I’ve been keeping an eye on the Horizon Project 2008 when I can steal away for a few minutes and am very impressed with the efficiency of the students as they get themselves organized into their focus groups and assign individual and group responsibilities.
The project was officially opened more than two weeks ago with a keynote by Don Tapscott, Canadian author of Growing Up Digital and Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything. Tapscott’s opener, while short, covered a lot of ground. The role that technology plays in the lives of today’s students is a key focus of the message, but for me the key point is pedagogical. Tapscott makes the point that there is nothing more important for teachers today than transforming our model of teaching and learning. He strongly states that our current pedagogy must change.
We are all aware that our current model of teaching and learning, in many cases one-way and teacher-focussed, has remained virtually unchanged in the past century. I agree with Tapscott that this model is irrelevant and ineffective for the current generation of students who prefer learning experiences that are student-focussed, highly customized to their needs and interests, and collaborative in nature.
There’s a huge disconnect between the way many of us have learned in formal settings and ways this generation prefers to learn. We were isolated in the learning process, and individually accountable for demonstrating “what we knew” using methods defined by teachers. Today’s students prefer to learn in connected groups. I’m sure we will soon be reading more news stories like this one about the Ryerson student who faced an expulsion hearing for being the administrator of a Facebook study group. He was charged with academic misconduct because the professor required that assigned problems be solved individually; the students in the study group were collaborating on problem-solving techniques. The hearing ended with penalties for the student as well as an action item - he is required to take a course on academic misconduct. Unfortunately, what we didn’t see in this case was action required of the professor and the school - i.e. to examine the kinds of proof we are asking to see to demonstrate that learning has taken place. The school would do well to have a look at the expectations and assessment criteria so clearly laid out by Horizon Project organizers Vicki Davis and Julie Lindsay.
Even if you’re not taking part in the Horizon Project, Tapscott’s keynote is well worth a watch!
Technorati Tags: Horizon Project 2008, Don Tapscott, Vicki Davis, Julie Lindsay, hz08, hz08_keynote
