The reality is, and both Richardson, Wesch, and several others would agree, we're not doing a very good job of addressing this. Changing a culture requires change in structure and a major component of that lies within education. Unfortunately, under traditional practices, the majority of students are disengaged with most content and find themselves fixated on completing irrelevant assignments, cramming for tests, and exercising their memory banks all in the name of achieving a grade. In fact, most of the content is forgotten by the time the assignment or test is over. Students spend money on books they don't open and time in lectures where they exist solely as seat fillers until the time calls for them to complete a task. To combat this, I agree that web media and relevant content should be integrated into the classrooms as much as possible. Yes it may be difficult at first to find applications for content but the important thing is that there is meaning behind the curriculum. As Wesch explains, at a time when students are most impressionable and are seeking identity, it is critical to not see social media and digital applications as tools for the classroom and not as distracting nuisances. Furthermore it's important that students are given the opportunity to independently learn and apply knowledge as a collective caring community. Once they become more knowledge-able and not just knowledgeable, they wont be the ones running away as the world is burning down.
Much like Will Richardson's essay called "Why School", Michael Wesch's lecture brings to light the idea that the world is becoming incredibly interconnected and as a result it's becoming easier and easier to connect, organize, share, collect, collaborate, and publish things using digital media. This fact is undeniable especially when you see social media sensations and internet trends become global phenomenons in a matter days or even hours. As an extension of this idea, Wesch points out that it is increasingly important to address growing problems in the world. With the help of a shrinking world and a growing global connection, there are glimmers of hope that newer generations can succeed in doing so. Unlike the TV era, the social conversation is no longer a one-way street but rather one in which people's voices can be heard by larger audiences. Because of these larger platforms, tangible solutions to real world global scale problems are becoming more and more attainable, especially if the generation that are the driver's seat are prepared to handle it. There-in lies the question. How are we preparing today's students, and thus future constituents of this global community, to handle the world and its issues with the tools that are now available to them?
The reality is, and both Richardson, Wesch, and several others would agree, we're not doing a very good job of addressing this. Changing a culture requires change in structure and a major component of that lies within education. Unfortunately, under traditional practices, the majority of students are disengaged with most content and find themselves fixated on completing irrelevant assignments, cramming for tests, and exercising their memory banks all in the name of achieving a grade. In fact, most of the content is forgotten by the time the assignment or test is over. Students spend money on books they don't open and time in lectures where they exist solely as seat fillers until the time calls for them to complete a task. To combat this, I agree that web media and relevant content should be integrated into the classrooms as much as possible. Yes it may be difficult at first to find applications for content but the important thing is that there is meaning behind the curriculum. As Wesch explains, at a time when students are most impressionable and are seeking identity, it is critical to not see social media and digital applications as tools for the classroom and not as distracting nuisances. Furthermore it's important that students are given the opportunity to independently learn and apply knowledge as a collective caring community. Once they become more knowledge-able and not just knowledgeable, they wont be the ones running away as the world is burning down.
1 Comment
Liza Perkins-Cohen
4/10/2015 06:25:18 am
I agree that it would be a great idea to integrate digital tools into the classroom more, and have students actively use the Web for research and exploration of content-specific information. However, you have to admit that teens don't always have the maturity to use their class time wisely and their devices appropriately. A few years back I sat in a tax policy seminar taught by a brilliant federal tax judge, and the class was having a lively debate about tax reforms working their way through Congress today. The woman next to me, who must have been between 25 and 29 years old, was surfing Etsy for vintage dolls during the lecture. And she wasn't the only one pretending to use her laptop to take classroom notes. I had only a pen and paper and was fully engaged, as were the other similarly equipped students. By the way, USD Law School costs $40k plus per year, so the Etsy-browser was spending thousands of dollars to take this class. If grown adults will waste time, money, and learning opportunities in this way, what can we expect from public high school students? We as teachers have a responsibility to make sure kids are actually on task in our classrooms, and digital tools are hard to monitor.
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