This is a test post to make sure the transfer of my WordPress data made it into the new domain. It appears that the new home, www.pointatopointb.org, is happy & healthy!
Onto the more important work of building the site…
Month: July 2006
-
Super-Learners
PC Magazine’s August 8, 2006 issue features articles on the future of technology. A comment that jumped out at me is in Mark Anderson’s predictions (p.75). In talking about how one-to-one computing is the key goal in education, one of the things he points out is that it will create “super-learners.” I love the term – it implies a voracious appetite for learning, and the technology provides the endless food to nourish.
I think we have always had super-learners. What we have not had, though, is accross-the-board access to information so that anyone really can become a super-learner. What technology brings to the table is the ability to provide ANYONE with access. One-to-one initiatives strive to make that happen.
Mark Anderson is founder of the Strategic News Service, CEO of the Future in Review Conference, and Chairman of the Board of Project Inkwell. A busy man with his thoughts in neat places. Check out some of his stuff – I plan to!
-
Revisiting an Old Friend
A number of years ago I saw a quote on the cover of an educational periodical. It jumped out at me and resonated with what I have always felt. To this day I have that cover, albeit a bit beat up, taped to my desk. It is a quote from T.H. White in The Once and Future King:
“The best thing for being sad,” replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, “is to learn something. That’s the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then— to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.”
To this day the quote is my favorite – I always find strengh in learning. Technology is doing things to learning like never before, but it is STILL the learning that is the key. Technology is an awesome vehicle, but not the destination.
Everyone loves to learn something. What we need to do is connect the desire for learning with the content for learning.
-
Learning is Everywhere
I love going to workshops. I don’t necessarily find huge new ideas, but there are always great little tips and tricks to hear, and you can observe different ways to teach particular concepts. It is very refreshing to not be in the driver’s seat, and soak up how someone else presents. It is invaluable in the learning cycle to participate in it from all vantage points.