Students for the 21st Century (Kids or Us?)

In his recent article "Footprints in the Digital Age" for Educational Leadership (ASCD, November 2008), Will Richardson said "our students must be nomadic, flexible, mobile learners who depend on their ability to connect with people and resources." He drew an image of a bus with "students standing in the front, most of the teachers are in the back, hanging on to the seat straps as the bus careens down the road under the guidance of kids who have never been taught to steer who are figuring it out as they go." Is that really where we are?

There is a level of communication between students that we adults very rarely attempt to get to in our lives. Kids are still talking, albeit underground at times. We have to first be willing to listen and then secondly listen to them in the way they are talking to us. Be it blogs or UTube videos, students have unique ways to talk to us and they are saying a lot.

For students, we have to help empower them in the most important technology for learning that has ever existed. How do we help students to navigate their way through individual networks? How am I supposed to help with this when I am a novice myself? There is so much changing at a rate that is unprecedented that I question whether I can keep up.

There is also the part of me that doesn't want to keep up. I want to keep it the way it was when I was young and it was simple. Communication was face to face or over the phone. You actually hand wrote letters and notes. Come to think of it, I have changed. It was a long time ago that I wrote a letter with a pen as the tool.

I also worry about the lack of balance in our lives. we need to take this challenge on in earnest. Help students appropriately network with friends and peers. Empower their positive communication and willingness to do good things. But also, students need to enjoy the world around them and the human/natural world. Have the ability to slow down and catch their breath just like we need to at times.

Where does it all fit and how do we keep moving forward with information and knowledge? How do we find the time, the energy and sometimes the desire? I will let you know if I ever figure it out.