After reading the article titled: "World Without Walls: Learning Well with Others," I was very inspired. I was intrigued by Laura Stockman, an eleven year old blogger. She has so many readers from so many different parts of the world. She is a community volunteer. And all at the age of 11? I'm impressed. What a great way for this developing mind to learn and share her ideas. I suppose this is what the Collaboration Age is all about.
After reading this article, I couldn't help but make a connection back to my own childhood. It might seem like a stretch, but this form of collaboration amongst young children reminded me of having a "pen pal" when I was about her age. Granted, I was writing to one person in another state somewhere, with a pencil and paper, snail mail, and the whole nine yards. Now, Laura (and probably many others her age), have taken it to the next level with blogging. She is collaborating with multiple people at a time, giving and receiving feedback through the Web.
This article suggests that this linear curriculum that surrounds us is on it's way out the door. I can only hope they are on to something. Students are discovering new ways to obtain information. Textbooks are no longer a go-to tool. As technology changes, education needs to be changing with it, especially curriculum.
Absolutely...the pe pal idea was exactly the same...for its time. Your comment about a linear curriculum is right on the money. We simply have to get kids more involved and give them more opportunities. Do you agree w/ HH Jacobs that we are preparing kids for the wrong century?
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with HH Jacobs. As she said in the introduction of her book, students must feel like they are walking into a time machine when they arrive at school every day. We do need to provide students with more opportunities that are effective for this time period.
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