We reflect on growing resistance to social software in schools, new legislation like state-level DOPA efforts, and troubling media coverage of teens online, arguing that meaningful change requires broader cultural understanding of learning in social networks.
One of the most challenging pieces of moving education forward in a systemic way is the “unlearning curve” that teachers and educators have to go through to see new possibilities. This post explores how our ability to publish, connect, and collaborate via the Read/Write Web demands that we unlearn traditional assumptions about expertise, classrooms, curriculum, and literacy, and offers 10 specific ideas we need to unlearn.
Reflecting on what it means to be highly visible and “clickable” online, and why educators and students need to experience networked learning, not just publish content.
So here’s a concept. Teach the kids how to use Google images instead of blocking it so that the elementary school teachers can actually find pictures of doves to supplement their lessons.
We explore how the Read/Write Web is disrupting traditional models in journalism, music, business, and politics, and ask when similar forces—especially open educational content and changing teacher-learner relationships—will finally trigger a radical re-envisioning of K12 education.
New York City’s proposed cell phone lockers highlight how schools may be missing an opportunity: instead of banning and charging students to stow phones, we could be teaching them to use mobile devices as learning tools. As mobile social networking grows and phones become powerful platforms worldwide, especially through SMS, schools need to experiment with ways to leverage the devices already in students’ pockets.