What no one knows yet….
“We are now at a point where we must educate our children in what no one knew yesterday, and prepare our schools for what no one knows yet.”
- Margret Mead
For a long time my impression of blogs included an assumption: the blogg-er must be an author of authority. Someone who’s knowledge and experience imparts salient truths for the masses to find and aggregate. An expert writing so others may join for the weekly or monthly guideposts of wisdom.
Unfortunately, this is not one of those blogs. “What no one knows yet” could (and probably should) be restated in the above title as “What I don’t know yet”. Although the title may lack precision, the Margret Mead quote fit the vision for my blog. I intend for this blog to serve as a shared professional dialogue to obtain understanding of the best uses of and practices for integrating Web 2.0 in the middle and secondary classroom.
I am aware there are experts in this field. Part of this site will be a catalogue of expert information and review. Part of this blog will be practitioner implementation of Web 2.0, including success stories and opportunities for learning.
Finally, this blog is an opening for any educator to propose questions, or provide an answer for our common understanding. Perhaps, we can become knowledgeable together….
2 Comments
I was intrigued by the quote from Margaret Mead. What a wonderful way to begin your blog. An interesting point about her is that she died in 1978. Even in those days, before the beginning of the “information age”, she foresaw the need to learn how to access information. We are realizing how important the skills of the read/write web are for students. To be able to gather information, analyze and synthesize it, then collaborate on it are vital skills for the 21st century. Dedicating your blog to an understanding of Web 2.0 in the secondary classroom gives it a terrific focus.
The fact that Mead died in 1978 was not lost on me. A fellow Pennsylvanian, her comments on: learning, individuals, and society still ring true. Consider the changes in technology in the last 30 years since her death. Then, assess the changes in education. Perhaps this is an unfair comparison between free-market and social/political systems. But I can’t help feeling as though public education is on the verge of systemic innovation one classroom at a time. I may not be able to change the system, but I establish the learning environment in room 601 at Fairview Middle School. I’ll start there….