learn
Originally uploaded by aaron schmidt
As part of a year long professional development program led by Will Richardson and Sheryl Nussbaum Beach we were asked to reflect on this post
and the question "What is learning 2.0 to you"? The reflections have
been quite interesting to read, and they have been varied with one
exception: We all agree that we don't know the answer, but we are
encouraged and inspired to learn.
I’m not sure I would want to fragment “learning” into
evolutions like "1.0" and "2.0"; there is something about “what learning is” that holds sway
in spite of any current climate. (The philosopher in me.) However, I do
agree that the process-how we learn, what we need to learn, where we
learn, and from whom we learn- has evolutionary characteristics. And
indeed we are in one of those moments in history when our technological
advances (our new “tools”) are forcing us to re-think, re-engineer, and
re-design those processes, or in our irrelevance we will fail to
engage and our students will fail to learn. If we aren't
relevant, then learning cannot be “meaning-making.”
I would not argue that education should be like a child: an impulsive
“early-adopter." It should serve the “wise-man’s role.” However,
with all that we know about how learning happens and what
learning "is", we keep giving ourselves over to the status quo- such
that our wisdom looks like fool’s gold. Growth, which happens in
learning, does not happen standing still. In this age of technological
change that affords information abundance (and a repository), a long
tail of participatory opinion and interest, and infinite community,
education seems idle yet again; and the early adopters, our students
and children, appropriate these tools for their own use without modeled
wisdom. It is wonderful that they can teach us; but, something is
missing isn't it?
If we as educators can appropriate these new tools for ourselves to
support what we believe to be vital to learning, and remain open to
what may seem “foreign” to us, then perhaps we can bring wisdom to the
sea of change and impart a respect for and love of lifelong
learning. How do we go about this? By learning how to
use the tools first for ourselves. That is what this practicum and
community are about. In my mind, we are using the tools our students
use in a way that is relevant for us-it supports something we're
interested in. We are learning to access and process vast amounts of
information, search for relevancy, evaluate, synthesize, connect,
communicate, collaborate, and critically think. As we get comfortable
using these tools, then we look for the application in our classrooms
knowing that teaching the "natives" how to use the technology isn't going to
be the issue. Rather, we can aim higher in our learning outcomes by nature of
what the tools do for us, and we can anticipate greater engagement from
them by the nature of what the tools enable the kids to do: engage,
find authentic audiences, develop voice...participate.
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