Does technology really empower learners to journey beyond just content?

cc licensed ( BY NC SD ) flickr photo shared by Subspace

The other day, I had our parent meeting for next years year seven students who will be entering the 1-1 laptop program here at McDowall State School.  My awesome (I better suck up just in case he ever reads this!) deputy principal stood up and talked a lot about the administration side of the program.  Parents had lots of issues with insurance, bags, transport etc.  Whilst these issues are of vital importance, it isn't exactly the most riveting and stimulating thing to engage with.

I then stood up and spoke to the parents about various things and one of the statements that I made is that technology is a vehicle that allows students to explore concepts deeply and think creatively.  It goes beyond the surface of learning and enables and empowers learners to go beyond the content and explore it in detail.  But does it really or am I just living in a fantasy world?

I think that in my classroom, it certainly does.  My kids are active participants in the learning cycle and not just passive recipients of information or 'I don't know' people.  They enquire, they explore, they think and they create.  I use technology as a tool that empowers my learners.  They go beyond the content and remix and add value.  But what concerns me is when I see educators just using technology as a replacement for doing what they have always done.  If you just 'word process' something instead of writing it, how is that enriching the lives of the students under your direction?  Sure it will keep them quiet and make your life a lot easier but why have you bothered.  It will make things look pretty (something that I am awful at) and they won't get sore wrists from copying copious amounts of notes from the board but is that enough?

I really think that we are on the cusp of change here in education.  I am sick and tired about hearing about 21st century learners needing 21st century methods.  We are almost 12% of the way through the 21st century.  It is time to change our pedagogy and inspire others do so as well.  If you are not keen to change and be inspired, you should go and work in a fish and chip shop!

What does it mean to be literate in these times of abundance? #change11

In a blog post entitled A New Definition Of Literacy In An Age of Abundance  explore some interesting ideas.  One of these notions is a definition of what literacy is in the 21st century.  They state:

 “A person is literate when s/he can take part in, critique, deconstruct, interrupt and shape the dominant discourses and narratives in his or her local and in global contexts”.

Now I love it when academic folk bring in big words like dominant discourses.  It make me feel very inferior and very dumb, but I did enjoy reading the post.  I think I agree with the part of the quote about global contexts.  Having an understanding of the wider global community is an essential skill that a 21st century learner must possess in my opinion due to the connected nature of our environment in 2011.

Another reason that I enjoyed reading this post was the following statement that they made:

Are we merely content to teach students how to navigate the internet and Web 2.0 programs, or should we be teaching them to think critically about the limitations and hidden agendas?

Now we are starting to get something that I am passionate about.  There is to much focus in education put on the tool and not enough on the pedagogy that drives decisions.  As I say to my kids all of the time, It is not about the bling bling, it is about the learning sting! I think that as educators we need to have a more broad sweeping approach to 'doing techy stuff'.  But the key question that I think we need to get our students doing is asking themselves about the tools that they are using and why they are using them.  I feel that there needs to be more focus put on the decisions and thought processes behind it.  Until as a education universe we are not at this point, I feel that we will be paddling upstream quickly with no paddle.  Learners need to be empowered to makes and therefore improve their ability to make decisions.

So what does it mean to be literate in these times of abundance?  I feel that being literate in the 21st century requires students to be active participants in their learning cycle and critical analysiers of information due to the information overload that our students experience on a daily basis.  The ability to synthesis and ask questions is almost becoming a lost art form.  In my humble opinion, this is critical to students in the 21st century and the quicker that we grasp onto this concept, the better off our students will be.