Chapter 1 was sort of a introduction of the things to come. I was struck by the importance in making our next generation ready to compete in a global way. In the "old days" it was necessary to move to a physical location to succeed in certain careers. Now people can work in financial careers without working on Wall Street, for example. We need to stay competitive globally. People in other parts of the world have an opportunity to compete as never before. We must keep up the pace.
I cracked up about the computer excuses for no homework. If we want to have our kids succeed we can't put up barriers. When my son was in elementary school he would use the scheduled class time to work on assignments on the computer, then when he got home and tried to continue the work he couldn't because the school computer was an Mac and ours was a PC. He ended up having to retype his work. The time in the "computer lab" was busy work disguised as valuable "technology time." Fortunately File was established to alleviate this problem, but we need to be ahead of the curve, not behind it.
It's an interesting perception that kids know more about the web than the educators do. My children are 18 and 21 and both use the computer frequently. They know what they want to do and how to do it. I learn a lot from them and they definitely expect a Web 2.0 World. However, when I discuss certain things about this class I discover there is much that they don't know. It's like a kid that can kick a ball really well. Just because he can kick that ball doesn't mean he knows the rules of soccer or how the muscles or physics work. Just because I couldn't possible kick the ball as well doesn't mean that I can't teach. Sometimes I see adults (not just educators) behaving like "helpless ingenues" where computers and technology is concerned. And it's right in front of the kids! I don't think they behave like that in any other aspect of society. So much for instilling confidence or establishing themselves as an authority. They've pulled the rug out from under themselves for future encounters. Okay, that sounds harsh. I admit I'll do it myself too if I'm not careful. We have to get past that.
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Here's the quote that sums it up for me: Rich Moniuszko, Deputy Superintendent of the
Fairfax County (Va) public schools.
"We need to prepare students for their future, not our past."
And I have always said that while the kids can IM, Text, Facebook, and Blog with the best of them, most of them do not use the power of the internet effectively and that needs to be taught. :-) We aren't out of a job yet!
Ann
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