Wikis and 1:1 Initiatives - Can they solve the U.S.'s education downward spiral? Can it be supported?

For the first time, I feel like I am beginning to accomplish my goal for teaching. "Connect students with learning opportunities to expand their learning environments beyond the school doors."

I decided to implement wiki's for my classes and have been pleased with the result. They work well. Students enjoy this platform for learning, after all they are Digital Learners! They actively engage in great discussions that improve their thinking skills. Students log on and participate at all times of the day - not just during class. I even have had students log on and participate from home on a sick day. I would say that's an actively engaged learner - wouldn't you?

A major by-product my wiki has produced all by itself is tackling attendence. Now students have access to participate during class when they are sick or didn't have a ride or it was too rainy/snowy/cold to wait for the bus. My classes are like ATMs, they are now always open - 24 hours a day 365 days a year.

With this in mind, the role that the 1:1 initiative could have becomes paramount. What if every student had a notebook with internet access? They would have access to class materials at all times. Could student accountability increase. Could collaboration increase? Would learning go on beyond the school doors? My guess is yes. Just take a look at the schools who already have these initiatives in place. The progress may be slow, but none the less, students would begin to learn more and faster. Web chats and conferences would ease the difficulty of coordinating group project meetings - we wouldn't have to leave our homes to participate.

Can a nation-wide 1:1 initiative be supported? Would cost too much? If you think so I would agrue that point. Money is an illusion. Money is created everyday. Some of that money is invented out of thin air. Thats how our federal reserve banking system works - maybe you didn't know that. Do you actually think the $700 Billion bailout of Wall Street recently was actually done by exchanging currency? No - no tangible money was exchanged, rather just a few very large computer transactions. The money was never there, it still isn't there - it exists only in computers. It exists but it doesn't. So, money can be created. Why can't there be a bailout for the education system? I wonder if they don't want us to learn and think more independently?

See you next time!

TEACHnology . . . and Filtering.

The other day I mistyped the word technology with "teachnology. I found this very ironic how this simple mistake made me think about teaching. With respect to the education profession, should we begin to refer it to "TEACHNOLOGY?" To me, this implies that educators across all curricular areas utilize teachnology for improving learning - daily. Its an education system totally infused with technology to improve learning. Consequently, once we ponder this question another arises. How long would this take? Would Districts advocate this idea and support it?

My guess is it won't happen until this generation becomes teachers; 20 years?. The students have a better grasp of today's technology than many of their teachers - I am probably included in that group. Students today have grown up with this technology, therefore will learn to use it for learning many different things and in many different ways. They will be able to use various social networking sites to assist learning, web-based applications for communication and tasks rather than desktop programs. They are the wave of the future. I think we are in transition now, but it may take 10-20 years before "TEACHNOLOGY" could be curriculum wide on a daily basis.

Finally, I would say that Districts would support this in the years to come as well. Right now its being advocated for in some districts across the U.S., but its not wide-spread. We are still Filtered to an unbelievable extent inside schools, teachers and students alike. Will Richardson's blog is on "Filtering" http://weblogg-ed.com/2008/filter-fun/ is on point in my opinion. When today's students become administrators I think then we would more support the idea of "TEACHNOLOGY." They would allow us to use tools (unfiltered) to make us a competitive world economy again - starting in grade school. Grade school penpals would evolve into Skype pals - we can communicate, collaborate and learn with others around the world.

See you next time . . .