Teachback derives from the simple, ages-old adage that, “you never really learn anything until you have to teach it”. A teacher instructs on a topic which the learner absorbs and then instructs back in their own authentic terms, with an arrived consensus becoming a learning moment for both parties. The strategy is being applied in the UK, for example, within the health professions to facilitate informed consent: when a patient is able to teachback to a physician the essence of a proposed treatment, the physician can be confident the patient understands what is involved.
Opportunity Statement
OK, so, Teachback isn’t a “technology” so much as a “pedagogy”, but it is included here because, while it can be implemented without any technology whatsoever, it is a form of active learning that is intrinsically social and scalable, and inherently amenable to an emerging world of self-expression through media. Akin to how ETEC522 students are enabled to learn by producing Open Educational Resources (OERs) for other learners, it can become a perpetual motion engine for learning.
Prediction Source(s)
