To Search and to Scan

Who knew fingertip knowledge could be such a great tool in our education. The idea that two men could create such a great charter school all based on inquiry and creativity is amazing. This idea of keeping the kids interested by exploring personal interests and having large audiences for their products is genius. This knowledge can be used to connect to anyone in the world and create endless oppurtunities.
One question I had earlier was how to use the information we find in the best possible way. There is so much information out there. How do we find what we need in small yet understandable chunks. Google helps us search and find knowledge. As the book says "the world is now Google-ized." There is everything from book searchs, maps, images and blogs that is powered by Google. Google wants to organize all the world's informatin. Can you imagine? How is this helpling education? Learning is no longer how much knowledge we have but how we can access it. With information constantly changing we can't expect our kids to memorize information that will be obsolete in 3 years. This is very interesting and exciting to comprehend. How will we move from traditional teaching to web-based learning and teach our children to research, think for themselves and how to take all this knowledge they find on the web and use it in their studies and everyday lives.

We all learn

This whole blogging idea is very new to me. This class has opened my eyes to a vast knowledge that awaits me and everyone in this world. The fact that you can ustream a conference and see it while it is happening or view it later is great. You don't have to be constrained to timeframes and places. The world is a whole possibility when it comes to learning. Textbooks and lectures are becoming just tools in our learning process. The web of learning has endless possibilities. The only thing I would be concerned with is the fact that there is so much information out there, where do you begin and how do you sort through fact and fiction? This information is available world wide. You can blog with someone in Africa or Asia. You can watch a conference in Alaska and then watch one in England. These possibilities can enhance the subjects we teach and give our students a broader view. Gone are the days of going to the library and researching book to book. You can narrow down research quicker and easier with the use of the web. Teaching our students to use this efficiently will be a challenge. With the amount of information I can see spending an entire day researching a subject. This, I think is a potential problem.

About me

I just started my path to becoming a teacher. I am working on my masters in education at southern new hampshire university.