Seimens wrote in Knowing Knowledge that, "Fifty years ago, education prepared an individual for a life-long career in a particular field. Formal education created the person, the opportunity. Now, life-long learning creates the opportunity" (Seimens 81). Karl Fisch's video said that by the time the present generation of learners reaches the age of 38, they will have had 10-15 jobs. "Technology is driving our race [education]" (Seimens 110).
I remember back in college (1978-82) hearing my professors say that my generation would have 3-4 careers by the time we retire. I'm working on my third right now.
I believe that life is linear, not circular. All of life advances and progresses. If not, history repeats itself with some dark periods. Web-based technology is advancing our world. We need to keep up. Seimens wrote, "To misjudge the velocity and ferocity of change is to risk obsolescence" (112). As late as fifteen years ago most Americans were making "sense [of their world] through newspapers, books, and journals" (114). Now, most Americans are getting their information from web-based technology. But there are still hold-outs in our educational world.
I personally know of a high school class that still gets their current events from the local newspaper. And, yes, it does give the newspaper a good subscription, as well as a starter for wood stoves and a product for recycling. (Talk about your carbon footprint!) The students of this particular school have access to laptop computers, and the internet with usernames and passwords, yet 20 copies of the paper land at the classroom's door every morning. It may be a matter of trust.
How much do educators trust learners to use the web appropriately? For school administrators and teachers that have reservations about Web2.0 learning, it may be the trust factor that hinders Web2.0 in the classroom. Will the reservations continue? I believe the attitudes will evaporate in the light of something greater.
Technology may drive education, but it will be the overwhelming usage of learners that is the force behind it. Just as slide rulers w
ere made obsolete by calculators, so will lecture-based learning be made obsolete by web-based learning. At the Adult Education site I teach at, the math curriculum uses Plato Math, a user friendly math tutorial.
A number of Web2.0 sites are indexed with sites such as Ajax Projects. Very helpful.
Wikipedia defines Web2.0 as a perceived second generation of web development and design, that aim to facilitate communication, secure information sharing, interoperability, and collaboration on the World Wide Web. Web 2.0 concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities, hosted services, and applications; such as social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies.
So, how do we "pull the pieces together" (114)? "We need new skills and tools" (114), and the commitment to keep pace with ever changing technology.
Dang it!
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'Keep pace' are the operative words. It's tough, that's for sure. As soon as I have a good handle on how to do something, it changes. If I ever take a break, I'll be dead.
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