We, the bloggers, the YouTubers, the Wikipedians... we're Time's People of the Year. Hooray for us! Awesome, Time Magazine! Thank you!
The computer itself was Time's "Person" of the Year way back in 1982. Back then, everyone knew the computer had power. The computer was going to change the world, and it has. However, kudos go to the human race for taking the reins of the computers, harnessing the power they possess, and finding ways to utilize it to empower all of ourselves. Yay, humanity!
[L]ook at 2006 through a different lens and you'll see another story, one that isn't about conflict or great men. It's a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. It's about the cosmic compendium of knowledge Wikipedia and the million-channel people's network YouTube and the online metropolis MySpace. It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes.
Let me quote that last sentence again:
It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes.
Can we not apply this statement to teaching as well? Let the students wrestle that power away from us. Let them help us by letting them help each other. I don't think I need to say much more than that. This is the generation of self-controlled learning... self-directed knowledge... self-produced collaboration. We as teachers need to embrace that and allow these applications to infilitrate our classrooms daily, for the sake of each and every one of our students' futures.
2 comments:
Dave, thanks for bringing the article to our attention. It's a perfect coda for 506. I don't recall that '82 cover. How interesting. A revolution in a little more than 20 years.
Your referencing the quote about wresting power from the few makes most school personnel nervous...whew!
If we don't need radical teachers now I don't know of a time in our history when we have been more in need of them.
Thank God for you.
How can people continue to live in denial of our flat world with this article? I don't know how, but I know some will hold on tight to the world they so strongly believe still exists. Tomorrow my students have to turn in 50 notecards for a research paper (sigh).
On a more positive note, students chose their topics with varied results. Many of them seem lost when it comes to finding something that really interests them - or perhaps it's more accurate to say that they are challenged by trying to fit their interests into the paper's requirements. I think it's a little of both. However, some of them have learned a lot and been focused on their topic (because it has meaning to them). Interesting to watch, as always.
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