We need a fundamental shift in the way we approach text. We are used to thinking of text and literacy from a one-dimensional perspective but now we need to start looking at text as a multi-dimensional tool. Until we embrace this perspective, our use of web-based technologies will go the same way as other technologies like our digital cameras, our dvd hard drives and our mobile phones – most of us know how to use the basic functions but never bother to explore the depth of functionality that is available. While it is not that big a deal if we don’t know all the functions on our digital cameras, it will be a real shame if we as educators turn our backs on the power of this developing medium of Web 2.0.

In addition to the jokes about educators which are very amusing, the funny stories about drawing a picture of God and the perils of being Shakespeare’s English teacher, and comments on male/female differences, there were some really fascinating points made in this video about creativity and education in schools by education guru Sir Ken Robinson.

These were the main points that caught my attention from Ken’s talk:

• the incredible capacity for innovation of children
• all kids have talents and it seems we squander them
• creativity is as important as literacy and we should treat it as the same status
• kids will take a chance, if they don’t know, they’ll have a go
• if you are not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original
• if not careful, we ‘educate’ children out of creativity
• our education system is predicated on the idea of academic ability
• hierarchy of subjects is that the most ‘useful’ things for work are most important subjects (ie don’t do music cause you are not going to become a musician
• what are degrees worth now … the process of academic inflation
• we need to radically rethink our view of intelligence: it is diverse (we think in lots of different ways just like we experience in different ways), it is dynamic/interactive, it is distinct
• creativity – process of having original ideas that have value, more often than not comes about through the interaction of different disciplinary ways of seeing things
• we need to celebrate the gift of the human imagination
• we need to see our creative capacities for the richness they are
• task is to educate the whole being of students

And in particular:

“..the academic view which has really come to dominate our view of intelligence as the universities design the system in their image. If you think about it the whole system of education around the world is a protracted process of university entrance. And the consequence is that many highly talented, brilliant, creative people think they’re not. Because the thing they were good at school wasn’t valued or was stigmatized.”

Wow. Some incredible thoughts here. It is true that some students just have a miserable time at school because they are simply not academic. Then they leave and they find they have all these amazing talents!

I spend my time helping students find ways to make the most out of the system – they are in this school system that assesses their ability in subjects that perhaps they have no interest in. I try to help students get the best results they can given the system they are in.

But it doesn’t mean that I like or agree with the system….. I am a realist. This is the way it is, in the immediate future the best thing I can do is to help students navigate the system and showcase their abilities as best they can. But I have often thought that by having a system where university entrance (which is still viewed as the ultimate goal) is assessed through a series of exams and assessments in Year 12 that this is driving the way teachers have to teach and the way students have to learn. Teachers can’t always just go off on an interesting diversion that has captured the imagination of the class as they HAVE to get through the syllabus. Students are forced to spend lots of time in memorization activities as opposed to true learning experiences as this is they way they will be tested. The ends are driving the means.

Unfortunately I do not have an alternative practical suggestion. And really, neither did Ken. I think everyone must agree with the points raised and that our education system is long overdue for a radical overhaul. But if we revolutionized the education system and focused on developing creativity, we still don’t solve the problems that will arise when the universities say ‘but how do we know who to let in’. It comes back to Ken’s earlier point – our system was developed by academics with the end goal in mind of academic entrance criteria. I can’t see how we can ever hope to radically change the system without first dealing with this issue.

I must admit in the back of my mind there is a niggling thought that one day I am going to have to step up and make a significant push for change in some way…..

One of the biggest concerns I see from parents and teachers is students’ use of technology like chat programs and social networking sites at home when they are also trying to do their schoolwork. One of the biggest problems students complain about is how to deal with the multitude of distractions when they are trying to make themselves do their schoolwork.

This video from Prof Michael Wesch’s Digital Anthropology class at Kansas State University is a powerful depiction of the issues students today face in their technology driven world and in a world where our students have changed and our systems are struggling to keep up.

If you haven’t done it yet, watch the video now before continuing to read this post.

How do we cater for a generation that might read ‘8 books a year’ but ‘2300 websites and 1281 facebook profiles’? We know technology is going to be necessary to help the current generation learn effectively but often the generation designing the instructional materials/processes is not immersed in the digital culture and unable to truly understand how to make the most of the technology available.

A message that stood out for me was the girl who had the message ‘I am a multitasker’, then flips over to ‘I have to be’. How much of the way students process today is purely in self-defence? My lecturer then raised an interesting point, what happens if students are not good at multi-tasking – where does that then leave them?

The video also emphasizes the need for students to ‘learn how to learn’. A content driven approach to learning will not cut it in today’s world which is why our schools now try to use content as a vehicle to teach certain skills, how to analyse, how to communicate, how to ‘learn how to learn’. Students today need to continually learn new skills, as the video pointed out: ‘when I graduate I will probably have a job…that doesn’t exist today’. So the question is, can we revolutionize the way students learn in order to take into account the particular features of the technological world they inhabit?

The good news is yes we can and we are moving in the right direction. The bad news is that it will take time, educational systems are conservative as we do not want to take risks with our students’ education (or do we?). I do not think there will be dramatic changes during the current generation’s schooling. While we remain in an exam driven system, the output required will to a large extent drive the style of the input.

So what should students do now?

At this point in time, it seems that it is not possible for students to integrate the two worlds they inhabit – the world of their school education and the technologically savvy world. Yes some teachers are taking amazing leaps about bringing these two worlds together, but the gap is still large and although much work is being done at a grassroots level it is at the bureaucratic level where serious reform needs to take place.

So how do parents and students cope right now? The problem is, students are trying to integrate these two worlds that are just not ready to cope with amalgamation. I currently recommend that students keep these worlds separate in order to work efficiently at home – work in half an hour blocks focusing solely on schoolwork, then have time where they do whatever they like. This is not ideal – but it is the reality of what students need to do to get through the existing school system. Yes they should still take advantage of the technology opportunities that exist to help them learn, but reality is they do not currently have the skills to discriminate between using technology to help themselves learn and technology becoming a time-waster.

So yes, this is something we need to keep working on with them.