Getting Connected

Getting Connected
Why am I trying to get connected?
The last 15 years of education have seen vast changes. We have not only had to adjust to new curriculum, but the foundations themselves are shaking. If we ignore the power of social media and connected learning then we do so at our peril. As Daniel Pink suggests, we cannot just make tweaks to adjust to the new learners and learning, but we must in fact shift operating systems. Just like when computers systems make patches to accommodate upgrades at some point whole new systems need to be created. Our education system has stood virtually unchanged in well over a hundred years. As educators we no longer need to be the possessors of knowledge. As any of our students know access to a world of information is at their finger tips. They can find the answers in seconds to things that perplexed us for years (I am thinking of how my son watched youtube videos to learn how to solve a rubik's cube). No, the issue now is how to sort through an exhaustive amount of info (good and bad). We must be the co-learners, the askers of questions that push learning to the next level.
How do we teach our students to be effective investigators when they are accessing tools we did not grow up with? The answer is simply - we need to learn how! Ask yourself, are you an effective Googler? At a digital literacy conference I was at this Summer, Alan November made me realize I was not a great researcher. A goal for myself is to become much better in this regard. We have to open our minds to things like youtube and other learning tools research. Importantly, we can also use these to connect our students the world Audience. Let them make DIY videos, and write blogs; have them connect to others around the world. Let's get away from lessons with no outcome other than memorization and move toward a school space that challenges our kids to take on, and change the world.