Preparing for Who Knows What

I was at a technology conference this week where David Warlick (http://www.davidwarlick.com/) was the guest speaker.  This was my second time to hear him in less than a year and each time I have walked away excited and inspired, but also filled with a sense of angst as he talks about technology and its use in the school setting.  

The first time I heard him, I had no idea what he was talking about-- Web 2.0, back channels, and more.  I was texting my oldest son, Alex, a recent college grad, as fast as I could (I had not figured out T9 then) to get definitions.  Didn't dare open my laptop. Was afraid I couldn't figure out how to connect to the local network.

(As an aside, I am part of the generation that grew up doing computer programming with punch cards.  I helped install the first computer lab in the College of Education at Texas Tech in the early 80's.  We installed Radio Shack TRS-80's, Apples, and Commodore 64's with turtle graphics!)

This time, however, it was different.  I knew the direction he was going and this time I was able to sit back and reflect on what he was saying.  As a high school counselor and college English instructor, I have been struck both times by Warlick's contention that we are preparing our students for a world that is indescribable.  What will the work world look like in the next 10 or 20 years?  What will the classroom look like in that same time span? 

Textbooks are becoming obsolete and well they should.  Science books still tell students that Pluto is a planet.  Information is growing at a phenomenal rate and people need access to it.  The old ways are dying and many of the people who are teaching the new generation are still bound by tradition.  The time has come to move on.

Two elements that Warlick emphasizes are the need to develop life-long learners and personal learning networks.  By doing so, we will create a "literacy" that will allow people to explore what’s true, employ information, and express ideas compellingly. 

That is the world the youth of today are moving in to-- a world where paper and pencil are not the means of communication, where people do not have phones in their home or desktop computers!  But, what that world will look like no one truly knows. 

So, what are we preparing our students for?  Who knows, but it will be very different from the world I was educated in and the world I am educating students in today. 

Change is inevitable, but how to change is a topic for another day.

I will leave you a hint though-- Chip and Dan Heath- Switch