George points to a couple of interesting articles that highlight the disruptions going on “out there” and encourages to read with education in mind. It’s something I constantly do, because i really believe that as traditions in those arenas begin to crumble and break down, there will be more and more pressure on the traditions of schooling to do so as well.
Case in point is Jay Rosen’s Washington Post essay titled “Web Users Open the Gates.” So much of it is easily reframed toward schools, as in when he talks about his ability to select the best sources of information for what he is interested in.
Simple example: The Net radically shifts principles of news distribution as all sites become equidistant from the reader.
In2003, I tracked Arnold Schwarzenneger’s gubernatorial campaign by reading California Insider by Dan Weintraub because the Sacramento Bee political columnist seemed more clued-in to the race than top national reporters. That I could choose his coverage (and links) over the Washington Post’s demonstrates the “unbundling” effect of the Internet.
Containers in which news had been packaged broke apart because the Internet could deliver content without the wrapping.
How about “the Net radically shifts principles of curriculum distribution as all ideas become equidistant from the learner.” Think about how much more freedom and choice we have as learners today, and how, if we exercise that freedom effectively, we can create a much more relevant learning experience for ourselves. We’re not hostage to one idea from one expert or one textbook. And in this way, if follows that “Containers in which curriculum had been packaged will break apart because the Internet can deliver it without the wrapping.
If you are interested at all in what the pressures on journalism are, you should give it a read. (I’ve added it to the EdBloggerNews page.)
The other link points to Jay Cross who points to a new book by Tom Johnson about business and the changes that are occurring there. George picks out the following quote:
As networks shrink the world, business priorities change. Efficient production used to call the shots. Make lots of stuff, gain economies of scale, and sell, sell, sell, even if what you were selling wasn’t quite what your customers were asking for. But now customers can buy whatever they want from anywhere in the world, whenever they want to.
So what happens when learners no longer need the business of schools to get the education they want and need? Even in the early years?
Interesting stuff going on “out there”…
technorati tags:read/write_web, education, change, journalism
I just finished participating in a three day seminar with teachers considering developing world history curriculum. During the seminar I commented that there are so many resources on the Internet that can help teachers develop world history curriculum. Several teachers commented that there are so many resources that they become overwhelming. It’s important to consider the fact that while containers in which curriculum were previously packaged have broken apart new challenges have arisen in their place.
Andrew Pass
http://www.Pass-Ed.com/blogger.html
I fell that the more resources that I can access on-line the better. It’s always nice to teach a topic using a different method. Change in this matter is good, why not embrace it?
There is so much more than what a mere book can offer. The world of technology can not be contained in a textbook, and students can not even fathom a world without it. Our audience needs schools to use these tools to engage them in the way their brains have become programed to learn, and a textbook alone can no longer do that well. The cost of a classroom set can be spent in many better ways. Our students are worth our efforts in finding what is best for them “out there” in the their world.