Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Web 2.0

I just began reading the section from Web 2.0 and from the first 20 pages I believe there are some really solid points about technology and how it's advancement is allowing us to become more aware of the people and world around us. I love how the internet and other technology is allowing people to understand more clearly what is going on in the world without having first-hand experiences.

Some people are not lucky enough to have the means to travel around the world and take in all the culture and knowledge that come from countries other than their own, and technology is allowing people to access more and more information to enhance their minds about the world.

I did have an issue with Siemen's comment when he stated, "Our ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we need to know today" (Siemens, pg 83). I know it's important to learn new innovative ways to help us learn how to use new information and technology, but can we live for and use what we know for today? If we're always looking forward to new technology that may be invented in the future, how can this help our children today? Exposing students to new technological advances is extremely important, and quite possibly I may have internalized this quote a bit much, but living for today is often forgotten in our fast paced society. Sometimes we need to sit down, relax and enjoy what we have, what we know and trust in our abilities to learn from prior experiences when new experiences come about.

1 comment:

Jeff Utecht said...

Leah,

I believe Siemens is not talking about technology...but of information. I understand the living for today. For our students the information today will do them little good. It is predicted that everything you know will be out of date in 3 years...figure that out...what does that mean for our students? Today Pluto is not a planet...tomorrow it might be. What is more important to teach them. That Pluto is not a planet or to continue to learn and investigate the information available to use. It's not about technology, it's about information. It's about teaching our students that what you know today will not necessary be what is true tomorrow. Teaching our student HOW to learn is more important than WHAT to learn.

Live for today...learn for tomorrow. :)