Thing 4

How has learning changed since I was a child, lo, those many, many years ago. Hmmm, let's see. The only educational stuff we had on TV was "Watch Mr. Wizard". Learning communities were developed by discussing letters to Dear Abby. Students were not encouraged to "share" information with others, as this might be confused with CHEATING!!! Research involved hauling your sorry self to the library and spending hours & hours with the card catalog, stacks, and note cards. A bookmark was a stiff piece of paper stuck in a book. Okay, okay. You already know I'm old.

What's too often the same is that students schlep books from lockers, read, answer questions, take a quiz/test, and move on. Stuff they may have just learned may be forgotten as they begin work on the new unit/chapter/assignment. There is collaborative work on projects, but it's much like it was (skenkty-five) years ago. That said, it's nice to see unitedstreaming vodcasts used in some rooms, access to online info, and quick collaboration with parents.

Hooray!!