Monday, March 23, 2009

Monday - UTube: A view of 21st Century Students

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.
-Alvin Toffler-


A friend of mine had to send the link to this YouTube video to my home email, because I couldn't view it on my computer at school. YouTube is blocked, of course. My question this; how are we preparing students for success in the 21st century? There is no way that educators, without a renewed commitment to the study of technology in the classroom, can adequately engage learners today. Gone is the "we learned it that way and it worked for us" mentality of the past. Gone is the "back to basics" mentality because the basics have changed dramatically. I teach middle school writing. I talk to my students every day about "real writing" and how what we are learning is transferred to situations in life that require writing skills, yet I am unable to access my blog at school to show the students, let alone allow them to participate in, the "real life" application of blogging. What's wrong with this picture?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Marsha,

I've borrowed your video. It evoked some contrary arguments and I thought it would be better to put them down on my own blog.

Rob

Marsha said...

You go Rob--I am looking forward to your post..