My Happy Valley Blog

David Warlick is the K12 Online Conference, pre-conference keynote speaker, who spoke on “Inventing the New Boundaries”.

OK – that was kind of cool, I “thought” I was sitting in live on a “Fireside Chat” with David Warlick, the pre-conference keynote speaker for the K-12 Online conference, and a 100+ others.  Well as it turns out I was just listening/viewing the chat; it actually occurred over a week ago – I wondered why I wasn’t able to log in?   It was still cool, as I just wanted to listen anyway.

David has some really good points, many of which I think our teachers don’t (won’t) want to hear, on how the 21^st century classroom needs to be redefined and retooled. A few of the points he made include:

• In the past, education occurred in a world of information scarcity –we now live in a time of information abundance – content is free – boundaries are disappearing
• Students are coming into classrooms more literate than the teacher – they are not limited to just a few resources
• Before information came to us – now we can be in charge / a part of making the connections
• Take a look at what David feels a 21^st century classroom provides our students:  David Warlick’s Info Savvy Student

What we need to remember as we educate our children:
The abundance of information is major – we are preparing for a future that we cannot describe –that we don’t know – the best thing we can do is to teach them to teach themselves.   

Other points included:

• Learning needs to be relevant to the students….
• They need to be finding what they are learning
• They need to do something, build something with it that is of value
• Kids are not learning to evaluate info – we are teaching them – here is the reliable info, use this…..
• Unlike teaching to the test, which stresses that students know certain facts; Warlick emphasizes that students being able to solve, evaluate, and create is what is important
• Even if you find the information, as a teacher – you need to let the students know how, where & why – why did you decide this information was of value

Kids are better with these new tools/technologies than us – because they have grown up with this – If you ask Kids – how do they learn something they need/want to know?  They will tell you, they search the internet and find someone who knows what they need to know and they learn it from them. 

If teachers aren’t preparing their students for the 21^st century, then they are not doing their jobs.  A 21^st century teacher should demonstrate, illustrate what learning is about. 

I am repeating this statement, because I feel like it really gives us a lot to think about (as educators and as parents):
What we need to remember as we educate our children:
The abundance of information is major – we are preparing for a future that we cannot describe –that we don’t know – the best thing we can do is to teach them to teach themselves – to create.