The type of employee business are looking for today are problem solvers. Times have changed and so a new type of employee and students is required. To prepare our students for this type of work and future changes, they need to be literate in a different way. “To be literate today involves acquiring new skills, including those of using technology, understanding science, having global awareness, and most important, having the ability to keep learning.” (Solomon, G., & Schrum, L., 2007) Through the different articles and videos for this week, I learned about the three different educational theories, constructivism, connectivism and cyborg. These theories focus on changing the way educators teach and students learn. Constructivism theorizes that students come with a set of knowledge which will impact what and how they learn the new information presented to them (Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 1999). This process is individualized, as each student will use a variety of ways, but not the same ways, to learn new information being provided. Students also come prepared at different levels based on prior knowledge and therefore can acquire concept at different rates. Connectivism seems to agree with this but takes it one step further by saying that external connections that students make with other students, people, data, and so on, also impact their learning (Siemens, G., nd). Interaction plays a large role in this theory. both of these theories explain why students who are required to take the same "un-biased" state tests perform differently. No student comes to the table with the same information and experience therefore the results of these tests will be different as well.
In both of these theories, the inclusion of technology as a tool to learning is important. Using technology along with a well-designed lesson, “not only increases student learning, understanding and achievement but also augments motivation to learn” (Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K., 2007). Kevin Warwirk, (nd), in his video, Cyborg Life, took technology one step further. To be quite honest, this one kind of creeped me out a little bit. I even shared the video with some friends who had mixed feelings about this one and we had some very good discussions about the pros and cons. He proposes that in the future, technology will be implanted into people and that the knowledge will be downloaded into their brain. In this way, nature is given a helping hand to improve on the human design. It is this Cyborg theory that made me think about the future. By creating this hybrid of human and machine (cyborg), though it may be an easy way to access information, we will need to find a way to ensure that the information is used responsibly and ethically. I have an aversion to this theory and practice. I find that playing with the human body this way is a bit scary and , well, inhumane. In the end, “The tools student use may change where and how they get the information, but only educators can make sure that students learn how to process and use that information wisely. (Solomon, G., & Schrum, L., 2007).
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Introduction, 1 – 14.
Siemens, G. (nd). The Changing Nature of Knowledge. Youtube.com. Retrieved on October 5, 2009 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMcTHndpzYg
Solomon, G., & Schrum, L.(2007). Web 2.0: New tools, New schools. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education, 7 – 44
Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, (1999). Learning as a personal event: A brief introduction to constructivism. Retrieved on October 4, 2009 from http://www.sedl.org/pubs/tec26/intro2c.html
Warwirk, K. (nd). Cyborg Life. Youtube.com. Retrieved on October 5, 2009 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB_l7SY_ngI
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