We need more glowing beacons.
In my work in Schools in Hong Kong and the region (Learning Solutions Asia) it often appears to me that educators do not have enough examples of how today’s successful people are using ICT to work smarter and achieve their goals.
For example, it was not until I read Thomas Freedman’s book on the flat earth that I realised how many business transactions were being done today via the net and how IBM (I think) uses blogging as a workplace tool and requires every employee to have a blog. I have spent a lot of my time, as I am sure that we all have, working with teachers who see ICT as an add-on to the “real work” of getting kids ready to pass the external examinations where they must memorize facts and relationships and be able to recall them for the 3 hour paper. Some of these teachers firmly argue that the sort of good “rigorous” head down, bum up learning is the best way to produce a great successful 21C adult ready to excel in the world of work, entrepreneurship, etc. Ready papers and listening to the mainstream news, they have plenty to back up their case.
On the weekend the South China Morning post featured an article on “cyberslacking”. Essentially it was commenting on how much productivity was being lost in offices where employees were social networking, casual websurfing or even game playing on company time. I am sure that you do not have to go far to find similar articles on this phenomena, computer game addiction, educational network hacking by kids in schools and a host of other things that support a reluctant teacher’s view that giving kids greater access to ICT tools for learning may not be the best way to produce creative, free-thinking and highly motivated learners ready to rise to the challenges of the future.
We can all argue till blue in the face about “just in time learning”, students as creators, writing for authentic audiences etc. Reality is that there is a lot of teachers out there who are yet to be convinced of the argument that the misuse that we see reported is partly due to the fact that we do not teach appropriate use in schools. Many of them still subscribe to the view that life for them and the world would be much better if books, pens and paper remained the dominant communication form.
So my question is how do we ensure that we have more coverage of the great things that are being done as a result of the collective wisdom of the social networking and other ICT tools which sometimes receive such negative press?
Filed under: Learning for a Flat World
