Great title, huh? It's a recent blog post by Scott McLoed at Dangerously Irrelevant. This post highlights his new book which is full of multiple 'relevancy gaps' in education. It made me think about my own notions of technology in the classrooms, especially the issue of feeling out of control as a teacher... what are they really looking at behind those screens? There are other interesting and challenging ideas, too like equity in the classroom, providing engaging environments for all children and interpersonal skills (which I confess does not come to mind when I think of technology. What am I missing?). Overall, food for thought from an interesting blog that is sometimes rant-filled but always thought-provoking.
I have read quite a bit about ideas for dynamic versus static learning. Static learning is the old-school (pun intended) way of teaching and learning and dynamic is well, not that. Theory is great but when it comes down to brass tacks, concrete examples of what it means to do dynamic learning in the classroom are sometimes harder to come by. This post actually shows some real examples of assignments that capture the differences between these models. I have to admit, the projects in the dynamic learning sound really compelling. What do you think?
I love the " lets jump into the great unknown" approach in this post! I agree, we cannot be a little be pregnant and we cannot be a little bit interested in planning our future...What are we afraid of by withholding access to technology in class? Who says kids will be watching MTV or some cartoon while in class? I think they will be fascinated by the information presented to them in digital format. You talk about feeling out of control and as far as that goes, I have had two very different experiences. One had me chant a Mantra and the other made me jump for joy. I think that technology boundaries need to be set according to the maturity of the students, more access at they get older and capable of discernment. Make them earn it....
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