The overall intent of this book is to aid educators in understanding
the shifts in the paradigm of teaching.
Teachers need to become aware that all information is transferred to the
web globally to connect knowledge together.
Teachers must become literate in publishing, editing, and managing
information available online, and be able to connect to others. We no longer will be dependant on texts or
develop traditional student-teacher relationships. We will be accessing open-source learning. The idea is that everyone will be creating
and sharing knowledge using multimedia. Learning will be collaborative.
Our teaching will veer away from being an all-knowing
lecturer to becoming a guide to a wider conversation. Teachers will be using wikis, blogs, web
sites, discussion groups, etc., to advance content. Students will need to be able to locate these
sources (and many others) to interpret the material in their own way. We will ask student to produce work that is to
be shared, added to and refined by others.
Students will find that their work is meaningful, not just produce
something to be thrown away at the end of the semester. They will demonstrate mastery of material by
the work that they are able to contribute to the growing body of knowledge; not
by taking a test. This is a very tall order.
This book was a real eye-opener for me. When I finished it, I realized how far I have
to go and how much I have to learn. I
can easily see how useful these tools will be in my classroom, but I am always
concerned about safety and the diminished emphasis on using your own brain
power. I believe my students would find
any of these tools invaluable to helping them master the content in my
classroom, however.
No comments:
Post a Comment