Module 2

[Linda Lang]

What is different about 21st century teaching and learning than the
> type of teaching and learning of past centuries? What has stood the
> test of time and will probably be part of teaching and learning in any
> century? Why does education need to change to prepare students for
> their future, now our past?

I gotta go with Sue B. on this one--there's definitely a disconnect
between the teachers and the taught. Students' technology skills
often outpace those of the adults, shifting the balance of power but
creating the opportunity for mutual learning.

Students are presented with an overwhelming amount of information at
an increased pace. Check out the CNN screen--what are you watching?
The newscaster, the ticker running across the bottom, the highlighted
text at the upper right? As shown in one of the video clips, you
can't fit 26.5 hours of living into a 24-hour day. Multitasking is
essential, and prioritizing can be challenging. As Maggie and others
have noted, we need to have the digital ethics discussion up front,
honestly, and openly. So I guess the short answer to this rambling
commentary is the difference in technology, the amount and content of
information/prior knowledge students bring to the classroom, and the
unpredictability of what jobs will be available and needed in the
future.

What has stood the test of time? Teachers care about their students
and recognize the importance of relationships, and sincerely want to
prepare students not only for the next grade, but for success in
life. Manners and etiquette are still important, and we need to
examine how that applies to new technology. Clarkb talked about the
fundamentals of reading and writing. I listened to grammargirl on
spa...@cbc.ca talk about how to properly cite URLs in a
document...still citing, still creating communication, still following
protocol, but the content is somewhat different.

Education needs to change to include more relevance (without
sacrificing passion!) and because the ability to outsource and
offshore has eliminated many job options. "Disruptive innovation" is
a given: technology will change and change quickly. We need to keep
pace. McLeod talks about the "school within a school"--individualized
learning. Great concept, unless you're the first-grade teacher with
19 students. Then, as HuckleberryFinn says, we're asked to teach more
and more. Nothing seems to get removed, just more added. Not that
McLeod's idea is a bad one...in fact it's great. Again, the gap is
between concept and implementation.