Karl Fisch says that it is time for teachers to step out of their comfort zone and learn! He explicitly talks about becoming more tech savvy, but the learning certainly doesn't stop there. After teachers become technologically endless doors of opportunity open. ESL and Foreign Language teachers can skype native speaker classrooms. Social studies teachers can follow live events around the world with their class through twitter. Youtube enables students to witness history and science in the making-- albeit Presidential Addresses, NASA space shuttle launches, animal placement in wildlife refuges... the possibilities are limitless! Beyond expanding the windows in the classroom-- the internet allows children to practice spelling and math exercises with free online games! Once students feel comfortable documenting their learning process via blogs, podcasts, and photostreams-- their teacher might even step into the more challenging yet infinitely more creative realm of teaching studnts to build their own online realities (see Randy Pausch (college students) or Vicki Davis (middle school students) videos which can be found in my blog archives)!
Did You Know 4.0, like the previous version Did You Know 3.0 is a rich source of factoids about how technology and how it is changing the world. I decided to blend my response on Karl Fisch's Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher? because the video show exposes the astounding technological literacy of Gen XY.
Well done! Good combination! And your position that Fisch's argument can and should be extended beyond technology is excellent.
ReplyDelete