exist in the future, so this is why adaptability and learning skills are
more important than technical skills." (Clay Parker of the manufacturer BOC
Edwards quoted in Tony Wagner's Global Achievement Gap, 2008, p30).
Ultimately it's not about learning technology, but learning to learn with
technology. The tools you choose are less important than what students are
doing with them. Ideally they should be learning how to problem-solve in a
team framework. So, don't "teach" them word processing, but rather tell
students you expect them to create a multimedia magazine complete with a
Cover Page, Table of Contents, an Index, formatted text, columns, scanned
images, graphs, and charts and they need to figure out collectively how to
get it done. (Break them into small groups for specific tasks, if needed.)
We should spend a limited amount of time teaching kids tools, and much more
time trying to figure out how to use technologies to foster 21st century
competencies in our students.
Tom
On Fri, Feb 13, 2009 at 1:09 PM, Keith E Gatling <kgatling@mph.net> wrote:
> As I consider what I should be teaching in the coming years, I've been
> wondering, with all the neat stuff people have been doing with podcasts,
> wikis, blogs, and other forms of interactive media, is there really any
> point in my continuing to teach such nuts and bolts stuff as word
> processing
> and spreadsheet use? I keep hearing about how the 7th grader of today won't
> be using any of these "old fashioned" tools by the time they're in college,
> and so I wonder if continuing to teach them now is just a waste of
> everyone's time.
> --
> keg
>
>
--
Tom Daccord -- educational technology trainer, speaker, and author.
Co-Director, EdTechTeacher
Chestnut Hill, MA
tom@edtechteacher.org
http://edtechteacher.org/
http://besthistorysites.net/
c: 617-455-8716
EdTechTeacher.org & Boston University Summer Workshops:
http://edtechteacher.org/workshops.html
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