Early on in the text, it quotes Michael Wesch on the easiness of sharing, collaborating and publishing information, among other things. The ease with which students can share information with each other makes traditional assignments a thing of the past. There is no purpose to be served by tasking students with learning something out of the textbook and writing about what they learned, since one student will do it, take a picture with his cell phone, and share it with all of the other students.
That isn’t to say that there is no need for school. There are skills students need to acquire. Even though information is easy to come by, finding that information, analyzing and critiquing it to decipher its meaning and evaluate its importance and place in their world. That is something they cannot get by copying information off of a cell phone picture. It requires proficiency with technology and with their own mind. If an American student is unable to develop these skills, he will eventually lose out to a kid in Hamburg or Bangkok or Istanbul who can.
Giving students access to technology in the classroom is one component of helping them to acquire those skills, but as educators, we need to develop technical skills of our own in order to facilitate this. This requires a rather radical change in the foundations of education that is certain to upset and be opposed by a number of forces, including old-school educators and administrators, and the publishers of traditional dead-tree textbooks.
The new generation of educators (hopefully including me) must continue to advocate for these changes as often as possible, to move to power of the learning experience from the teachers and administration and into the hands of students with technology. Overall, Richardson makes a good case for this, but ultimately could have done so just as effectively with fewer words.
That isn’t to say that there is no need for school. There are skills students need to acquire. Even though information is easy to come by, finding that information, analyzing and critiquing it to decipher its meaning and evaluate its importance and place in their world. That is something they cannot get by copying information off of a cell phone picture. It requires proficiency with technology and with their own mind. If an American student is unable to develop these skills, he will eventually lose out to a kid in Hamburg or Bangkok or Istanbul who can.
Giving students access to technology in the classroom is one component of helping them to acquire those skills, but as educators, we need to develop technical skills of our own in order to facilitate this. This requires a rather radical change in the foundations of education that is certain to upset and be opposed by a number of forces, including old-school educators and administrators, and the publishers of traditional dead-tree textbooks.
The new generation of educators (hopefully including me) must continue to advocate for these changes as often as possible, to move to power of the learning experience from the teachers and administration and into the hands of students with technology. Overall, Richardson makes a good case for this, but ultimately could have done so just as effectively with fewer words.