This is my 4th and last summer project post. Again, my theme has been media and culture, and I am specifically interested in how what we see and hear affects what we know… SO… I found this blog that addresses this very thing: the idea of the purpose of education in the 21st century, and how that purpose should change as understanding and resources change. Interestingly (and synchronistically, serendipitously enough) this site really embodies much of what I think education should be—and maybe some of what we’re going for in this course.
The blog is Education for Well-Being. Go look at it, explore, and think about what you think.
Related to my theme is this, a video created by Ed4WB:
After viewing the video think about this (in relationship to the video's ideas, of course):
How do you know what you know? (Epistemology?)
What should you know? Who should “teach” it to you?
How does our culture affect your knowledge? What kind of knowledge is important?
How do you find, synthesize, and express information and ideas? For school? For yourself?
How do you know that what you know is true?
What do you think of this video?
As always, I am looking forward to your responses. I can’t wait to talk about this stuff in class.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
We never stop learning. It is a lifetime process. Many things that we learn, we learn through experience. Like when a parent tells a small child not to touch the stove because it is hot, but the child touches it anyway. They get burnt, but they probably won’t touch the stove again. We go to school to learn as well. But, we don’t always remember the things we learn. If we cram for a test and memorize what we need to know the night before, a year down the road we won’t remember most of that information. However, if we can apply the information we learn in class through doing something hands on, such as a lab in science class, or if the information is linked to our life in some way, we will be more likely to remember it.
Today we have a wealth of information at our fingertips every time we sit down in front of our computers. But how often do we take advantage of it? As the video said, despite the recent conflict, 63% of 18 to 24 year old Americans cannot even locate Iraq on a map! And most of the information our country’s children get is from “entities whose goal is to sell them something rather than from family, school, or houses of worship.” This information is therefore obviously tainted. These people don’t care about the children, only that they sell more of their product. Children should be more heavily influenced by their family than anyone. Teachers should be good roll models for children as well.
There are many good points brought up by this video. It really made me think. Another good point that is worth mentioning is that maybe we are confusing information with knowledge and knowledge with wisdom. Just knowing something does not make us wise. It is what we do with the information and knowledge that we possess that makes us wise. We need to take the things we are told and the things we know and decide for ourselves what we believe. Otherwise those things mean nothing to us. They are just facts in our head, not beliefs in our hearts.
Post a Comment