draft emails, and possibly write their term papers. Instead of trying to fight the advances of technology, we must learn how to use it as a tool and use our classroom time to help students develop the skills and mindset they will need to navigate the world they are growing into; Agile can help. 

Developing an agile mindset is essential to our students. An agile mindset goes beyond a growth mindset because it acknowledges that change can happen and teaches students how to problem solve and test ideas in small increments. An agile mindset is necessary for a world where new facts emerge quickly and issues are complex and simple solutions will not suffice. 

Using Agile for AI Proof Skills

An agile mindset is a foundation for developing other AI Proof skills such as empathy, creativity, and communication. It helps students learn that there may be several solutions to a problem, that we must constantly reflect and change course while learning, and use the power of inquiry to sort through information. 

While an agile mindset cannot be taught in a vacuum, it can be taught in small increments in our daily lessons. This does not take time away from content or structured learning but aids the understanding of new information and helps students attach it to their schema. One of the best ways to engage students and help them develop an agile mindset is to encourage and scaffold how to ask questions. 

Encourage Questions

An Agile Mindset is about being adaptable enough to adjust to new information to find better ways of learning and working. To truly encompass an agile mindset, it is essential to ask great questions. Unfortunately, as students get older, the amount of deeply inquisitive questions they ask declines. When they are toddlers, everything is a question, but by 8th grade, they only ask to go to the bathroom. 

We must put real intention and focus on the value of questions in our classroom. Questions should be celebrated, encouraged, and reinforced. The art of asking questions should be taught in the classroom in the first few days of class. Teaching students the difference between open and closed questions and how to use them should be taught and reinforced throughout the school year. 

Questions can be used to kick off a unit to explore what students may already know about a topic, as a research tool while discovering new information, or as an exit ticket to help teachers guide learning the next day. 

Exercises for Encouraging Questions

One way to encourage questions is by building a question wall. Students can write their questions on a post-it and stick it to the question wall. Over a week, they can see how many questions can be written and then go through the wall as a closing activity on Friday. Students can try to answer the questions themselves as possible to reflect on the week’s work.

The visual aspect helps build momentum because students will be drawn to add their idea to a colorful and inviting wall. They will also see that they are not the only ones with questions. If it fits the class, the questions can also be anonymous, which will help shy students express themselves better. 

Encouraging questions, even silly, quirky, or off-topic, help develop an agile mindset by asking students to think about their learning. When questions are encouraged, students are not just taught to accept them as truth and move on. They are tasked with engaging with ideas, processing their thoughts, and evaluating if they stand up to scrutiny. It helps students build stronger connections, think critically about topics, and spark intrinsic learning.

Placing Value on Agile Skill Development

Placing value on questions in the classrooms builds a practice of inquiry that students will carry throughout their lives. This practice benefits them as they must navigate through more and more readily available information, a fast new cycle, and other technological advances. Questions help sort through the extra layers and delve deep into what matters in complex scenarios. This small practice builds an agile practice that students can use in every area of their lives. 

In Conclusion

An agile mindset is developed through practice, expanding beyond the idea that change is possible to actively explore new ways to build connections and apply new knowledge. Our students must develop an agile mindset during their formative years to best prepare them for a world of increasingly advanced technology and complexity. Our duty as passionate educators is to scaffold, model, and help them develop the AI-Proof skills they will benefit from for the rest of their lives.

Read Part 1 & Part 2 of this Agile for Learning Series to develop more AI-proof skills for your classroom.