Christopher D. Sessums has asked some really insightful questions in his Reflections on the Value of Read Write Technology and the Future of Public Education.
They are:
“What do I want to see happen in our classrooms?
I wonder if other educators are not facile with Read/Write technology, will the Read/Write Web be as useful or meaningful to them?
Specifically, to what end should we be using the Read/Write Web in classrooms? And, in terms of accountability, who decides which instruments and measures are to be used as a means for assessing our skills and abilities?
If we are to hoist a petard that shows how informal educational opportunities associated with the Read/Write Web will better serve global interests, what will be the markers of success?
Stephen Downes has written that: “The main point is that technology allows us to change our approach to education, from one where we segregate learners in specially designed education facilities (classrooms, training rooms, schools, universities) to one where learning is something we do (and what educators provide) in the course of any other activity. The idea is that ‘School 2.0′ is the first step toward being non-school, and that our objective should be to use technologies to leverage our ability to personalize learning, and in so doing, facilitate students’ learning while taking part as full citizens in the wider community.”
“Instead of bringing students to the learning, as the education system has done for about a century, we must now, if we wish to be relevant at all, bring learning to the students. This means setting students free to pursue their passions, and then being there when they need coaching, mentoring, or a safety net.”
Wesley Fryer, in Unstructured Practice Can be a Key to Excellence, identifies that the dominance of content is the major impediment to change: He writes “that instead of teaching vocabulary lists out of context and diagramming sentences, students should be writing and creating digital stories for global publication on YouTube, Uth.tv and other websites. Instead of writing (and often plagiarizing) essays about topics at the knowledge and comprehension level which already exist on sites like WikiPedia, students need to be CREATING original knowledge products which require and reflect higher order thinking skills. Instead of taking spelling tests, students need more unstructured time to READ in environments rich with diverse texts. (Krashen) If an assignment can be done by a parent (like a written essay,) teachers should substitute a performance-based assessment which cannot be “faked” by the student, like an interactive debate.
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