Is Digital Learning Joyful Learning?

I came across a few quotes which got me thinking about my situation teaching in a 1:1 computing classroom. They were taken from a Tom Hoerr, a speaker at the Learning@school conference in the United States and I believe epitomize exactly what is important in education.

His first idea that struck me was "the best way to instill "lifelong learning" is to promote "joyful learning". This quote made me wonder if my students were happier, more joyful, being a part of a digital classroom? It is difficult to measure happiness but what I do see are students more engrossed in the learning tasks. There is more of a sense of freedom and autonomy that comes when students are able to work at their own rate and learning level. Does this ability transfer to happiness? One student remarked that "my netbook is becoming a friend, a partner for me to help me learn and someone I look forward to seeing everyday. When my computer is "glitchy" or when the server is down, it is like my friend is sick... I just know it is going to be a bad day." Although I can't determine my students' exact level of joyfulness, what I do know is that the netbooks have become instrumental in my students' learning and they would be sadly missed if it was necessary to go back to a traditional way of learning.

The second quote which made an impact was the idea that "it is not a leader's job to make everyone happy. It is to make everyone grow, beginning with the teachers. If everyone is happy, then you aren't challenging them enough. A leader's job is to 'comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable'." Although I am out of my comfort zone this year, I have never been more alive in my teaching. Each day brings challenges and problem solving is becoming a daily and sometimes an hourly occurence. Thinking outside the box is necessary to reach all of my learners and having full access to netbooks gives me choices as a teacher that I never had before. This quote also lends itself well to the classroom. Through my experience, I have found students who have been told that they are "A" students are not craving challenge and would much rather be satisfied with maintaining their "A" status without stretching their abilities. Traditional "A" students are very afraid of change and it takes a lot of coaxing and reassurance for them to begin to challenge themselves and to go beyond the expectations and to take charge of their own learning.

The last quote which is related to challenging the comfortable, is Hoerr's idea that it is important to try and "make a new mistake every day." The "new" part being the most important. I truly believe that students and teachers need to be comfortable taking risks and making mistakes so that growth and learning can occur. A corollary to this would be that students and teachers need to become reflective learners. When mistakes happen reflection is key to make a positive change.

Getting back to my original question: "Is digital learning joyful learning?" I believe that it is. What it seems to provide is engagement. Students are engaged in their learning and they are becoming more independent and self driven learners which I think is what teaching is all about.