The following post is contributed by Will Richardson. Will Richardson is a speaker, educator, blogger and author of four books, most recently Why School? How Education Must Change When Learning and Information are Everywhere (September, 2012) published by TED books. Will Richardson will be the opening Keynote for the INSPIRE 2014: Engaging Today’s Students conference in October 2014.
1. From Answers to Questions – In a world where we have access to the sum of human knowledge (almost), 2.5 billion potential teachers, and millions of apps and tools and technologies, we have to make sure our students are able to ask and answer great, relevant, meaningful questions rather than focus giving us back answers to questions that we’ve been asking for years if not decades in schools.
2. From Classrooms to Networks – The reality of living in a time of abundance is that the best teachers and collaborators reside outside of our physical spaces (i.e. schools) and we have to know how to connect and create and share with people from around the world, not just our local communities.
3. From Analog to Digital – Traditional print isn’t going away, but there’s no question that our students have to be fluent in consuming and creating digital content that can be shared with a global audience.
4. From Delivery to Discovery – Too much of the current curriculum is taught “just in case” our students need to know something (e.g. the Pythagorean Theory). Today, students must be adept at “just in time” learning, that is learning that is self-directed and self-organized and that has an immediate relevance or use in their lives.
5. From Consumption to Creation – As author Tony Wagner says, “It’s not what you know that counts; it’s what you can do with what you know.” That “what you can do” piece is increasingly expected to show up in an online form, a Web portfolio if you will. Our most successful students will be those who know how to make and publish and remake using digital tools and spaces.
Featured Image Courtesy [Flickr: Creative Commons]
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