Week 1 - Blog Posting #2 - Learning 2.0: Changes

Learning has changed. While my nephew, Daniel, was growing up, games such as Math Blaster helped him practice and learn math skills. I had basic flash cards. Now there are even smart phone apps like Mental Case that let you create your own flash cards for use on your phone or online. No paper is necessary. Learning is more vigorous and multi-dimensional today. Learning is enterprising and exciting. Learning is stretching and reaching out infinitely. Learning is being able to express ideas to the whole world. Learning should not be limited to a classroom and textbooks. Learning should be lived.

Andrew Barras (2009, September) stated in his Education Stormfront blog that learning is happening outside the classroom now at ever increasing rates. He defines Learning 2.0 as the ability to use outside sources to learn... it is interactive, dynamic and personalized. It can happen anywhere the student is, not just in the classroom. I couldn't agree with him more.

Students today are surrounded by technology that we never even dreamed possible when my generation was their age. Even Tomorrow-land at Disney World became so outdated for us that we laughed at its rather antiquated technology. The technology had already come, gone and been surpassed many times since its inception. Since then, some people joke about the computer you just bought being outdated by the time you walk out of the store. Suddenly lightning strikes and there's a new operating system, software innovation, or upgrade that makes the computer faster, stronger, and with greater capacity than Superman, Spiderman, and all the X-Men rolled up into one electronic package!

Teachers are trying to figure out what their role is in this new learning model (Barras, 2009). Teachers are used to being the presenters of knowledge, but today exponentially more information is presented on the internet. In 2006, the number was at 5 billion gigabytes (http://newliteracy.wikispaces.com/, 2009) of new data flowing literally through the air on Wi-Fi around the world and onto our computers. Students can research and discuss subjects that the teacher may not have ever seen. This complicates things. Educational institutions are not learning from the real world, and are being swallowed by the fear of change. As stated in the video Learning to Change-Changing to Learn, education is at the bottom of the list of internet technological innovation according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. That should make us all sad!

Is anyone really listening? After viewing many videos from organizations such as TED, reading cutting-edge educational sites like Mobile Learning Institute and Curriculum 2.0 and participating in the Full Sail University educational community, I feel like a bird that has been caged. The cage is the mindset that technology is a hinderance, a nuisance, and that cell phones, social networking, and video games are causing problems. I used to build that cage, but now I want out. Change has happened to me. I researched the use of iPhones and iPod Touch in the classroom and posted the information on my iWeb site. Instead of decrying video games as an instrument to hinder education, I now see their potential to raise educational levels higher.

Look at video games objectively for a moment. They obviously teach something. We can agree on that. In my research, I found that game designers utilize researched principals of learning (Gee, 2005). Games allow students to interact, choose, make mistakes, practice, relearn, fail, and have fun doing it all! Isn't that what education is? Is there some rule that learning must be all rote and no rumpus? Why not use this creative invention to share positive, life-changing knowledge in a way that is engaging and enjoyable?

The new purpose that I feel now as a student of these innovations is what I want to pass on to my students and to other teachers. The joy of learning is revived in me. Learning 2.0 is about renewing the excitement of discovery, ingenuity, and the metamorphosis of each mind. Learning 2.0 is flying fast. Will we catch up?

References:

Gee, J. (2005). Learning by Design: good video games as learning machines, Symposium Journals, Retrieved June 20, 2009 from E-Learning 2(1) http://tinyurl.com/qnuwmz