This echoes the theme of a chapter I have just had published called “getting to know the feral learner”.
(see http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=2qH_61xZW20C&pg=PA109&dq=%22learning+landscape%22&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=0_0#PPA110,M1).

I think this is a really important concept in education for the 21st century – that we don’t (and shouldn’t try to)control what students learn. We’re used to relating to learners as if they were dogs that can be trained to do what we want, when we want. We need to think about it differently (“herding cats” comes to mind).

Changing that mindset – trying to work as a tracker or guide rather than a trainer suggests quite a different teaching style, and quite a different notion of school.

You mentioned a more real-world, application based curriculum, which I agree with. However, do you see the need to also include time for students to work independently of technology? A recent Read Write Web article – http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/education_20_never_memorize_again.php – sparked an important debate about whether or not students should be dependent on the web in place of traditional memorization. I believe that the most successful students and people are those that are able to use resources in the most efficient manner, but also those able to gauge when it is appropriate to use technology, and when they would benefit more from coming to their own conclusions.

It seems we’ve reached the general consensus that there is not enough technology being incorporated in the classroom. But along with the incorporation of more technology, comes the responsibility of teaching its most effective and appropriate use. Can this be taught?

Peter Simones
http://www.Cramster.com

The sad part is that schools such as the one you describe do exist, but they stay on the fringes and only a few kids get to experience them. Schools like High Tech High, Science Leadership Academy, and New Tech Foundation schools, fit your vision of project-based experiential environments with some element of portfolio- and peer-based assessment. NTF, in particular, has a great model of blended subjects, focus on 21st century skills, eportfolios, and a touch of jigsaw.

I don’t believe in one-size-fits-all, but these schools just seem to fit the needs of today’s learners far better than your average comprehensive high school, and if someone told me to pick one model, that would be it. Add a bit of local and global community involvement and some eco principles and we’d have a connected, thin-wall, relevant, authentic, and sustainable design.

All learning is social, I’m convinced of that. And good physical space classrooms are effective networks that utilize the collective brains and experiences of everyone in the room. One of our goals now has to be to teach our students to do that on their own. So, in my ideal school, the classes truly have “thin walls” as Clarence Fisher calls them. They get outside the physical space all the time and connect to the experts and fellow passionate learners about all sorts of topics, some teacher chosen, others student selected, and they build things, create and publish them collaboratively.

I’m sure that many kids still prefer face to face, and I’m not advocating we get rid of that by any means. But we can take much of what we do and expand upon it in ways that teach the literacies that kids will need to have to be successful. Hope that clarifies it a bit…

I have read through your post and most of the responses. After reading all of the above, I have a grasp of what you truly believe in. However, I am not clear as to what public schools look like if we were able to break down all the barriers. Please describe for me what a 21st school would look like if you could build your own school exactly as you see it. Is there a physical structure, is there a curriculum. Do students enroll in classes? Is there work graded by teachers or peers… or not at all.

As an educator of twenty five years, questioning everything I’ve known, trying to work my way out of the box, I need some clarity. Can students learn everything they need to know through networking? Are there subjects that are still better taught in a traditional classroom setting? Are there “digital natives” out there who still prefer and learn algebra much better when they are face to face with a teacher?
Will, I have sipped the cool aid and am ready to drink it up. I just need a little less philosophical picture of your vision of the school you want your children attending.

I believe that as educational leaders we must begin to actively speak out against the restrictions that many of us face when trying to incorporate Web 2.0 tools in our classrooms. We need to promote research in this area so that we are armed with the data to support our positions.

Second: “When kids lack access to the Internet at home, and public libraries and schools block sites that are central to their social communication, youth are doubly handicapped in their efforts to participate in common culture and sociability” (p. 36).

Having worked in an urban district, I’ve seen first-hand the handicap that may students face. Beyond the read-write web and social aspects, many of these students lack the technology savy to use the web, such as researching and applying to college, that students from other socioeconomic levels have mastered.

Another astounding book from that era is http://tinyurl.com/5lnu9o

A modern example of scalable successful progressive education may be found in this book: http://tinyurl.com/6lfvd5

A library of books I recommend may be found here: http://constructivistconsortium.org/books/

Might one of you recommend which one of Dewey’s books (or an article of articles about Dewey’s ideas) to read for those of us interested in discovering these parallels first hand?

Thanks!