Show me…

Too often in schools, we ask students questions and give them tasks
that amount to little more than, “Tell me, tell me, tell me.” More
frequently than we often do now, we need to invite students to also
“show me.” We need to invite students to speak, write, show and relate
with their peers, with their teachers, and with a global audience about
topics in which THEY are the experts. In many settings this is a
revolutionary proposal, because students are regarded as “less than
worthy” from a content-creation standpoint.

I thought this was an interesting bit from Wes Fryer’s blog. He was expounding on the point that we don’t encourage enough show and tell in our schools. I hadn’t really given it much thought, but it’s true. With the focus on accountability and measuring student progress, we ask students to tell us all kinds of information–recalling facts and figures, applying strategies, etc., etc., etc. With the host of Web 2.0 technologies that are available out there, we should instead be asking students to show us what they know–by blogging, podcasting, writing, storytelling…it’s all there. Isn’t Wes’ comment about students mostly considered “not worthy” interesting? How do we go about changing the mindset of most of our educators–from the “keepers and disseminators” of the knowledge to fellow travelers on the journey. We no longer hold all the answers, for the purpose of parceling it out to students who come through our classes. We should be companions, learning with our students. Of course, our age and experience would dictate that we do know more, but our knowledge is meant to help students on their way–avoiding pitfalls and side trails that take us from our goals. Just something to think about…

wesfryer web2.0 schoolreform edutech