Lately, I was engaged in several independent conversations with teenagers, parents and educators about the ways the kids are educated these days. We all pondered over how education is not able to keep up with the changes in how people obtain, process and use information. As I learned today from two blog entries our questions were not that unusual and other people are wondering how to solve this problem.
A few points from The Steep “Unlearning Curve” by Will Richardson
- We need to unlearn the premise that we know more than our kids, because in many cases, they can now be our teachers as well.
- We need to unlearn the strategy that collaborative work inside the classroom is enough and understand that cooperating with students from around the globe can teach relevant and powerful negotiation and team-building skills.
- We need to unlearn the idea that every student needs to learn the same content when really what they need to learn is how to self-direct their own learning.
- We need to unlearn the practice that teaches all students at the same pace. Is it any wonder why so many of our students love to play online games where they move forward at their own pace?
Here is a snippet from Weblogg-ed (learning with read/write web) blog about Connective learning:
When our students are still being measured by tests that require them to memorize information instead of employ that information effectively. But for those schools with genuine access, like mine, it’s not the content that’s important any more. A lot of content gets lost, forgotten, or, especially today, quickly becomes irrelevant. We should instead be focused on teaching kids how to learn, so they can continue to employ effective practice throughout their lives.
