The Transformation of Learning

The Transformation of Learning

The following is an excerpt of an article sent by ESSDACK Director, Dr. Mike Cook, to superintendents. This is not the full article, but identifies many of the challenges school districts are facing as USD 331 moves to provide blended learning with the use of Edgenuity, meet new Kansas College and Career Readiness Standards, implement Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) programs and our district’s commitment to do so by implementation of Project Lead the Way and many more initiatives currently under way. The teacher is a vital part of the learning, but we are in a transition of learning to teach in new ways. (Appropriate credit for the author and journal is listed at the end of the article.)

Today’s Internet connectivity makes accessible the sum of all human knowledge and over two billion people who can teach it to you. Let’s pause for a moment to think about the impact of that innovation. It’s huge beyond reckoning. In fact, when measuring shifts in human history, researchers such as Robert Darton from Harvard University have said this is one of the four most fundamental changes in information in human history, ranking it with the creation of alphabets for writing, the development of the first books and the invention of the printing press.

With the advent in just the last few years of a truly interactive World Wide Web where people of all ages and all interests can create and share their ideas, a time of real educational transformation is at hand. As billions of people from all parts of the globe begin to communicate, collaborate and connect in fresh and creative ways, their use of technology is challenging the traditional structures of business, journalism, politics and, ultimately, education. What happens to journalism when everyone has his or her own printing press? What happens to politics when constituents can have their own voices heard by large Internet audiences? What happens to businesses when their consumers can easily converse widely about their products? And what happens to schools when the sum of human knowledge and thousands of potential teachers are available at the click of a mouse?

Educators are just beginning to face these questions. For the first time, more than just the privileged few in our society have easy access to knowledge in the form of a digital library overflowing with relevant, diverse, high-quality information. No longer are teachers the sole arbiters of knowledge. No longer do classroom walls limit the reach of students’ work. No longer is learning restricted to small blocks of time over weeks or months. It’s a time where the learner has become empowered, and the monopoly that schools had on learning up until the 1990s is far behind us, and fading in the rear view mirror.

These changes do not mean that we should abandon proven best practices of schooling that support teacher growth and student achievement, or that meaningful face-to-face relationships between teachers and students are any less important. Students still need to learn many of the same basic skills as they always have. But it does mean that many of our long-held beliefs about schooling are being challenged by new technologies that allow learners to create networks of trusted mentors in meaningful communities of practice, and to share widely the fruits of their efforts.

In short—it’s a brave, new, interconnected world—and we have to figure out how to teach in it.

 This is an excerpt taken from the following Journal and author:

PERSPECTIVES: a Journal of Research and Opinion About Educational Service Agencies, Volume 19, 2013 (4); How 21^st Century Service Agencies Create 21^st Century Schools: Using research and data to target services and meet the diverse technology needs of member districts by Rob Mancabelli.