Going into viewing this TED Talks video of Kansas State's Michael Wesch I had a pretty good idea of what I thought it was going to be about. I thought it was going to be about incorporating technology into classrooms to focus more on critical thinking and finding answers, or knowledge, rather than just being given the information someone tells us or our students is important. I was on the right track.
I have to say though the video was very interesting and I agree that there needs a focus on finding the answers, or being "Knowledge-Able" as Wesch describes, rather than just being force-fed information and knowing it ("knowledgeable"). Wesch explains that in order to do this it is important our student first "know how to ask good questions." I think this is where we as teachers come in. We need to develop our students to be critical thinkers. That's what their future bosses are going to want; someone who can fix problems with the resources available. Sounds like a trend in my posts, huh?
I think he is also right on when he discusses the "new disruption in the classroom." It is harder and harder to present information like in the past when there are potential distractions at everybody's fingertips. And why should we when "knowing stuff" is less important with the ability to Google the answers to the easy questions. Utilizing this technology and the easy answers we find to incorporate into problem solving and creating new knowledge, I agree, will be the way ahead... BUT even he says it will be tough to do and will take practice. I guess this is where we come in - to get them practicing early on. They are already doing this in their social lives in many cases. It is getting it incorporated into the classroom looking at real issues and having these TWO-WAY conversations across the World (Wide Web) and analyzing the information that will be key.
Wesch, M. (2010, October 10). From knowledable to knowledge-able [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeaAHv4UTI8