Dr. Michael West did a Ted talk where he talked about getting students from knowledgeable to knowledge-able. The talk focused on technology in the beginning and the big role that it plays in our lives now, especially in our students lives. If we think back to five or six years, the tools that students have today were not available for us. However, because of all the tools that are out there across the world, students are able to connect and collaborate easier with whoever they want. Just like when the TV was introduced and everything in people's home shifted towards the TV, now everything is shifting towards the internet. Dr. West was inspired by his own college students who after a survey they gave responses that no teacher wants to hear and it was mainly because in schools we focus so much on what students need to know for the test in class instead of what they need to know for the real test that is called life. He says that it is ridiculously easy for students connect, organize, share, collect and collaborate but with the use of technology. Our goal as teachers should be to get students to do all these things but in real life, working with one another in person but still with the use of the internet.
Getting students to be knowledge-able is not something that as educators we can get them to do from one day to the next, it takes practice. By guiding them and presenting them with real world problems or problems that us, teachers, do not have the answers to as well we can help them create meaning to what they need to learn. Dr. West gave an example about four people from Kenya in 2007 that worked together to create an application where anyone could report an incident where they were, it would get mapped and others would be notified. Everyone now had the chance to be a real life reporter and when the incident in Haiti occurred three years, these people gave it a way and students from Tufts university adapted it so that it could be used in Haiti so that people could report any missing persons or anyone that was found and his or her family members would be able to find them. This example shows how people can collaborate across the world since they had a problem that had meaning for them. One of my goals as an educator will be to create meaning for my students and with that present them with the opportunity to use any tools that they want to solve it. Wesch, M. (2010, October 12). From Knowledgeable to Knowledge-able [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeaAHv4UTI8
1 Comment
Brandon Purvis
11/29/2016 09:08:56 am
Very interesting post!
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