Week 1 - Blog Posting #2 - Learning 2.0

“Web 2.0 tools will transform our learning, the institutional learning system of yesterday, does not work anymore. We need to transform our educational system in order to compete in the future.” (Siegel, 2009)

I agree with the above statement, that Web 2.0 tools will transform our learning. I also agree that our current learning system is out dated and used at a time that required such methods to be used. However, one thing that the videos listed did not really touch on was accountability.

We, as educators, are accountable to the student. As the students in the “No Future Left Behind” video stated, “We want your wisdom.” Are we then supposed to simply comply with the demands our our youth, the youth that is asking for our wisdom, and do what they want us to do? It is not our job to raise these kids (unless they are our own kids) but to make sure that they learn what is required of them in what we know to be their future. Yes, it involves technology, or the arts, or something else that has not been invented yet, but one thing that everything in the future holds is accountability. Our youth will be responsible for their actions and their work ethic when they reach college and the real world. So how are we doing them a favor if we don’t hold them accountable for their learning while in school?

I’m not saying that standardized testing is the solution to these but it memorization is something our students need to be used to because they will need to memorize things in their future. So how can we use Web 2.0 to make sure they are learning what they are learning while not slacking off and not doing what they are told? I like the idea of using iPods in school, but what if a student is not doing what they are doing by listening to music instead of a lecture or instructional podcast? Do we brush it off and simply think Oh, its okay, he’s using technology that he already knows how to use? I hope not.

Am I off in this? Am I stuck on 20th century pedagogy? Someone help me out here. Did anyone else catch on to this? We are their future. Let’s use these new technologies to reach out to them but not at the cost of our souls! Accountability and responsibility are also in their future, lets hold them at their word but have consequences ready when they goof around because the consequences of goofing off in the real world are more dire than when they are in school. “Character is more important than intellect.” (Gardner, 1999)

Gardner, H (1999). Intelligence reframed. New York,
NY: Basic Books.