Michael Wesch is back with this short video that not only discusses the ways that technology can be used—it demonstrates it. Essentially, Wesch is urging us to rethink not only traditional means and methods of education, but also traditional linear narratives. The widespread availability and accessibility of the Internet subverts the need for single authorities for information. In other words: there is no “top” of the Internet. And, as Wesch explains, there doesn’t need to be. Linking becomes our method of cataloguing what is out: links from search engines, links from information conglomerates like Wikipedia, and links from one web page to another.
Learning—both in schools and in life—needs to shift away from the acquisition of information. Information is no longer a scarce commodity: it is entirely and readily accessible quite literally at the tips of our fingers (or in your front pocket.) There is little need for memorizing information anymore, because information can be found with little difficulty. Being able to assess the validity and viability of that information, and being able to DO something with it, is what learning today needs to focus on. As an English teacher, my job is not to make kids memorize literary terms, or recall every important character in a story off the top of their heads, or even generate a list of themes from a story. These things do come up in our class discussions, because they help us to understand a text as a whole—but these are not the elements that will show up on a test at the end of the unit. Instead, we focus on more complicated, open-ended questions like “Why” and “How” and “What does this tell us about . . . ?” Informational and literary texts both contain a wealth of truths and untruths that tell us something about a society, past or present, about human nature, about the world, and about ourselves. My purpose in learning and in teaching is to tap into these truths in order to promote a broader understanding of the world and of ourselves. Technology is not the only tool that can be used to accomplish these goals, but it would be foolish to neglect it! If our purpose is to better understand the world, why not become exposed to the world? The Internet is a primary resource to conduct research on topics relating to our texts, to organize and synthesize the information that is gathered, and to make something with it. Then the Internet becomes a channel to actually share these new connections with others, so that they can do the same. Wesch, Michael (2011, Jan 24). Rethinking Education. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xb5spS8pmE&index=15&list=PLbRLdW37G3oMquOaC-HeUIt6CWk-FzaGp
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12/10/2015 12:46:16 am
Thank you for your post Mrs. Snow! I really had to stop and think when Wesch presented in his video how the Internet has boomed, Google is adding vast libraries to its database, and massive amounts of information are available over the Internet. And then he shows us a university student holding up a bubble-in test form. It made me think about the electronic portfolios we are using in my methods course. The portfolio is one way that I can use technology in my class to make for a deeper learning experience for my students.
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