Dr. Michael Wesch makes several great points in his TEDx talk "From Knowledgeable to Knowledge-able." He argues that given today's technology and the ease with which the world can collaborate, connect, share, and organize online, we should not be avoiding technology in the classroom. Lecture style classes in colleges throughout the country are often not utilizing the tremendous opportunity that an online community can offer. Wesch provides excellent examples of collaboration that is occurring online, including a virtual or digitally connected choir, and maps that are collaboratively created by people in the area that are used during natural disasters. When we have such a rich resource literally at our fingertips, why would we not use this in the very environment where young minds are learning about the world around them? Wesch further asserts that we need to move away from multiple choice tests and from "one right answer" questions. We as educators need to focus on critical thinking skills and enabling students to interact with modern day society, both in face to face and digital contexts. Wesch is urging his audience toward a trend that has taken hold of the education world, one in which we actively engage and challenge our students to think critically and to participate in a quickly evolving society, rather than to passively accept information. That is certainly the focus of current education programs; changing the way we instruct and engage students begins in elementary school and continues from there through the levels of education. As a future secondary teacher, it's exciting to consider how I will implement technology in my classroom and take advantage of the effective collaboration tools available online. Creating a project as an entire class can be a powerful experience for students, as can sharing it online with the wider online community. As educators, it is vital to understand and utilize updated technology in order to ensure that students leave our classrooms better prepared to participate in today's society.
2 Comments
Margaret
10/16/2016 03:17:51 pm
Such great comments and ideas, particularly about creating a project as a class and publishing it for a wide audience (that we can thankfully reach because of the internet). There is so much value if we can teach students the abilities to use the vast knowledge, because having it at your fingertips is useless if you do not have the ability to critically think. Very well said!!! We are definitely lucky to be entering education at this time.
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Charles Morone
10/17/2016 01:12:55 pm
So a question that I have is this; such digital collaboration obviously requires access to a computer and the internet. In the examples given by Dr. Wesch I would argue that this demand is only emphasized; what do we do for those in our communities who cannot afford a computer and high-speed internet. Eventually both of those utilities will become cheaper and more widely available (fingers crossed for widespread fiber-optic), but until then we find ourselves in a bit of a conundrum. food for thought
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AuthorI'm currently a teacher candidate in pursuit of my English Credential. Archives
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