There must be something in the air today besides the fumes of processed cacao.
What Do We Know About Our Kids’ Futures? Really.
A lot of us (or should I say I?) frame the conversation around Read/Write Web tools in schools in the context of this very blurry future that our kids are entering into, one that despite its lack of clarity is decidedly different from today. In my own case, I tend to frame this through my parenting lens, that it doesn’t feel like the system is preparing my kids for their futures very well even though we don’t exactly know what that future looks like.
It never ceases to amaze me that two people, half a continent apart, can be thinking about the same things and have it posted up on the same day.
But then, look at the list of things that Will has posted. In a lot of ways, I’m already living this life – and many other people are as well. We’re immersed in the same sea of possibilities and it’s almost certain that some of us will throw a pair of boxcars on the same day. It’s not always the same two people, and it’s not always even the same take on the idea-du-jour, but the web is becoming a kind of meta-mind. We link up. We process. We produce. And since we’re all part of the same culture, it shouldn’t be surprising that – occasionally – two (or more) of us produce similar things.
But it still surprises me.
February 14th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Interesting. I’ve thought about that before too. There are 6+ billion of us in the world today, one of those individuals has to be thinking the same thing I am.
February 14th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
This is definitely interesting. I’m still trying (most of the time) to figure out what I’m thinking. There has been so much to process. I can see how two or more people would be prompted to write about something of which they are passionate and find that others have a similar passion.
February 16th, 2008 at 12:19 am
I was researching equity and it seemed to me that everything was outdated, so I started really looking at some blogs, and I ran across Digital Equity, 2 Million Minutes, Participatory Collaboration and Knowledge Networking, by Bonnie Bracey Sutton, where she wrote the following:
How well prepared will our students be to compete for the best-paying high-tech jobs-not just at a regional or national level, but internationally? Today’s students are tomorrow’s workforce. Recent reports issued from groups such as the National Science Foundation, The President’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Science Board, and The National Academy of Engineering have challenged the nation’s leaders, educators and parents to make math and science education a national initiative. The goal of this film is to illustrate this point and to help answer the question: Are we doing enough with the time we have to ensure the best future for all? Because our competitors, it appears, are leaving us in the dust.
…maybe she was thinking the same thing…but not on the same day.
February 17th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
As a teacher and a parent I wonder if my students or my children are receiving an education that will prepare them for the technology advanced future they will live in. Judging by the blogs a lot of people are worried about schools being prepared to teach students what they need.
February 21st, 2008 at 9:45 am
I can’t remember who said it but it goes something like this…”there is no such thing as an original idea because somebody somewhere has already thought of it”. I may have completely butchered that but I hope you get the gist. But, nonetheless it still shocks us when we find people who think the way we do.
February 23rd, 2008 at 6:21 pm
As a parent I am not sure of my son’s future. there are things that I think they should teach now and don’t. There other things I feel he could probably do without. The problem is with me being a teacher and aware of all this I will teach him anyway whether the school does or not but what about the others? What about those kids whose parents barely know how to fill out a check let alone show their child how to do it? I feel for those families. I worry about my future because I will have to depend on some of my students and this frightens me. This is probably why it bothers me so much when they and sometimes their parents ignore our instructions and are not concerned with education.