meL’s Word

Last night I had the opportunity to attend a webinar with Dan Tapscott, author of Wikinomics and Grown Up Digital (hosted by Discovery Education).  This was the first I had heard of Tapscott and I was intrigued by his message.  His latest book, Grown Up Digital, is the result of a $4.5 million dollar study of the Net Generation (those aged 12 – 30).  This generation is transforming the way the world works.  Through their innovation and collaboration, the world is changing the way things are done (except for education).  I firmly believe every administrator and decision maker in education needs to pay heed.

Tapscott states that the traditional broadcast model of education (I teach, you listen and take notes) is no longer working.  Education needs to be customized to a more interactive and collaborative model.  This makes sense, after all the studies looking at the way people learn, we still teach to the auditory and visual learners.  What about those who learn by doing?  Students today listen to a lecture, takes notes (maybe) and memorize enough to pass a test.  This isn’t truly learning.  It is memorization. 

Arne Duncan, our new Secretary of Education, proposes “flipping” NCLB – perhaps he should read Tapscotts books first.   How about truly revamping education? 

I started playing with Diigo recently and am rapidly becoming an advocate.  I frequently run across pages that I don’t have time to give a good once over, so I will put it in a Favorites folder called “Look at Later”.  Over the years I have gone through that folder and looked at sites and wondered why in the world I bookmarked it.  With Diigo’s highlighting and sticky notes, I can highlight the important stuff and write myself a note for later.  What is not to like about this?

My daughter (3rd grade) is embarking on her first science fair project.  I used my teacher tools to create a group and account for her.  Last night we bookmarked and highlighted pages for her to come back to when she needs.  The bookmarks and highlights are private.  If this were a class working on a project those would be shared with other members of the group.  Creating a student account was super easy, and I liked that I could choose whether or not she could alter her profile (not allowed for under 13s).  Had I been creating a whole class of usernames/passwords I could then print those and cut into strips to hand out to students.

As an ITRT I can bookmark, highlight and make notes on pages to share with other ITRTs or teachers.  I can also see what pages are bookmarked/highlighted/”stickied” by others in groups to which i belong – this allows me to see what others with the same interests are reading.  Again, what’s not to like about this?