BC News

Speaker challenges district leaders to rethink education for a digital world
Release Date: October 5, 2009

 

This is not the classroom you were in when you went to school. It’s not the classroom your kids parents were in when they went to school. This is a different space. It’s a different environment with different types of literacies that we have to understand at some fundamental level for ourselves if we’re going to make sense of any of it for our kids who have no adult in their lives who are teaching it. None. And that is the urgency of the moment.

— Will Richardson to BC educators, September 2009

In short, Will Richardson believes that what some think of as the classroom of the future needs to become the classroom of today.

In a day of presentations to BC educators, including administrators, subject supervisors and teacher representatives on Sept. 23, Richardson challenged them to do what students have already done: become tech savvy and look to the Web satisfy a thirst for knowledge.

“Our kids are able to learn in ways that look nothing like the classrooms we have now,” Richardson said. “We can meet them where they are. That’s where the real shift is now — do we know how to do that?”

“We are not immune to these shifts (in education),” Richardson told BC educators. “We are going to be challenged by them.”

Richardson, the author of “Blogs, Wikis and Podcasts and Other Powerful Tools for Classrooms,” travels the country challenging educators to think anew about how they approach instruction. His belief is that a shift has taken place, and that today’s “read/write web” is no longer just a place where the audience can read information. Today, they can contribute to a discussion by posting information, videos, audio, pictures and more on sites such as blogs and wikis that that allow them to connect with their global peers.

His presentation came at a time when BC, like most other districts, is grappling with how to change instruction to guide students as learners in a highly-digital, global society. The district has made some real gains in this area. A team of teachers, students and instructional leaders will begin this month attending building faculty meetings to begin to define what “21st Century learning” is and available resources to make it happen. Last month’s summer Literacy Camp was also largely devoted to this theme.

Richardson spent the morning at Bethlehem with building principals and subject supervisors, and the afternoon with this group plus the district’s 21st Century Team, which also includes students, teachers, parents and Board members. Several instructional leaders and administrators from other districts around the region also attended Richardson’s presentation.

“We all got a lot out of his presentation as we wrestle with the fundamental question of how do we change the way we teach in a new world and a new century,” Dr. Tebbano said. “He raised our awareness level of how communication is changing in a world of social networks and shifting web interactions and he challenged us to adapt to it.”

“As educators we need to be in the forefront in this area, and I think we are on our way in Bethlehem,” added Eagle Principal Dianna Reagan said. “It is our responsibility to teach children how to use the web safely and productively. We need to explore the potential of the read/write web to empower teachers and students to create exciting new learning experiences.”

Parents will get an opportunity to hear from Richardson firsthand when he comes to Bethlehem for a special evening presentation for parents and community members later this year. More details about this event will be posted in the coming weeks as they are finalized.

Those interested in learning more about Richardson can visit his blog, weblog-ed, at http://weblogg-ed.com/ and take a look at his work and areas of expertise in more detail. In addition to operating the educational blog, he is also a national advisory board member for the George Lucas Education Foundation, a regular contributor to journals such as Educational Leadership, Edutopia, and English Journal. Richardson writes a regular quarterly column called “Web 2.0 for District Administration Magazine.

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