Educational Origami

“The next big killer application for the Internet is going to be education. Education over the Internet is going to be so big it is going to make email usage look like a rounding error in terms of the Internet capacity it is going to consume.”  John Chambers CEO Cisco Systems

Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10537986

Are we ready for this. While I am sure there is a degree of hype in this statement, fundamentally I agree with it. More and more education will naturally migrate to the medium our students are fluent in. The convergence we see of our more traditional medias (TV, Mail, Radio) to internet based ones is immense. A colleague of mine commented last night when I rang him that I had interrupted him watching a video. I was a little confused until he explained he was watching a youtube video of the Hawaiian Iron man on Youtube via his PDA/Cellphone.

Are we ready for it?

Another colleague who is on a scholarship doing research into cellphones and education, twittered me to talk about cellphones at school. I was a little shocked when she asked if we had banned them. Why was I shocked? Well, other than the obvious futility of banning the ubiquitous cell phones which almost every students has one or in many case two (to maximise the benefits of the different pricing plans), why would we ban a useful and adaptable tool for learning. I was shocked as well because it implied that some schools were trying to ban them! As educators do we prepare our students for the future by banning concepts that are difficult or controversial , by removing tools and technology that may cause interruptions. No! No, we should teach our students how to appropriately use and ethically use these tools. We need to provide them with a suitable framework to utilise these tools in a way that enhances their learning.

Are we ready for this?

Have a look at this Youtube video on Metaplace – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZiB_JcRH_s

Metaplace is another virtual world tool, http://www.metaplace.com/ Look how simple this place is to create. Our students Are going to use this, Are you ready for that?

How are we as teachers going to use these tools to communicate, captivate, collaborate and engage our students? We are not going to be able to do this by sitting back and watching, or by saying its “just a phase”. How are we as teachers going to be relevant to our students if we can only engage in part of their world?

Are we ready for it?

Here is another quote from the NZ Herald article…

“The Harvard Business School’s leading expert on industry innovation, Dr. Clayton M. Christensen, predicts that, on present trends, 25 per cent of all high school courses will be available online for everyone, of all ages, no later than 2014. By 2019, it will be 50 per cent. Hundreds of new hi-tech skills courses will be among them”

Are we ready for it?

Lots to think about.  but lets ask that question again, Are we ready for it? Is your school, board or district ready for it? Because MANY of our students are ALREADY there!

What else will we need in the 21st Century