Henry Jenkins posts an article he wrote for Chronicle of Higher Education that looks at the ways in which higher ed is being pressured to change to respond to the use of social tools and networked learning. I love this one part where he describes his program at MIT:
To educate such students, we don’t so much need a faculty as we need an intellectual network. The program has a large pool of loosely affiliated faculty members who participate in an ad hoc manner depending on the needs and interests of individual students: Sometimes they may contribute nothing to the program for several years and then get drawn into a research or thesis project that requires their particular expertise. Our students’ thesis advisers come not only from other universities around the world but also from industry; they include Bollywood choreographers, game designers, soap-opera writers, and journalists. We encourage our students to network broadly and draw on the best thinking about their topic, wherever they can find it.
That “wherever they can find it” part is what I find really intriguing. How interesting would it be to teach and encourage our students to go and find the best available information out there? I mean, isn’t not doing that really doing a disservice at this point? It’s still such a difficult concept for a lot of teachers to embrace, this idea that there might be better information, better learning outside of the traditional structures. Case in point, some of the students I had a chance to work with yesterday here in Atlanta voiced frustration and not being allowed to use many online sources in their research regardless of who was creating them. They had to use books or electronic databases where the information was more “trustworthy.”The problem, obviously, is not only are we denying students the ability to connect with and use some great resources “wherever they can find it,” we’re also not teaching them the processes that go along with editing those resources for themselves, for making decisions about the content they find.
For most teachers owning or controlling the knowledge or content is a much more comfortable position than “owning the network” or the learning that comes with it. And again, I think that’s primarily because most don’t yet understand the potential of the network. The scope of “wherever they can find it” is still very narrow.
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Will, I don’t think that this necessarily a technological issue. I think it’s a power issue. I believe it was Linda McNeil who wrote an article on defensive teaching. Many teachers are afraid of encouraging students to think independently because they aren’t sure what this type of thinking will produce. What if the teacher can’t answer the question? What if the student says something really challenging or inappropriate. Too many teachers are afraid to give up authority which they would have to do to open their classrooms up to real learning and exploration.
Andrew Pass
http://www.pass-ed.com/Living-Textbook.html
Great post. My goal for this weekend is to meet Henry Jenkins at MIT’s Beyond Broadcast Confrence.
Personally, I feel that this proposal to teach and promote our students to find information themselves is highly beneficial. As educators, we need to recognize that our students realize that we are humans too. They know that we do not know everything and they do not expect us to, but if we cannot provide them with answers, we owe them the chance to discover information on their own. We also owe them the opportunity to learn things from someone that could possibly educate them better than we can. I have witnessed a great appreciation for guest speakers in my classrooms. We will only lose authority if we disrespect our students, not if we lack knowledge about a certain topic. Any way to expand curriculum to incorporate more students’ personal interests will encourage further learning. We can only have future pioneers if we work together to promote creativity and a desire for knowledge among our future generations.
I agree with Henry Jenkin “To educate students, we don’t so much need a faculty as we need an intellectual networkâ€. I believe we should encourage our students to network broadly and draw on the best thinking wherever they can find it.
The “wherever they can find it†is the best part. The Net Generation students today are more technologically savvy than many of faculty members. Multimedia tools enhance student learning. The part of the process I struggle with is: Is the information reliable and valid?
If teachers have difficulty embracing new technology, I say “get over itâ€. As faculty we need to welcome technologies that promote the development of new ideas and provide a rich learning experience. Faculty development in the use of technology needs to continue to develop along with IT support. We need to support our educators in this endeavor.
I agree with Andrew part of the problem may be a power issue. But fear of the unknown may play even a bigger role.
I think this you tube video says it all
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHWTLA8WecI
That is: if is reliable and valid information!
Not doing that really IS a disservice!