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I just scanned CogDog’s piece on making new year predictions (This the Season of Predictions) and have ReadWriteWeb, and Stephen Downes loaded in my queue (see Levine’s blog post for other links). I don’t really care about predictions at this point. I do not really wonder if they’re right. The value is in the insights and advice that they carry.
What I care more about is what we all care about. That is to say, I’m interested in what you care about — what do you hope we, 12 months from now, will be able to say about 2009.
I’ll start with two:
- I hope that 2009 is the year that NCLB starts its much needed complete overhaul — or complete replacement.
- I hope that we come to realize, in 2009, that digital and networked content for teaching and learning is actually less expensive than printed paper — and far more effective.
So, what do you hope we’ll be talking about in 12 months?
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I am hoping that greater, cheaper, and more available bandwidth and lower costs of technology hardware will offer networking opportunities for educators and students to connect globally so that the education gap in developing nations (and even our own nations!) can be addressed. Those of us in the developed world can offer so much to struggling teachers without going any further than our laptops with an Internet connection.
I actually hope for the same as I have a desire to see a system that respects the student as a knowledgeable, motivated, and competent learner. As Chris Dede from Harvard has said, “Pure face-to-face instruction is professional malpractice.” Technology just offers more options to honor each student . . . which leads to my wish and hope for 2009 . . . a pedagogy that honors each and every student’s intellect, heart, body, soul, and spirit.
My hope is for NCLB to change to allow for creativity in the classroom. I hope that administrators support teachers who are trying to change teaching and learning in new and creative ways to meet the needs of their students. I hope for an educational system that challenges students to think, communicate, and act.
I hope that 2009 is the year that talk became action. Obama promised a lot around educational reform. He used technology to win his race. I hope that he uses his influence to let the “public” see technology as a must in the educational world of their children and not just an add on. Even though I am from Canada, his influence would reach us simply because of the media penetration into our culture.
On a personal note, I hope that this is the year that my children have access to greater technologies at their school and that I am able to help their teachers understand the importance of seamless integration rather than as a class where they do KidPix.
Thank you, David.
I just wanted to thank you for providing inspiration for my work in Web 2.0. I have been a long-time listener to your podcasts and reader of your blog. Your books have provide me (and my students) with direction in using the Interactive Web to make learning relevant. You continually find new ideas and novel applications demonstrate how technology can be used to change education from a “spectator sport” to one of “active involvement” where the learner has a vested interest in the outcome.
You are a leader in this field and I just wanted to tell you that you have made a difference in how I approach learning and teaching.
Thanks,
Leigh Zeitz
http:drzreflects.com
I’m excited that the new administration is modeling the use of technology as an everyday communication/collaboration tool, and hope that local decision-makers will see that as their wake-up call to implement changes themselves. How can educators continue to expect “paper-pencil” products when our President is walking around with his Blackberry?
My hope for the new year is that teachers and administrators will learn to be copilots and navigators, torch givers to students who are on there own journey and that Leave No Child Behind will ensure every child is equipped with access to a journey. My hope is for a a mindset shift among adults as we allow new tools to level the learning fields, my hope is that we all truly embrace diversity(work tirelessly for it) knowing with anticipation there is a joy that a diversely educated youth can bring to this globe.
I am hoping that until NCLB gets overhauled (and it might take a while) that teachers everywhere will realize how much of the objectives and criteria can be fulfilled through the use of the technology tools available to them today. If they will consider the objective, the idea, or the concept that they want their students to achieve, then look to the many technology tools available to them. If they think that they must only teach “to the test” and that using the technology tools has to wait uyntil after the state mandated tests are over, they are truly missing some wonderful opportunities.
I hope for students who may read, write, and speak in vital ways. It’s empowered education complemented with Web 2.0 technologies.
I hope for a lot of new, great, moving, motivational stories that make the listener really feel the need for change in our schools and our teaching. I hope that some of the stories that are out there now and new ones become part of our schools’ cultural “lore” and educators want to tell them over and over to parents and other stakeholders so that they become the lore of the of the administration, the school board, and the community.
I hope that our leaders look at our fiscal problems, not as problems, but as opportunities. While there will probably be massive lay-offs throughout the country in education this year, I hope that we find that silver lining to create more opportunities for “distance learning”.
I hope for many new and great mindset changes among all educators and parents as we use new technology and new tools to educate our students and children for the 21st Century. I am hoping that teachers everywhere realize that there are goals and standards that can be met with technology. I hope that I personally can incorporate many different and new uses of technology into my own classroom to help prepare my students as life-long learners.
I hope that educational funding issues are solved by our state governments.
As budgets get tighter, technology gets the crunch.