Information Isn't Knowledge: How to Help Your Kid Actually Use What They're Learning
“People don’t pay for information, they pay for implementation.” – Ayodeji Awosika in a recent webinar.
I rushed to write this statement as soon as Ayo said it. I was taking Ayo’s online newsletter writing course. Why? To learn the skills necessary to launch my newsletter.
Or so I thought.
In reality, it was to take the information I already knew and implement it—i.e. actually launch my newsletter.
And it worked. That same week I chose a name, and a tagline, got clear on my purpose, wrote my welcome newsletter, came up with a plan, and hit send.
I paid for implementation.
Last week I attended a week long online course on course creation. My intent? To design, develop, and launch a course. Did I launch it during the week? No.
While the course gave me several insights as to the main ingredients for a successful online course, it did not walk me through implementation and launch. Huge difference. Will I develop and launch my course? Yes, because now I know the general process: Idea to information gathering, to understanding and comprehension by studying other people’s examples, to application—in this case course creation and launch.
It was still a valuable course because it pounded home the point that what we, as adults, are looking for when we take online courses is how to apply what we likely already know.
Ayo was right: we’re paying for implementation.
Say I take an online cooking course from a known chef. Do I pay for the chef to show me recipes and walk me through reading the ingredient list? No. I pay to have the chef mentor me through the process of learning how to do each step myself and achieving results.
AND… I’m paying for the community of people learning with me, holding each other accountable, trading tips and advice, and the motivational aspect of doing the course in a group.
Say I want to learn to make Lasagna alla Genovese. I might expect to learn how to prep the veggies and meat, how long to cook the pasta and how to test that it’s the perfect degree of al dente before layering the ingredients in the pan and baking the dish.
I might post food photos during the course and comment on other people’s photos or ask questions. Instead of observing the expert chef do the cooking and listening to explanations or taking notes, I will actually test out each technique myself in real time to be sure I can replicate the process (or come close anyway!).
OR… maybe I want to improve my gardening skills and plant an herb garden in early spring. I might sign up for a month-long online course that provides a similar process as the cooking course but stretches over a month to allow time for the seeds to germinate and the instructor to comment on how each person’s seedlings are growing.
I may hope to connect with other people in the community throughout the course, celebrate their wins, and type encouraging messages or advice if their seeds don’t germinate.
I might expect the teacher to provide information about growing an herb garden first, including soil, conditions, watering, sunlight, timeline, etc. The teacher might then give examples and show photos in a SlideShare presentation of what to expect.
But, what I want from the course is results.
I want to learn about growing an herb garden, but even more, I want to succeed in applying the information and growing my own herbs. So, I take the course in real-time as a mentoring process.
What does any of this have to do with our kids and how they learn?
Everything.
From Effective Online Courses to Ineffective Teaching Methods in School
Course creators know the steps to help adults achieve results and they know (the good ones anyway) the secret sauce—implementation.
We know this works, but often we don’t apply this same approach to how we teach our kids, whether in traditional or homeschool settings.
Why?
Often our kids sit for long hours in uncomfortable chairs at desks or tables in school. We as educators, feed them information. Then we test them on the information with the expectation that they’ve ‘learned’ the information if they can recall the facts that they’ve memorized correctly, and occasionally make simple analogies using those facts.
The Problem
Traditional teaching methods do not focus on real-world applications. They focus mainly on phase one: Information Gathering.
This is the first stage where learners are exposed to new data, facts, or figures. It involves the collection of raw information from various sources like books, lectures, articles, or real-life observations.
The focus is on acquiring as much relevant information as possible.
Kids are exposed to new concepts, terminologies, and facts.
This stage forms the foundation for deeper understanding and learning.
For example, kids might read a textbook chapter on the basics of photosynthesis, where they learn the involved elements and processes.
Kids might then take a test and be required to demonstrate that they remember the information.
This is not knowledge.
First Step Toward Real Learning
If kids are lucky, traditional methods will also focus on phase two of learning: Comprehension.
Comprehension is the process of understanding and making sense of the information gathered. This step involves organizing, integrating, and interpreting the information.
Kids interpret the meaning of the information, connecting new knowledge with existing knowledge.
Kids start to understand the concepts, ideas, and relationships within the information and internalize the information.
For example, kids might understand how and why photosynthesis is crucial for plant life and the environment. They would then grasp the relationship between sunlight, water, carbon dioxide, and the production of oxygen and glucose.
Comprehension is key to real learning, but it is still not the same as being able to apply what you’ve learned.
The Critical Step Toward Real Learning
This is the step we adults are paying for in our online courses. And the one kids in traditional schooling situations rarely ever get to take: Application.
Application is the ability to use the knowledge gained in real-life scenarios. This step involves applying the comprehended material to solve problems, make decisions, or create something new.
Kids apply their knowledge to practical, real-world situations.
It often involves problem-solving and critical thinking.
Learners demonstrate understanding: the ability to apply knowledge. When kids understand they can demonstrate this in practical real-life situations.
For example, if kids can use their knowledge of photosynthesis to conduct an experiment on plant growth under different light conditions, or apply this understanding in fields like agriculture or environmental science, then they understand the information.
Each of these steps builds upon the previous one. Information is the first step. It leads to comprehension. And that leads to knowledge when kids can apply what they’ve learned in real-world contexts.
How to Help Kids Take the Steps From Information to Knowledge
What if we worked backward and defined the results we wanted for our kids first?
Let’s define RESULTS as the ability to apply information to a real-world problem (this is knowledge).
Suppose we use projects as the kid-friendly version of online courses to do this.
Let’s use the gardening example since that’s easy to imagine. Say we give our kids an assignment to create a small school vegetable garden. The goal is to grow enough lettuce and tomatoes to make salads for each kid for lunch (Extra benefit of the multipurpose goal—learning and eating healthy!)
We’ve defined our goal – which will be the result.
And just like an online course creator does, we are focusing on implementation.
Then, we create a Context for the Project (again analogous to the online course context):
Provide key information
give the information through as many different learning styles as possible—visual/graphics, speaking/audio input, writing/reading, and physical demonstrations (kinesthetic)
walk students through the steps,
give real-life examples for improved comprehension and discuss how each example makes use of the information
create a small community by grouping kids in teams and adding small milestones, check-ins for accountability, peer support, question, and answer sessions so they can help each other and figure out solutions when they’re stuck along the way,
ways to celebrate small wins so that they feel encouraged along the way,
a timeline for them to move from step to step,
coaching sessions along the way,
and pauses for self-reflection and feedback
Let’s say the gardening project will take two months in the spring.
The kids have lots of information about each step in the growing process: growing space per plant, sunlight, soil, how many plants would feed X people, and time needed once the seeds are planted for the plants to grow and produce food.
We would then coach the kids through working out the area for the garden in square feet (math) how many rows to plant (math), the equipment and raw materials needed, and the budget for this (math, real-time planning). They would need to look up weather conditions and design a plan for doing the work, assigning work to each person in the team (critical thinking, collaboration, communication, environmental studies).
Throughout the project, we would be focused on results—implementation.
The kids in the project would perceive the initial information as a valuable tool to help them figure out solutions.
How to Motivate Kids to Take Facts and Turn Them Into Knowledge
The motivation would NOT be fear of how well they would do on a test, but rather seeing their garden come alive. From negative motivation to positive.
The kids would be moving from fact to comprehension to application throughout each step of the project.
Just like an online course, the project would include steps but allow enough flexibility for the kids to figure stuff out, make decisions, and re-evaluate as needed.
In the end, even if not all the seeds germinated, or if they miscalculated the amount of sunlight, the soil conditions, the number of plants, or a variety of other variables, the project would have been a wild success.
Why? Because the kids learned.
They took the information and applied it within a real-world context—they gained knowledge (what we adults pay for when we take a course) through a lot of effort and engagement.
Success is in the process—the implementation.
The proof of this would be demonstrated in every step of the project. The kids wouldn’t need a test at the end of the project, they could instead step back and reflect: on what went well, what didn’t what they struggled with, what would they do differently next time, and what they learned from it.
And, are they looking forward to eating some salad at lunch?
The Downside of Gaining Knowledge
It takes real effort on the part of everyone involved.
Yes, the project takes longer and requires more work, money, and resources, but the result? Our kids learned a long list of academic, practical, critical thinking, AND social-emotional skills that they can carry forward.
The other effect?
Once you start teaching kids how to go from information to application, they never want to go back to traditional schooling again. They want to learn and apply their ideas to all kinds of other things. They start coming up with other ideas. They start asking, “What if..?” They collaborate.
You've given them the keys and they will run with them.
This is real learning. Knowledge is hard won, but once each of us gains a bit more of it, it becomes part of who we are and what we can give to others.
And if your school doesn’t have the resources to build the physical garden, you can still do the project as a project-based learning process and build an ‘on paper’ garden. Your kids won’t have the joy of seeing real plants grow, but they will gain much of the same knowledge about building a garden, planning, applying math, science, teamwork, planning, and collaboration.
You can also do real-world or on-paper projects about city planning, dinosaur discovery parks, running a hot chocolate stand, making a bee-friendly garden, or becoming a nature investigator and discovering the connections between shapes in nature and geometry. There’s no end of projects—and applied learning—possible.
The Takeaway?
As adults, when we invest our time and money in a course, we expect more than information, we expect implementation. We should expect this from courses being taught to our children… Then our kids will be learning.
And we should do everything we can to help our kids think and gain knowledge so they can go out into the world and apply it.
Happy learning!
P.S. If you’d like to try out some projects with your kids and use the project based learning approach, here are some my of projects.